Prayer has been called the ‘lifeblood of the soul’ for the Christian. It is good to look at some of the dynamic principles of this most wonderful privilege. God understands us as no one else can. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Are our personal prayers something we look forward to – do they give us strength for the day? Even Jesus felt the need to rise up early in the mornings and find a quiet place to spend time with His Father. As the Son of Man He needed the strength that this special time provided.
Prayer is communion with God. It is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. It is both a duty and a privilege. At the birth of Jesus the three wise men came from the east with gifts and when they had found the infant Jesus they looked with adoration at the baby and worshipped Him. Prayer is very much like this. It is adoration and praise. Even though we cannot see God we know Him through the eye of faith. In fact it says in Scripture, “without faith it is impossible to please him:” The same verse goes on to say, “for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Heb.11:6 God is more than willing to reward us with His grace and His presence. We always need to remember that it is God who initiates this relationship. “For God so loved the world that He gave…….”
There are many wonderful examples in Scripture of God’s people praying. When Peter was about to embark upon his greatest testing time, Jesus said to him, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:” Luke 22:32 Jesus was our great example in prayer. We are even told to follow His example. Paul says, “…in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” 2 Cor.5:19 Jesus is our great example in praying and caring for others.
It’s not within ourselves to be motivated, to have genuine love in our hearts or even to want to do God’s will. The harder we try, the harder it can become. We can only look to God by faith and accept that He loves us individually and say ‘yes’ to His promises. Our only recommendation to God is our great need. Our only hope is His great love for us. His work in this world will be finished, not by our cleverness or prowess, but by His Spirit. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit in our prayers. It is good to come to God as empty vessels – thank Him and praise Him for His love and His goodness and allow Him to lead us in our prayers. He has promised to do this. The apostle says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” Rom.8:26 NRSV
We are told in Scripture that, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;” Gal.5:22,23 These attributes are a gift from God and prized by all Christians. But there are times when these blessings from God seem to evade us and the dark shadow of the enemy hangs over us. But there is still hope at such times. We still commune with God and thank Him for His love and His faithfulness which are real and constant. Such prayers can occur through the quiet hours of the night when we seem all alone or they can occur through the busy parts of the day when all around us is loud and busy. Either way, by thanking God, we are actually building and strengthening our faith. This is why James could make that hard to understand statement in his book, ”Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…” How can we rejoice when ‘bad’ things happen to us? The verse goes on to say, “…the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:2,3 ESV We can indeed rejoice at such times, not because of how we feel, but in spite of how we feel. As incredible as it may sound, even Jesus, we are told, “..learned obedience through what he suffered.” Heb.5:8 ESV
The Bible talks about being, “patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer:” Rom.12:12 This seems to be saying that their is more to prayer than going to church or prayer meeting once a week. It is talking more about a state of mind where our minds turn naturally to God, our closest and dearest Friend. The psalmist said, “commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still..” Ps.4:4
The prayers of God’s people are needed more and more in this old world as we get closer and closer to the end of time…..
Prayer is powerful. The Scriptures speak to this fact in various ways. From our perspective here, in this world, we may not see, hear or feel anything that would tell us that our prayers are being heard and acted upon. As in all Christian exercises we accept the veracity of prayer by faith. Some of our most joyous prayer times can be when we simply dwell in His presence. This can be in our private formal prayer times (we all need these), or it can be when we are about our daily business. At such times we don’t even have to worry about things to say to God or even have requests. Like Mary of old we can simply rejoice and be in His presence. At that time when others were rebuking her for her time wasting, Jesus commended her and said she had chosen the better part. Paul, writing in Romans chapter 8, alludes to this fact when he says there are times when we don’t even know how to pray or what to say but the Holy Spirit will, in His own quiet way, lead us as we wait for Him. These are the precious seasons that Christians everywhere cherish. They are the quiet prayer seasons, unseen by people, cherished by God, that move mountains.
Lest we think that our prayers are not heard or that they seem to hit an impenetrable ceiling we are told certain things in the the book of Revelation. The golden bowls of incense of chapter five of this book are referred to as, “the prayers of the saints”. (Rev.5:8) This is a re-iteration of a prophecy given 500 years before the book of Revelation. If we read the book of Zechariah, chapters four and five we are given a majestic picture of God’s work of grace in this world. The New Testament tells us of the priesthood of all believers. (1 Pet.2:9) So when the book of Zechariah speaks of Joshua, the high priest standing before the Lord performing his duties it is representative of the church, the body of Christ, working with their God and Saviour in the New Testament era – the time in which we live. Joshua, we are told, was clothed with ‘filthy garment’. When we come to God we are always dependant on, and can rejoice in, the perfect righteousness of Christ which is given to us as a gift through the sacrifice of Jesus. This was the experience of Joshua. “And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” Zech.3:1,2 Having been reassured of God’s love and care for him in chapter 3, God goes on to show Joshua what would be his strength and privilege. The promises given to Joshua here are the assurance of answered prayer for the times in which we live. The immortal words, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts” (Zech.4:6) stand as a beacon of hope that our prayers are heard and answered. As if to assure us of this – to assure us that the mountains of difficulty facing us will be overcome, God explains to us why this can happen. “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the topstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”" (vs.7) The love and the grace of God is our guarantee that He is always there for us, even when, like Joshua we stumble and fall. Our prayers are heard and answered because of the perfect righteousness of Jesus given to us as a gift. But, we say, ‘I am so insignificant and small’. Haven’t we all said that? But He says to us, “…who has despised the day of small things?” (vs.10)
This promise, written in the book of Zechariah, is drawn upon in the book of Revelation, to show us that God has always been there for His people. Jesus was indeed the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(Rev.13:8) If Rev.5:8 is given to tell us the importance of the prayers of God’s faithful then the inverse reference tells us the result. Rev.8:5 is startling in its effect. “And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire of the altar and cast it into the earth; and there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake.” This is as a direct result of, “the prayers of the saints..” (vs.4) It’s perhaps fortunate that we cannot normally see into the spiritual realm. If we could we would probably be overcome with the grandeur of all that is taking place. Only occasionally does God reveal the unseen reality of the spiritual realm. We are given a glimpse of this in the Old Testament when the servant of ‘the man of God’ (Elisha) was afraid because they were surrounded and in mortal danger. ”"Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.” 2 Kings 6:16,17 This passage, coupled with Rev.8:5 quoted above tell us of the reality of the spiritual warfare that we are involved in. But above it all is the wonderful grace of God reassuring us of His watch-care and assurance of His ultimate victory on our behalf. We are told that the mountains of difficulty that surround will be brought to nothing. “Who art thou, O great mountain before Zerubbabel? Thou shalt be reduced to a plain; and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.” Zech.4:7
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