2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
When I receive prayer requests, read the wonderful personal letters you send, and examine my own life, it is clear that we all need encouragement. Even the most spiritual people in God’s fold need it. That is why I am so grateful that our Lord knows this and has included so much of it in the Scriptures. I’ve overheard people say, “I like that person, because he is always so cheerful and positive.” And, it is fun to be around people who are like that. But, it is unrealistic to assume that anyone is cheerful and positive all the time. We can help lessen the time that people are angry, depressed, or feeling like they are going to lose their faith by our own attitudes and behavior toward them. But, we can’t eliminate those feelings altogether. If you want to put a positive spin on this, you might say we need to have those down times, those wilderness experiences, so that when the mountain top ones happen, we can really appreciate them. I do believe that. Consider what I’ve said and see how you feel about it.
Today’s passage, 1JN 5: 13-15 deals with encouragement and prayer. “I [John or whoever authored 1JN] am writing this to you so that you may know that you have eternal life-you that believe in the Son of God. We have courage in God's presence, because we are sure that He hears us if we ask Him for anything that is according to His will. He hears us whenever we ask Him; and since we know this is true, we know also that He gives us what we ask from Him.” I find it very encouraging to know that if my prayers are in line with God’s will, then they will be heard and answered. How will we know they are in line with God’s will? We may not always know, but we can certainly improve our chances if we are living “in Christ,” regularly allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us through study of the Scriptures, prayer, our congregations, and the lessons of our circumstances. When we seek God out and are willing to listen to His direction through the Holy Spirit, we greatly increase our chances of offering prayers in line with God’s will. We may not get the answer we are looking for, but the answer given by God will always be righteous and in the best long-term interests of the created ones He loves.
Before going on to the rest of 1JN 5, the Lord directs me to take a look at some of the Scriptures regarding prayer. PS 55: 17, “Morning, noon, and night my [David’s] complaints and groans go up to Him and He will hear my voice.” While David probably wasn’t thinking about more than his own prayers at the time, he was really talking about all our prayers. Just look at RO 8: 26-27, “In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit Himself pleads with God us in groans that words cannot express. And God, Who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of His people and in accordance with His will.” A wonderful example of an intercessory prayer was offered by King Solomon at the time of the dedication of the temple. It was his prayer on behalf of the Jewish people, which I hope you will read. It is found in 1 K 8: 10-11, 33-38, & 44-49. Daniel’s humble intercessory prayer for them later in their history is found in DN 9: 4-19, which I hope you will read. Another example for you to read is Jonah’s prayer in JON 2: 1-10.
Our Lord Jesus speaks about private prayer in MT 6: 6, “But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, Who is unseen. And your Father, Who sees what you do in private, will reward you.” MT 18: 19-20 gives us more insight on this all-important subject. “And I tell you more; whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in My name, I am there with them.” Paul reveals to us Christ’s special assignment from God to be our Advocate and Intercessor in heaven. RO 8: 33-34, “Who will accuse God’s chosen people [all who come to faith in Christ]? God Himself declares them not guilty! Who, then, will condemn them? Not Christ Jesus Who died, or rather, Who was raised to life and is at the right side of God, pleading with Him for us!” More Scriptures are found in Hebrews which further elaborate on this concept. HE 4: 14-16, “Let us, then, hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we have a great High Priest Who has gone into the very presence of God-Jesus, the Son of God. Our High Priest is not One Who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest Who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin. Let us be brave, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.” HE 7: 25, “And so He is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through Him, because He lives forever to plead with God for them.” HE 8: 1-2, “The whole point of what we are saying is that we have such a High Priest, Who sits at the right of the throne of the Divine Majesty in heaven. He serves as High Priest in the Holy of Holies, that is, in the real tent which was put up by the Lord, not by man.”
No inspection of the Lord’s teachings on prayer would be complete without the direction we get to endure in our prayer found in EPH 6: 14-18, “So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the evil one. And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you. Do all this in prayer, asking for God’s help. Pray on every occasion as the Spirit leads. For this reason, keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God’s people.” Every time I write these words and meditate over them, I am blown away by the love our Abba has for us. Otherwise He would have never shared them with us. I hope you feel as encouraged by even the incomplete recitation of wonderful guidance available to us from the Lord on this subject that I’ve given here.
PRAYER: O Lord, You really are there when we seek You out. From personal experience with Your answers to our prayers, we can testify to the truth that You really do hear them and reply in Your own perfect time to them with righteousness. Not every prayer we offer receives the answer we think we want, but they all receive the answer that is in mankind’s best interests. You are a God Who has a heart of compassion for Your people and a desire for the greatest number of people possible to come to saving faith in Your Son. When You are rejected by the followers of the adversary, You are saddened by this. In Your compassion and wisdom, You understand that we suffer pain, temptation, and exposure to deception. That is why You offer us so much encouragement to hold to our faith, keep to Your truth, and endure in prayer. The greatest gift of Your grace was the death of Your only begotten Son on the cross. You made Him incarnate, so that He could not only provide a way for salvation for us, but He was properly prepared to open the heavenly Holy of Holies to us and become our Advocate and Intercessor there. You revealed to us the mechanism by which You receive our prayers. In humble submission, we adore, worship, thank, glorify, magnify, honor, and praise You, Dear Lord. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at 1JN 5: 16-18, the first part of the section that deals with sin leading to death and sin that doesn’t. Therein, we will find even more direction on prayer. Be encouraged that our Father in heaven loves us and stands by us when our faith is challenged by pain, temptation, and deception. Know that even in the worst of times or in the throes of decision, He is right there encouraging, teaching, and guiding us toward righteousness. God loves you, and so do Peter and I.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn