12/15/2024
Prayer and the Word of God; they go hand in hand. In the Word we are taught so many things; things like how we were created, how to worship, how to live, how to pray, how to gain forgiveness through Jesus, and how to receive eternal life by believing. We are taught many lessons regarding physical life, and faith, but none is any more important than how to come before our Father God in prayer... It is His will for us.
“Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
Following the creation of Adam, we learned that God walked in the garden and spoke with him... we call this Prayer. The Holy Word as written in the bible strengthens us and gives us examples of the power of prayer but the lesson Jesus taught his disciples regarding how they should pray is so important and powerful that it has been memorized and is recited every Sunday in churches around the world... it is called The Lord's Prayer…
“9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.[a]
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,[b]
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,[c]
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.”
Matthew 6:9-13 ESV
We also read the prayer of Jesus before His suffering and crucifixion... "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me" and then “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will". Jesus prayed as he had taught us to pray. Then finally from the cross Jesus asked for God to “forgive them; for they know not what they do." These are powerful lessons in prayer and righteousness. We should hear them as examples, and pray likewise.
The words of Pastor E. M. Bounds in my morning devotional reading are powerful too...
"The absence of power in praying can be traced to the absence of a constant supply of God's Word to repair the waste and renew the life." – E. M. Bounds
These particular words that Bounds wrote are powerful instruction in how to restore the fullness of our relationship with God, and through that relationship, the power in our prayers.
“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Matthew 21:22 KJV
The Word of God and Praying are intertwined. They are the spiritual reason and the way, and the very music and lyrics of our relationship with God. The Word of our Heavenly Father provides us with a blueprint for living life, and prayer joins us with Him, the architect of its construction. How will you pray today?
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, every lesson we have received in prayer. Thank you for teaching us what prayer is, how we should exercise it, and what to expect when we do. Father, we thank you for your Word and the inspiration and guidance it provides us. we thank you from the depths of our hearts for leading us through this blueprint you have seen fit to give us; the layout of a complete and satisfying life with you. Lord our overwhelming desire is to become righteous, holy, and to be with You always. Lord, the prayer that wells up in us is like music and song from our souls; it is your gift to us. To speak with you and receive your blessings and detailed guidance is precious beyond our ability to express. We praise your name to men, but in prayer we deliver that praise directly to you and ask you to forgive and strengthen us. in your mercy and grace, you do forgive our sins, and so much more. Through our time of prayer your power comes over us and in keeping with your will we receive and dispense it... your word is the manna that sustains us, the meat that gives us strength, but prayer allows us to speak with you across the table, and join with you in relationship, and family. Father, O how we love you, and how wonderful our time of communion. that we casually call conversation, is. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who desires to speak with us, and to know us as your children and friends. Holy are you who wants this so badly that you sent Jesus to teach us how to come before you, and your Holy Spirit to pray for us when we are at a loss for words and give us understanding. Speak with us right now Abba and hear the unrevealed desires of our hearts and souls. Open our ears and circumcise them so that we will hear your quiet whispers, and prepare our minds so that we will understand what it is you are telling us. You are merciful and full of grace, and we know this in no better way than in what you speak into us in our prayer closets, and secretly in our hidden places and private conversations. Praised be your name for allowing us to stand with the heavenly host and cry out Holy, Holy, Holy, but we praise you more for those intimate moments of personal conversation when we tell you what no one knows about us, and hear you respond in a whisper so soft that not even our closest of earthy friends, and those who love us most , know what has been spoken between us. We worship you openly with other believers, but there is no worship bolder and truer than our personal worship in private and secret places in prayer. So it is that we ask you to wash us clean of our earthly sins, and openly confess them before many others, but that we have a quiet time and place with you where the innermost secret sins we harbor deep in our souls are revealed and cleansed. These open and secret prayers join together to become a catalyst by which you transform us in Christ… they are hearts, souls, minds, and bodies, that are made perfectly honest and open to you. Hear us now as we pray, and deliver us from our sins of life, and innermost spirit, so that we will know together how much we have come to believe in you, and how complete our faith is as we walk with your Son Jesus. Praised be your name in our every prayer, regardless of their manifestation. Hear us shouting Holy, Holy, Holy, with the masses, and breath in silent utterance with every secret breath of the life you have given us… we breathe in your gift of life and hear “Yah”, and we breathe it out again as it is returned to you as we exhale…”weh”.
We shout out “HOLY! HOLY! HOLY! are you our God” … while continuously breathing life by whispering your name, the Tetragrammaton. Thus, we pray that all the world will join with us, and claim our conversation (public and secret) by saying…
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Here is a quick lesson in the meaning and pronunciation of the word - tetragrammaton… https://youtu.be/Uc1kpnHKQxY?si=j5TpgbdOUnQrdpSF
Additional Scripture readings:
“ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:39 ESV
“And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”[a] And they cast lots to divide his garments.”
Luke 23:34 ESV
“8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
Revelation 4:8-11 ESV
Rich Forbes