12/18/2020
A stranger asks you to pray for them, so what do you do? A fellow believer in your church is overcome by illness, and asks for prayer, how do you respond? A friend is stricken lame, or becomes blind... what is your recourse? When we are asked to pray for someone, or something, we should seek God’s Will in this request, and when the Holy Spirit affirms that this request is in conformance with God’s Will, then we should pray fervently, and expectantly.
“So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.”
Acts 12:5 ESV
Peter was in prison guarded by four squads of soldiers, and Herod was waiting for the feast of unleavened bread to conclude, and then he was going to turn him over to the people... who were prepared to kill him. This is the scene as the church was praying for Peter’s release. The situation was dire, but was it God’s will that he be rescued? When exercised properly intercessory prayer brings us before the Lord, and we witness His glory. His power is then brought to bear on whatever we have asked of Him, and nothing is more powerful than this... not even death!
“But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.”
Acts 9:40-41 ESV
But sometimes we desire for God to do something for us, and it might be good, but if it isn’t within His will, or for His glory, and then nothing occurs. When this happens we say that God is not listening, or isn’t doing as He promised. We read scripture that says:
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
John 14:13 ESV
Yes, we read scripture such as this and stop after the words “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do”, but it is followed by the stipulation... “that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Yes, whatever we ask should glorify God. We have heard this before, but do you remember where? It is in the first sentence of the Lord’s Prayer. Listen...
“Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
Matthew 6:9 ESV
The second thing that Jesus taught us in this prayer is that we ask in accordance to God’s will...
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10 ESV
Only after these two stipulations are met does Jesus teach His disciples to ask for what they want...
“Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Matthew 6:11-13 ESV
Is this how we intercede in prayer? Do we pray for something that will Glorify God, and that is in accordance with His will? Do we even give this much thought, or is our prayer offered because our heart is breaking, perhaps because we have been asked, maybe to prove to others that God listens to us... glorifying ourselves, and in conformance with our own will? If we still doubt the importance of these things, just listen to Jesus as He prays the Garden of Gethsemane...
“And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.””
Mark 14:35-36 ESV
Jesus glorified God by saying all things are possible for Him, and then He says that God’s will be done... not His.
I pray Intercessory prayer for people with another elder in the faith, and the hardest part of this is to understand God’s will, and pray within it. Sometimes the request is clearly outside of His will, but on other occasions it is much more complex... there is no grey to the request, and it appears to be good, and merciful. By all indications there is nothing that should preclude God from granting this prayer, and yet the Holy Spirit says it is not to be, or it is not to be right now. We see this as Elisha cures Naaman the leper... it took seven trips to the Jordan River, and in this delay Naaman became angry and discouraged...
“And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.”
2 Kings 5:10-11 ESV
But reluctantly Naaman did as he was told, and God’s will was done...
“But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
2 Kings 5:13-14 ESV
Naaman was so amazed that he immediately wanted to glorify God...
“Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.””
2 Kings 5:15 ESV
So how do we pray, and are we upset or discouraged when our prayers are not answered as we thought they should have been? Remember that God’s thoughts, ways, and will, are greater than ours. Sometimes bad things happen in our lives, and although we pray with all our might against them, God does not intercede. When this happens a greater good is being accomplished within his Will, and He is being glorified by it. One thing is lost so that a greater thing is accomplished.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for listening to our prayers, and for answering them as we ask within your will, for your glory, and in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you for working all things for good to those who love you... even using the bad that we encounter to accomplish a greater good. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who gives to us as a Father to His children. Praised be your name for every answered prayer we offer, but greater yet is our praise for you in the unanswered prayers that are superseded by your greater and more perfect will! You are merciful Lord, and dry our every tear. You are gracious, and by your overwhelming grace allow us to know your will, and to pray according to it. We worship you in all things great and small, the good and bad we encounter, and always for your glory. Hear us as we pray, and give us the wisdom to seek your will and guidance before we utter a sound. Let our prayers bring you eternal glory, and our every word be in obedience to your will.
Rich Forbes