Old Testament

Duty of praying

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Peter and John seemed to have made it a habit to go to the temple to attend to the duty of prayer. It would seem that keeping this duty was important but they could also have been using this opportunity to preach/teach Jesus as there would be a large number of people gathered.

One day Peter and John went to the Temple at three o’clock in the afternoon, the hour for prayer. – Acts 3:1  GNT

There is a technical side to prayer that I think needs to be talked about. The hour of prayer was the ninth hour – like 3:00pm. Judaism had four fixed hours for prayer. Some mentioned that they prayed seven times a day. The first century Church practiced both. In the time of Clement, at Alexandria it was noted and the seven hours became the “canonical hours” of Western Christendom first appearing in the Rule of St. Benedict. I mention this because I think some of us need this kind of structure to make prayer happen. I believe it is our belief that we should be praying always, but without structure to aid us we end up forgetting to pray.

When Peter and John went to the temple, I do not think that healing was on their mind or on their “to do”list. In fact, Peter called it an “act of kindness.” God was the one that made this event happen and it became a wonderful opportunity to reach many people.

One has to wonder, when life is going so wrong, how would one not turn to God when obviously they need Him. Why would one continue in life and not care?

They have made it a wasteland;
    it lies desolate before me.
The whole land has become a desert,
    and no one cares. – Jeremiah 12:11  GNT

I would hope that I could see my own desert experience and from that get a spark of wisdom that would find me on my knees asking God to forgive me for walking away from Him – that  would care. I would seek His favour to heal me and to restore me. Others seem to just keep adding up sin upon sin. If one does not attend to those sins they will be consumed and subdued.

“Only against the background of the Old Testament, and the great mystery of how God could fulfill his covenant with us, can we see the freeness of forgiveness and its astounding cost. It means that no sin can now bring us into condemnation, because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. It also means that sin is so serious and grievous to God that Jesus had to die. We must recognize both of these aspects of God’s grace or we will lapse into one or the other of two fatal errors. Either we will think forgiveness is easy for God to give, or we will doubt the reality and thoroughness of our pardon.” – Timothy Keller

Praying as a child many times a day

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The daily sacrifice, in the Old Testament, looked like this.

“Every day for all time to come, sacrifice on the altar two one-year-old lambs. Sacrifice one of the lambs in the morning and the other in the evening.  – Exodus 29:38-39 GNT

The daily offering grabbed my attention because it is something, as a follower of Christ, that I can practice. My walk with Him is daily and this two times a day offering reminds me how important it is for me to have a quiet time of prayer at least twice a day. The sacrifices of prayer and praise should be morning and evening and they should have a moment where we seek the repentance of our sins remembering the atoning blood and sacrifice of Jesus.

Prayer is not really a solitary exercise, even when I pray alone. I believe it brings me in touch with the body of Christ. Prayer affects the lives of others and how we live together. While Jesus prayed alone look at His work afterwards.

Then everyone went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. – John 8:1 GNT

There are two truths that Jesus shares that caught my attention.

So Jesus said to those who believed in him, “If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples. – John 8:31 GNT

My actions are evidence of my walk with Jesus and that walk is indispensable to me praying with faith and hope.

 He who comes from God listens to God’s words. You, however, are not from God, and that is why you will not listen.” – John 8:47 GNT

If I am listening to God, I know I am walking with Him.

Let me break in here with some words of wisdom from Proverbs. When I served in the church, I became aware of women who loved to come and talk about prayer, ask for prayer, looking for times of Bible study etc just in order to be close to men.

My child, pay attention and listen to my wisdom and insight. Then you will know how to behave properly, and your words will show that you have knowledge. The lips of another man’s wife may be as sweet as honey and her kisses as smooth as olive oil, but when it is all over, she leaves you nothing but bitterness and pain. – Proverbs 5:1-3 GNT

I hyperlinked the section above because the writer of this piece knows of what he writes. I pray God gives us wisdom as we engage with Him in prayer.

I also want to break in here a comment of my ministry to my Arabic and Farsi speaking Muslims who understand they are servants of God – servant or slave – fully submitted to God. Yet they cannot grasp the Biblical concept that we move from being servants to becomings children of God.

 So then, you are no longer a slave but a child. And since you are his child, God will give you all that he has for his children. – Galatians 4:7 GNT

As His child, my prayer life changes dramatically.

When I feel that I have become cool and joyless in prayer because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and the devil always impede and obstruct prayer), I take my little psalter, hurry to my room, or, if it be the day and hour for it, to the church where a congregation is assembled and, as time permits, I say quietly to myself and word-for-word the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and, if I have time, some words of Christ or of Paul, or some psalms, just as a child might do. – Luther