Do not forget to pray and rely on Him

There are times, in the middle of me enjoying my time of praise and worship, I feel a need to pray for Christians who need God’s help and comfort for they are living in moments of distress.

 Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim his greatness;
    tell the nations what he has done.

Say to him, “Save us, O God our Savior;
    gather us together; rescue us from the nations,
    so that we may be thankful
    and praise your holy name.”
Praise the Lord, the God of Israel!
Praise him now and forever! – 1 Chronicles 16:8, 35-36 GNT

While I enjoy God’s favour, I pray for those who need salvation and others who need deliverance. It is then that I can end my prayer with an “Amen.”

I think of Peter’s prayer sometimes.

When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he fell on his knees before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord! I am a sinful man!” – Luke 5:8 GNT

It sounds like a good prayer, but I believe I need to pray a better prayer by praying, “Come nearer to me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

I learned a few lessons regarding what to pray and how to pray from the leper.

Once Jesus was in a town where there was a man who was suffering from a dreaded skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he threw himself down and begged him, “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean!”[a]

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I do want to,” he answered. “Be clean!” At once the disease left the man. Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice as Moses ordered.”

But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases. – Luke 5:12-15 GNT

He begged Jesus – that is more than a prayer – more about pleading, passionate prayer. It is not a half hearted prayer.

He asks Jesus and no one else. I must turn to God alone.

There is a humbleness in saying, “if you want to.” Sometimes I weary of those who sound like they are making demands when they pray.

Jesus prays at His busy moments.

“But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.” – Luke 5:16

He takes moments to withdraw from times when I would be basking in the limelight of what had just happened. I am empowered to pray because of Jesus’ model. He was God and needed to pray. If He needed to pray, then He needed to and did.

He found time to pray. He made time to pray. Nothing was more a priority than prayer.

What is keeping me from prayer? Praying for His grace and enabling power for me to walk an obedient walk?

Jesus’ prayer life helps me to pray.

I need to find those quiet corners of my world where this can happen. Maybe because that is where my prayer is uninterrupted.

Prayer brings power from God for my life and my ministry. I think God delights to use me and others who rely on Him through prayer.

The reason for constant, persistent, sleepless, overcoming prayer is that prayer, in every care and anxiety and need of life, with thanksgiving, is the means that God has appointed for obtaining freedom from all anxiety, and the peace of God which passesth all understanding. – R. A. Torrey


Prayerless or Princes

I will give the command and shake the people of Israel like grain in a sieve. I will shake them among the nations to remove all who are worthless. – Amos 9:9 GNT

When I read a verse like this, I think about how the Church may be experiencing the winnowing of God soon too.

I think the Church is filled with all kinds of characters. I think there are those who call themselves Christians and yet are prayerless and godless. There are others who acknowledge God as Lord and they pray in agony when asking God to step into their world. In business or in charity or in their homes there are those who find that their lives matter as moments of instruction, as moments of blessing for the world. In their praise and prayers they are seen as princes – having power with God.

While these characters are mingled in the Church, they are not united. So sifting and separation has to happen.

Why is it that prayer in the name of Christ brings such fullness of joy? In part, because we get what we ask. But that is not the only reason, nor the greatest. It makes God real. When we ask something definite of God, and He gives it, how real God becomes! He is right there! It is blessed to have a God who is real, and not merely an idea. I remember how once I was taken suddenly and seriously sick all alone in my study. I dropped upon my knees and cried to God for help. Instantly all pain left me—I was perfectly well. It seemed as if God stood right there, and had put out His hand and touched me. The joy of the healing was not so great as the joy of meeting God. – R. A. Torrey

Passionate prayer looks like this

I can remember moments where prayer was the immediate amendment and the immediate proclamation of things in my life that needed to be resolved. There was not a fleck of doubt, rather a resolute formation. There was an acknowledgement that I needed the presence of God. It definitely was not prayer that were done in secret, I can actually remember those I was with. It was if I had the responsibility of exhortation. My convictions were not smothered or whispered or timid. I did not pray hoping someone else would jumb in I cannot remember the results well, I am sure nothing special happened. I pray that it left a mark of what a relationship with Jesus looked like.

Then we will go and get God’s Covenant Box, which was ignored while Saul was king. – 1 Chronicles 13:3 GNT

David needed to do some public things as well. He being the faithful one had to lead what it looked like to repent or even the need to repent. Nothing stops revival like the unwillingness to face the exact state of things. Can you imagine the days of King Saul – “we were never on our knees – we forgot to pray – we lived through hell without prayer.”

But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. – James 1:6 GNT

As I pray, I am asking for things I believe line up with what God has in mind. When I am in that place, I do not doubt, but rather am resolved that I can expect God to reply. When I pray like this, my life changes, and I am thankful.

The reason for constant, persistent, sleepless, overcoming prayer is that prayer in the name of Jesus Christ is the way Jesus Christ Himself has appointed for his disciples to obtain fullness of joy. – R.A. Torrey

1 Chronicles 11-12; Hebrews 13; Amos 7; Luke 2

This is a guest post I wrote for 66 Books.

evanlaar1922's avatarSixty-six books in a year

I have been challenged to pray for many things today. Prayer is what is in the background, the foundation, of what others see in my action, my character.

David grew stronger and stronger, because the Lord Almighty was with him. – 1 Chronicles 11:9 GNT

Others may see me strong but it is only because I walk with God and He with me.

Issachar: 200 leaders, together with the men under their command (these leaders knew what Israel should do and the best time to do it). – 1 Chronicles 12:32 GNT

I want to be seen as a leader – someone who knows what should be done and the best time to do it. I pray for this to be part of my life.

Even so, I cannot forgot about the greatest power of all – love.

Keep on loving one another as Christians. Hebrews 13:1 GNT

While I was still…

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Pray for guidance, God will answer

It may be tempting to seek supernatural help beyond that of God. I find that this ordinary life of mine and the ordinary senses and faculties are sufficient. If I had more, I believe I would have too much – not of strength, but rather of pain and torment. The reason I do not want to see the unseen or the future is because what I have right now, what has been given to me, is good for me. My grace-filled life makes my steps safe. I know this – when I need God guidance, and I do every day, He will answer my prayer. It will not be in a strange or supernatural manner, but He will come with a blanket of calm, strengthening my judgment, presenting a clear path, give me understanding and the ability to sense the weight of the right decision, blocking/resisting/closing the door to any temptation that might mislead me, and ordering things so that the only open path is one of wisdom and honour. This is something that King Saul missed.

Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He disobeyed the Lord’s commands; he tried to find guidance by consulting the spirits of the dead  instead of consulting the Lord. – 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 GNT

He failed to realise that no one needs more than this. The imagination that concealed knowledge would somehow benefit is misleading and creates anxiety. Beyond God walking with me, I have no need of supernatural help.

Mercy is what we need, grace is what we must have, or all our life and effort will end in complete failure. Prayer is the way to get them. There is infinite grace at our disposal, and we make it ours experimentally by prayer. Oh, if we only realized the fullness of God’s grace, that is ours for the asking, its height and depth and length and breadth, I am sure that we would spend more time in prayer. The measure of our appropriation of grace is determined by the measure of our prayers. – R.A. Torrey