Christian Living
“We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:9–10).
We once had a dear, old, senior saint church member who became very perplexed, as she felt she wasn't doing enough for the Lord. Our pastor, in visiting her, asked her if she could still talk and could she still think. Of course her answers to both were in the affirmative. The pastor then answered by asking her to pray; to pray for the church, for our country and its leaders, for lost souls and for herself. The pastor then left, seeing a happy, heavenly smile on her face.
Yes, prayer is surely the work of the church. In fact, prayer is the only work of the church whereby all can and should be involved. (Philippians 4:5) I thank God that our church still understands this doctrine, as we still believe in the old-fashioned Wednesday night prayer service.
You see, prayer is one of the few Scripture principles, whereby we can have a personal relationship with our Creator. It is just being able to talk to our all-powerful, all-knowing Creator, being able to come to Him at any time and in any place, to talk over our life's problems and needs. (Psalms 118:21) Yes, prayer is simply talking with our heavenly Father, as prayer changes us, not God.
Do you realize He created this universe, and everything in it, simply by His spoken word? (Genesis 1:1) (Psalm 19:1-2) How powerful is this, having a personal relationship with our Creator? Oftentimes at night as I lie in bed, I can look up through my bedroom window and see the twinkle of the North Star, a miracle in itself. We serve an awesome God. (Psalm 19:1-6) (Psalm 36:5-9) (Psalm 65:5-8)
This afore-mentioned pastor was "right on" in his advice to his senior saint. Prayer has always has been the main work of the church. It started shortly after the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:9), in the upper room of Jerusalem (Acts 2:14) and continued within the formation the first church (Acts 2:42), and has continued to this very day. (I Thess. 5:16-18)
The Apostle Paul was a man of prayer. He once described the manner in which he and his associates prayed. Writing to fellow Christians, he said: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.” (Colossians 1:3) Paul also wrote to his fellow believers about “always giving thanks to our God and Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20)
Our Lord Himself spent much time in prayer to the Father. In Luke 11:1 we see Jesus praying to the Father, and when He finished, one of His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. There is much to learn from this incident in the Lord's Prayer that follows. (Luke 11:2-4) (Matthew 6:9-13)
Jesus also prayed with others, (Luke 9:28) He prayed for others, (Matthew 19:13) and He prayed often alone. (Luke 5:16) He also taught His disciples to be persistent in prayer. (Luke 18:1)
One of our Lord's most grievous prayers was in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:38-39) Then Jesus' passion for praying was clearly emphasized in His final moments on the cross, as He calls out to the Father (Matthew 27:46) (Psalm 22:1) and as He commits His Spirit to the Father. (Luke 23:46) (Psalm 31:5) Yes, it was finished, this the Father’s plan of salvation. (John 19:30) Our Lord's prayer-life in human form on this earth was over.
Why did Jesus pray, you may ask, as He was God, in the flesh? He prayed setting an example to His followers. He prayed because, as being both divine and human, and from a human standpoint, it was natural for a Jewish believer to pray. And the nature of the Trinity allowed for such communication. As God the Son, He could and did pray to God the father.
So if it was all-important for the Son of God, Jesus Christ to pray, who are we, that we should not do likewise. When is the last time you spent time in prayer?
I realize it can be hard to wrap our minds around the fact that this Creator of the Universe would even want to talk to us finite humans. (Psalm 27:8) What can we tell Him that He doesn't already know? He knows our sorrow. He knows our pain. He knows our grief. He even knows our most insignificant concerns, be they real or imaginary. (Proverbs 2:6-8)
Our living God, through His infinite mercy and grace, would never leave us trapped within ourselves, without words of hope. You see, He has given His living Word, which is full of Holy Spirit inspiration for our lives. (II Timothy 3:16) It contains inspiration for our daily needs, guidance and direction for our learning, spiritual nutrition for our Christian growth, and much more. All we need do is open the flood-gates of our personal prayer life, and enter into His holy presence, by making our petitions personally to Him. (Psalm 105:3-4)
Yes, He knows what we will be bringing to Him, but it simply helps us to open our hearts to a deeper strength, faith and fresh blessing. His power will do immeasurably more than we can ever imagine.
God's word commands us to come into His presence boldly (Hebrews 4:16) but are we sometimes a little too bold? Oftentimes, we tend to bring our laundry list of needs before the Father, not realizing we should always include giving Him praise and honor for what He has done and what He will be doing for us, His children.
"Only God can make prayer "work." I'm constantly frustrated by people talking about prayer like it's a magic spell we use or a potion that we create from a formula (a pinch of this, a dab of that) and that it only "works" if we do it a certain way. The power of prayer relies not to who is praying or how we pray but Who we are praying to. God has the power to answer prayers, according to His will. We have no power to make it "work." (A personal comment from my proofer)
I realize too, in today's hurry-up society, it is often hard to keep our mind centered on our heavenly Father for any length of time. We have those Satanic distractions of yesterday's memories, today's pleasures, and the fear of tomorrow's dangers, all brought about by Satan himself, to keep our mind from the affairs of the Kingdom.(Ephesians 6:11-12)
However, God's Holy Spirit will help us in our times of weakness, specifically our prayer life. (Romans 8:26). Thus, when we fill our prayers with His word and His promises, our misdirected thoughts just seem to melt away. (Galatians 5:25) You see, God never leaves us where we are. We either fall backwards, of our own volition, or move forward by drawing near to Him. (James 4:8)
The early American missionary David Brainerd once explained, "Oh! One hour with God infinitely exceeds all the pleasures and delights of this lower world."
So we should always come to God humbly and expectantly. By doing so, we open our hearts to the deeper life of prayer, and through our faith (Hebrews 11:1, 6) we will receive renewed strength, fresh blessings and the touch of God's almighty power. (Ephesians 3:20)
And Isaiah 42:16 shows God's precious promise to us, His children, when we least expect it. If we only remain faithful in prayer, He will remain faithful as well. (II Timothy 2:13). So, keep on praying and keep on believing.
John Newton, the author of the great hymn "Amazing Grace" penned it well:
Behold the throne of grace!
The promise draws me near.
There Jesus shows a smiling face,
And waits to answer prayer.
Author's Postscript:
Prayer is the language of heaven. Someday, as I enter into the presence of God, I will learn to speak it fluently, but until then, I must keep on practicing by making my pleas on my knees.
Prayer should always be a means of taking our eyes off ourselves by putting them on the living God. (Psalm 118:28)
When is the last time you prayed for that neighbor, that friend, that fellow worker, that family member, and especially the lost among us? And don't forget your church and pastor. Amen!.
Following prayer taken from crosswalk.com:
So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up-building.” Romans 14:19
Father God, You desire peace and unity and encouragement for our body of believers. Help us, Lord, to pursue what makes for peace and for building one another up. To pursue the things of You will lead to peace and unity. Give us discerning hearts to know Your will and give us the courage to be obedient. Lord, we know that without You and Your Holy Spirit indwelling each of us, we cannot do any of these things. But with You and for Your glory, grant our body peace and unity.
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