Category: Prayer

www.bible.com/1713/mat.6.6.csb

What do you tend to keep out of sight of others? I imagine they are things that you would not want most people to know about. Most people tend to keep their vices to themselves. They can’t handle the scrutiny of others’ eyes. As a rule, folks hide stuff that they don’t want other people to know about. Funny thing is, it seems that exactly what Jesus is telling about our prayer life.

Now if you are like me, you grew up in church, and offering a public prayer was just part of the service. Leaders in the church offered prayer and they tended to ask for the Lord’s blessing on the service, or a blessing on the sick and so forth. Growing up in church taught me that prayer, when offered, ought to be offered as part of a service where others could see and hear it (and get bored by it if it went too long).

But Jesus offers an alternative here. He counters the then-public notion that prayer was to be offered in public, on the street corners, where others could see and hear. His reasoning is that when prayers are offered in such a fashion, they are offered to get the attention of others, to point to the holiness of the one praying, and to receive praise at such holiness. I doubt that’s a problem today. We are hard-pressed to get people to pray today at all.

But in both those days and today, Jesus is calling us to a fervent prayer life. I think it might be comparable to the intimacy we share with our spouse. With the degree of intimacy we have, and the passion we share with out spouse, Jesus is calling us to have such a passionate prayer life. We ought to have such fervent prayer and intimacy in our passionate seeking the Lord’s presence that the tears and the sighing and all of our deep soul’s emanations that we just don’t want others to see it for embarrassment. I have had that kind of prayer. It is the kind of prayer where your soul both aches and yet is strangely warmed.

Lord Jesus, I need that kind of prayer life. May my prayers be so passionate for You that I can’t bear to share them in public, but that in my prayer closet, I honor and lift up You. Lead me to real, soul-filled prayer, that I won’t be surprised when I see you face to face. In You Name I pray, Amen!

www.bible.com/1713/jhn.15.7.csb

I know when I read this verse, my mind emphasizes the last part more than the first. And it is a great promise we have from God here through His Son. It is a powerful promise, but it is also conditional. I may ask whatever I wish, and it will be done for me, but it does have one teeny-tiny condition attached to it. The Lord must abide in me and I do in Him. It is comparatively easy to ask than to abide.

For abiding means that God is living in You, taking up residence, eating out of your fridge and sitting on your couch. You and God are roommates. And few people carry that off well. It means God has the right to override your decisions. It means God can rightfully tell you what to do, as He is both Creator and Lord. Allowing Him to move calls for a profound change in your life and habits.

But that’s what it means to be able to ask for anything, because what you ask for is something you both want. When you and God agree, it’s a done deal.

Lord Jesus, help me to want what You want, and ask after Your will, so that we may work together to satisfy the will of God. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

www.bible.com/1713/1jn.3.18.csb

Recently, some on social media have taken issue with those who share “thoughts and prayers” in the wake of national disaster or tragedy. They argue that thoughts and prayers don’t do anything, because they aren’t active, they aren’t helpful, and don’t help anyone put their lives back together. I will admit, “thoughts and prayers” do feel like extremely passive responses to tragedy. To someone in a car accident,  a passersby saying, “I will be thinking about you” as they drive away seems apathetic and cold. To have another say “I will be praying for you” seems to make a mockery of Christian faith. James once remarked,

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
(Jas 2:15-16)

I think James would agree with the naysayers above. He goes on to say:

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
(Jas 2:17-18)

Though we are saved by grace through faith, and not by works, there ought to be some works to reveal that that saving faith is real. There ought to be evidence of transformation. You ought to be able to show, “Yes, my life has changed, and here’ what’s different.”

So when we go about helping others, it ought not to be only in “thoughts and prayers” but also in listening, in caring, in showing that care by helping them in tangible, physical ways. A pat on the back, and helping hand, there are many ways, even little ways to show you care.

But let me return to “thoughts and prayers” for a moment. There are some of us where prayer for the ailing and needy is the most powerful thing we can do. The naysayers believe they are referring the anemic powerless prayers of nomial Christian when they ridicule us. They give no credit to prayer because they’ve never seen the powerful and effective prayer of righteous men. Prove them wrong. Show them what prayer is and how powerful a tool it is to combatting evil, both moral and natural. Show them the effect powerful prayer has on your life. Show them that prayer isn’t weak, but strong. Prayer isn’t for the anemic, but for the humble. Inviting God into a situation is the most powerful thing you can do. Don’t neglect the helping of physical needs, but neither neglect the power you have on your knees.

Let your light shine. Don’t hide it under a bushel. But let it shine so that the whole world knows whom you serve.

Dear Lord, I am sorry we have made such a mess of things down here. There are so many things we do the wrong way, all because we thought we could do it better. But we are wrong. Teach us again the good and right way. Lead again to the closet of prayer so that we may emerge transformed. Thank You Jesus for showing us the way. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

www.bible.com/1713/1th.5.16-18.csb

What would a lifetime of practice in these attitudes engender? If you took to rejoicing at every opportunity, keeping in prayer, and giving thanks at all times, what kind of person would you be?

I can’t stand those who take these verse, especially “praying constantly” and make them into Law. Christianity has never been about Law, but about Grace. We do not live in Christ by keeping rules. That was the error of the Jews, and to some extent still is. There is not a list of rules on this earth that will get you into heaven. Why? Because no one can keep them. If you were to say that a person must pray constantly to get into heaven, well, you’ve already been condemned, because you took the time to read this. Were you praying as you read this? No? Well, guess what, you just committed a sin and need to repent. Yet that is the mentality of many who read this and many of passages. They want to turn it into laws so that they can stand over someone else and accuse them. That sounds like Satan’s work (the Accuser of our brethren) to me.

Rather (and this is why I quoted this trio of verses, rather than just the one) these verses indicate an attitude of our life. God would not tell us to do something that we cannot do. I for one know that I cannot pray constantly. I don’t have that kind of focus, and my mind is fairly healthy. What about those who have short-term memory loss, or dementia, or a host of other mental ailments? Can they pray constantly? And would God condemn them because they can’t?

When we read these verses together, they sound more like this: As often as you can, rejoice, pray and give thanks. Always have an attitude where your life is characterized by them. It’s like when we say, “I could eat chocolate all the time.” First, we know that’s not a good idea, and second, it’s just not possible. But it does convey the idea that as often as it is appropriate and available, I would like to eat chocolate. When Paul writes these words, He is not laying down a new commandment, but an attitude of Christian worship and holiness. Always be in this mind, always be aware of your presence before the Lord. Those practicing such will find themselves in good standing with God, especially when their mind and body fail them.

Today is the National Day of Prayer. Because gatherings are banned, may I ask that you make some time today to be in physical and spiritual prayer. But do not think that you should only pray today. Today may be a mountain peak of prayer, but we don’t always climb the peaks. Sometimes we trudge through the valleys. Enjoy time with God.

Heavenly Lord, what a great privilege we have today to be in Your presence. You have made us and adopted us into Your amazing family of believers. I come before You today as one in awe. I don’t deserve to be in Your Presence. I find it difficult to believe that One such as Yourself would love one such as me. But Your word makes it clear. You love me, and can’t stand an eternity spent without me in it. I have never felt such love, and I need that. Father, let that love flow through me today to others. Help me to share that peace and privilege with those who don’t know it today. Thank You God in Jesus. Amen.

www.bible.com/1713/mat.7.7.csb

When Jesus gives this statement in Luke 11, He precedes it with a short story about neighbors and hospitality. As Jesus tells it, a man has a late-night visitor from a far country and wants to offer him traditional hospitality by feeding him after such a journey. But it is now on him to find food at such a late hour. He goes to his neighbor’s house and knocks on the door. He continues knocking despite his neighbor’s protests of being in bed and his family being in bed. Nevertheless, the first man’s persistence gets the door open and the bread transferred.

Then Jesus tells us this short statement about persistence in prayer. Since Matthew doesn’t include the short story about the door, it is a bit of a mystery. What door is He talking about? With Luke’s addition, it seems obvious that the door is a reference to the door in the parable. This is a door that is shut to you and will only be opened with persistent knocking. However, I don’t think there are any similarities intended between God and the sleeping neighbor. Psalm 121:4 says He does not sleep. The point here is persistence in prayer.

There will be times where it will seem God is not hearing your prayers because He is not answering them right away. Jesus is not condemning the nature of the requests here. In fact, Jesus is encouraging the continued asking, knocking and seeking. Your request may not be something God wants to fulfill right now. It may not even be something He intends to fulfill, but you are encouraged to present it with persistence anyway. We are to be an everpresent Sheldon knocking on God’s door because when we pray, we don’t have time for sin, temptation, or anything that will trip up our walk with God. God intends for us to pray without ceasing, even if our prayers are petty, tiny, or lame.

As parents, we can get annoyed with our children because of their constant requests for things and activities. As parents, we need to work, have projects that we are working on and so forth. But with God, we are His agenda. We are His work, His project, His world. If every waking moment was spent asking God, He wouldn’t mind. He loves spending that time with us, even if we are angry with Him, for even then, every moment we spend with Him makes us more like Him.

Father God, coming to you today and every day is a special appointment. You make our world, our whole life meaningful. And when we come to you with a request once or a thousand times, You still listen. You care what we have to say, no matter how silly we think it is. We learn to talk by talking to our parents. Surely it is the same with you, that the more we pray, the better we are able to speak to You and listen to Your words. Would you listen again to Your people this day? Would You listen to our every petty word and silly request? Would You help us to be more like You Lord because You are awesome and full of majesty? Would you please hear Your people pray today? In Jesus’ Name, Amen.