How do we pray for one another each day? I am not asking about those who come to us with a specific need, and for whom we make intercession, but for our families, friends, those we don’t know yet, and even our enemies. Do we even think of praying for some of these each day? Are other believers around the world praying for us in like manner?
Have you given up on certain desires because you prayed for them once, twice, three times, and they were not given to you? Have you resolved yourself to the fact that God just doesn’t want you to have this thing, or that He might not hear you? Well, if you are praying rightly in the will of God and not asking Him to go against His character, promises, and Word, then neither of these assumptions are correct. Persistent prayer leads us into the very crux of faith and answers a question posed to us in the book of Luke… “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Do you suffer, or cry in this life? Are you hungry or thirsty in your days here in this world? Do you long spiritually for fulfillment, and yearn to see the face of God? Well, take heart, for those who are washed in the blood of Jesus Christ have a heavenly existence awaiting them in which there will be no suffering, hunger, thirst, tears, nor longing to see the face of God. The blood of Jesus is preparing us for the glorious eternity of heaven, and to be encamped with God.
Has God placed something on your heart, or called you to do a work for Him that you are not doing? Have you listened to his voice speaking within you and made excuses to avoid performing what He has asked? Well, we make lots of excuses when God speaks, sometimes because what He asks sounds hard, sometimes because it requires sacrifice, and sometimes because we doubt our ability. Are you in the midst of making excuses right now?
Do you seek the will of God in everything that you do? No? Then how often do you ask the Lord what He would have you do? We are inclined to wake up in the morning, get dressed, and go about our daily duties as we see fit while either assuming we are already within God’s will, or not giving it a second thought. However, this is not what He would have us do.
Jesus loves us, this sounds like such a simple statement, and is indeed the repeating theme of a childish worship song whose lyrics begin “Jesus loves me this I know”, but do we really know this? Do we understand the depth and complexity of His love for us? A bigger question is, how do we experience this love?
What are we doing as we wait on God? Do we even know what we are waiting for? We have all been through times when we weren’t certain what we would like the Lord to actually do for us, or what His will was in our lives and faith, but we do know that being adrift on a sea of uncertainty is not good. So, when we find ourselves becalmed on a motionless sea, let’s not ask the Lord that we will reach our ultimate destination but simply pray for a breeze to fill our sails and how we should set our rudder, as we wait on Him. Then, as we wait for the breeze to pick up let’s go about the various tasks of living in the faith that Jesus, and God’s Word, have taught us.
There are those today that are filled with the Holy Spirit and don’t realize it because they don’t know the Holy Spirit from any other part of their faith. If he had come to them with a jolt like he did to the apostles, and licked above them with fingers of flame, and filled them with tongues, then there would be no doubt, but for many he comes gently with joy and comfort. To those who receive him in this way, it is so subtle that they have a hard time realizing he is with them because they can’t separate him from the basic movements of their faith until one day they are awakened joyfully to the reality of his presence within them.
Satan would have us think that obeying God’s will means that ours must be done away with, and that we must become some kind of automaton to God. He would have us believe that if we are within God’s will then our own has been erased. Friends, this couldn’t be further from the truth; our will is valued by our Heavenly Father. He desires that we choose to be obedient to His will and plan for us, but that it must come by our own free choice and be in concert with His own willingly. Jesus wasn’t forced to choose God’s will… He chose to set aside His own desires and to obey God’s will of His own accord.
How pure are our lives? Are we cleansed and holy, or still allowing something(s) to tarnish our relationship with God? Is His will paramount in our life, or are we still at the center of our universe? Where are we in the process of holiness? Perhaps we think we are basically doing well and that our faith is flourishing, and yet things keep popping up in our day-to-day lives that cause us to stumble. So, we repent, ask forgiveness, and begin again. If I am describing you today, well, you are not alone in your struggle and labor.
We all love our children; Mary loved Jesus, but raising a child means more than just love... it is a challenge. Do your children bring you more than love and joy? Sometimes our children are foolish, and can cause us pain, suffering, or even disappointment during their lifetimes. If you are a new parent you should prepare yourself for this, and if you have older children, then you know this to be true; so, was Mary the mother of Jesus different, and immune from such pain?
How would you classify yourself? Are you primarily a giver, or a receiver? When you offer your morning prayers do you ask the Lord to show where you can be of service to Him, or are your prayers mostly for the personal needs you have? When I asked if you were a giver or receiver I’ll bet you immediately felt that being a giver was good but had an uncomfortable, or perhaps a guilty feeling about being a receiver. The fact is that both are good and the blessing is meant to be experienced in both.
Our prayers are not powerless. When we enter into them we are not alone, but are joined there by the Holy Spirt, and Jesus Christ. When we don’t know how to pray the Holy Spirit will pray for us, and as we pray in the name of Jesus Christ it gives Him joint authorship with us in that prayer. Suddenly, what might have been a knee shaking event as we stood alone before the throne of God, has become less frightening and we are more certain that our prayers are being heard. So, I ask you this, are you alone before God in your prayers or coming before Him with the help of the Spirit and in the name of Jesus?
How strong are we bodily, and how strong is our faith? Does the strength of our physical bodies reflect the power of our faith? To answer this let’s consider the words of the apostle Paul. Perhaps we are battling an illness, or a deformity that cripples us, and our prayers for this to be healed or removed are seemingly falling on deaf ears. When our bodies suffer and become frail this can actually become the time of our greatest dependence on God, and as such an aid in reaching the height of our faith.