All tagged praying

When we pray we should simply say what we mean, and mean what we say. Unlike a writer who might get paid according to the number of words he writes, or their timeliness, God gives us no additional credit for the number of words we pray each day, nor for the number of minutes spent in prayer. Gods wants to hear what we have to say, and for us to say it sincerely, and directly. There is no benefit to chanting, or repeating ourselves; when it comes to prayer, a one minute prayer from the heart carries with it more strength than a one hour prayer recited because we have read, or been told, that we should spend more time praying. Sitting silently listening to, or for, God carries much more weight if we do so from our heart.

When we pray and do not receive it can be because we are meant to wait, but many times it is because our motives are not right, and we are not praying for those things that are in accordance with the will of God. When we are preparing to ask Him for something have we examined our own desires, and insured that we are not asking out of our selfish earthly vanities, or wants? Are we asking as we should for something meant to glorify God? Are we praying rightly?

We have learned previously how to stand on the walls of Jerusalem and watch, so that if the enemy approaches we can sound the alarm, but there is more to our duty than simply defense. In our walking to and fro atop the wall we are to watch over the citizens who live within these walls, and to pray over them until the walls of the New Jerusalem are erected, and the Lord Jesus takes His throne. We are to lift up the needs of God’s children, not because it is our job, but because we love them as God does. We will not rest, and neither will our Father, until our Savior returns, the New Jerusalem is reestablished, and His kingdom assumes its full glory.

Do we pray and ask as we should? Jesus intercedes for us, and so does the Holy Spirit, but they only do so when we ask for those things that are absolutely within the will of God. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that God’s will and not His would be done, and this is the same prayer of intercession that He and the Spirit pray over us every day. In hearing His prayer we know that Jesus had His own will, and that it could be different from God’s; why else would He pray as He did. The same is true of us, and we need to be equally careful to pray for God’s will to be done in our lives, and to do so each time we pray.

In the gospel of John, the Apostle describes to us a historical progression in the method of praying for miracles, and our other divine petitions. He begins with a quote from Jesus in which Christ tells us to ask of Him, in His name, for the things we desire, but as the New Covenant is realized, and the Holy Spirit is poured out on us, John reveals a new, and revised, method via another amazing quote of Jesus. Our Savior tells us that we are no longer to ask Him for these things, but to ask God, our Father, directly. Although we are still to ask the Lord in His name, the name of Jesus. Now, In this, the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, we truly are new creatures… having become much more like Christ.

Is the Word of God alive in us? Do we value it like fine gold, but seek to hold it close to us like a warm and breathing newborn infant? So often we look at the words on a page, or computer screen, and lose sight of their power, and the life in them. God’s Word is more that ink, or a Pixel on a screen... it breathes life into us, and as we study, and pray, it becomes the voice of God within us. When we incorporate it into our prayers it instills His will into our desires, and heals us with His touch... can we truly say that God’s Word is living in us?

When we are not praying for one another it is a great loss. So much is gained through the prayers we aim at our own needs, and relationship with God, but when we pray for others it is an act of love that extends the power of our prayer life beyond ourselves, and into the world. Prayer for others is a spiritual missionary event that takes us abroad, beyond our borders, and into the heart, soul, and lives of others. Intercessory prayer is an act that fulfills a great commandment... loving our neighbor.