2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Those of you who have been reading the messages I’ve been sending for awhile know that in this last year, our Lord has convicted me to make improvements in my own prayer life. He has done this in a number of ways, not the least of which is to urge me to accept the responsibility for coordinating the largest portion of my congregation’s prayer chain who are the e-mailers. My very activity in this large group of prayer warriors has forced me to put my own troubles in perspective and to pay closer attention to this wonderful method through which our Lord communicates with us. He has also convicted me to be more faithful in my private prayer as well. Today, He leads me to bring you to think about the subject of prayer.
Those of you who have been to Bible Study Fellowship are undoubtedly familiar with an approach to prayer that they encourage, even through it is by no means the only approach one can take. It is called ACTS. A=adoration; C=confession; T=thanksgiving; S=supplication. The strength of this method is that it puts God first and us afterward. Isn’t that really the way it should be?
The Lord has been crystal clear on what we should know about prayer and has conveyed that to us throughout the Scriptures. Time won’t allow me to share all that is said on this subject, but I would like to share some of the highlights. James, our apostle-parent of the Bible tells us “you must be patient and keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord is coming near” (JAS 5:8). If you are anything like me, I’m sure there have been times when you wished God would hurry up and answer your prayers. That kind of foolishness demonstrates lack of trust that God’s timing is best. It also doesn’t encourage hope in others, something God has asked us to do repeatedly. In JAS 5: 16, we are told, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.” We are reminded in JAS 5: 20, “Remember whoever tuns a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner’s soul from death and bring about forgiveness of many sins.”
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, shared both His example of prayerfulness and the attitude He wants us to have about prayer in Matthew. MT 6: 5-14 is where this is found. He admonishes us not to pray publicly with hypocrisy or to artificially lengthen our prayers, thinking that will gain us more attention. “When you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father Who is unseen. Your Father, Who sees what you do in private, will reward you.” (6). Christ further tells us not to use meaningless words in our prayers. He gives us a double-barreled piece of advice when in verse 14, He says, “if you forgive others, your Father will forgive you.”
There is nothing in the Scriptures that is present without serving God’s purpose. That is why we are told of their value in 2 TIM 3: 16-17. When I began to study them in earnest, I began to realize that even the long genealogy lists, the history repeated in Kings and Chronicles, and the sometimes lengthy and repetitive prayers are as important as anything else therein. Every word in the Bible is there for God’s reasons. While space won’t allow me to enumerate every detail in Solomon’s remarkable prayer to the Israelites just before the Temple is dedicated in 1 Kings 8:22-61, I hope you will take the time to read it, so that you can appreciate it’s significance to us even today. Just how powerful prayer can be in giving us a Godly rather than a human perspective on a circumstance we face, is demonstrated eloquently in 2 K 1-6 and IS 37: 1-7 which reveal the results of king Hezekiah’s request for the prophet Isaiah’s advice. The Assyrians from the north were advancing and threatening to invade Judah. Both Hezekiah and the people were frightened by this, thus leading to the king’s request of Isaiah. God told Isaiah to tell the king, “Do not allow the Assyrians to frighten you with their claims that God cannot save you. God will cause the emperor to go back to his own land and will have him killed there.” In spite of the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom of Isreal in progress, God never intended for them to take Judah. Imagine Hezekiah’s fear had it not been for his faith in prayer.
God has three answers that He gives to a person’s prayer, depending on His will in the situation: ”yes,” ” no,” and “maybe later.” We all love it when the answer is, “yes.” When the answer is “no,” we are called upon to ask the Lord for His perspective on the situation. Often, because of the limitations on our ability to see God’s perspective in the long run, we struggle to understand why it is in our best interests for God to deny our requests. That is when He is training us to trust Him and to have faith-take God at His Word. And then, there is the answer that I’m struggling with right now, “maybe later.” Think of Daniel, a Jew who was in captivity serving in his captor’s royal court in Babylonia. He was a “man God held in high esteem” for his faithfulness, but he didn’t have it easy. He was given that “maybe later” answer in DN 10 until he finally saw the angel, Gabriel, after praying his confession and as an intercessory for the Jewish people for 21 days. It was then that Gabriel gave the reason for his delay and explained Daniel’s vision of the seventy weeks to the faithful prophet. It was while he was in prayer, Daniel states in DN 9: 21, that he had this vision. How much would we understand about what is to happen in our future, if Daniel hadn’t taken the time to pray and stuck with it?
In a previous message I related Hebrews 8: 1-2 in which we learn that Christ is our Intercessor in heaven. I can’t tell you how important this is to us. We are reminded by Paul in RO 10: 9-10, “If you confess that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved.” Can there be anything more important to our eternal well-being than this prayer? I was quite amazed at the insights we are given into how our prayers are dealt with in heaven that are found in the book of Revelation. REV 5:8, “As [the Lamb took the scroll from the One Who sits on the throne], the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each had a harp with gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” REV 8:3-4 “Another angel, who had a gold censor, came and stood at the altar. He was given a lot of incense to add to the prayers of all God’s people and to offer it on the gold altar that stands before the throne. The smoke of the burning incense went up with the prayers of God’s people from the hands of the angel standing before God.”
Does an omnicient (all-knowing) Lord hear your prayers? You bet He does! God loves you with all His heart. When you love Him with all of yours, believe that He knows it and wants to see you glorified one day. No matter how insignificant you think your prayers are, when you love God, they matter enormously to Him. Be patient and faithful. Even though my prayers for Pete to get a good job haven’t been answered yet, I know in my heart that when God’s time is right, they will be. In the meanwhile, I will take comfort in knowing that Jesus, our great Intercessor, is up in the Holy of Holies in heaven, delivering my prayers and yours to our loving Abba. Be comforted by this and know that we are all greatly blessed, because the Son was born, served a public ministry, was crucified, buried, rose again, and now serves as our Intercessor in heaven. Think about this as you celebrate his birthday soon.
PRAYER: O Lord, help us to know that prayer is one of the ways You communicate with us. Lead us to each make our prayer lives active and dynamic, no matter whether we are praying publicly or privately. Let us understand that prayer is both precious and powerful. Help us to be patient and hopeful as we endure in prayer waiting for the day when our troubles will be over and Your Kingdom is in place. Amen.
Peter and I sent you our love and devotion. God bless each one of you.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn