12/27/2024
We are drawing near to the end of another year, and so is the devotional book (“The Power of Prayer” by E. M. Bounds) that I have been reading. But there are still a few more days before I will begin rewriting and editing my past thoughts on another devotional classic… “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers. However, this year isn’t quite complete yet and this morning Pastor Bounds presented us with two key points in his message on experiencing a prayerful relationship with God, the first being that answered prayer is the evidence of God's existence, and the second is that answered prayer is proof of a right relationship with God. This is how Bounds expressed himself and where it led me…
"It proves that God is interested in His creatures, and listens to them when they approach Him in prayer. There is no proof so clear and demonstrative that God exists than answered prayer.
The answer to prayer is the part of prayer that glorifies God. Unanswered prayers leave the praying ones in darkness and carry no conviction to the unbeliever. Answer to prayer is the convincing proof of a right relationship with God." - E.M. Bounds
This isn't to say that God will answer our prayers as we expect, but an answer will come, and when we are praying within the will of God and our prayers are aligned with His purposes, amazing witness is provided for all the world to see, and He is glorified. The scripture chosen for Bounds' message comes from 1 Kings and is an interesting one as well. It comes from the story of Elijah's confrontation with Baal's prophets in the time of Ahab.
“Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.”
1 Kings 18:37 KJV
When Elijah called unto God asking that He hear him, it was a request that He would show the people of Israel that Baal was a false god and that there was but one true God… Yahweh. It also revealed through prayer, and the Lord’s bold answer, what happens when people return to a proper worship and once again become God's people. This was a national prayer for a demonstration, and showed that God existed, and that Elijah was His prophet. It also led them to see what a right relationship with God would bring them. Then with the people worshiping God once again... God restored the rain and ended the drought in Israel. He had ended both their spiritual and physical droughts.
“And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.”
1 Kings 18:45 KJV
As I think about this prayer I realize that there are few people who command such a stage. There are very few ministers today who can draw such national or worldwide attention to God's ability to answer prayer... Perhaps Billy Graham would have been an example, or Mother Theressa.
Most of our prayers are offered privately in our prayer closets, or while sitting peacefully in prayer chairs, hospital rooms, or in individual churches. The result of our answered prayer has the same impact, just on a much smaller scale, as Elijah’s. In 2015, I believe that my physical healing was an answer to prayer... Not just mine, but the prayers of many, and became a demonstration of God’s glory to us.
During my pilgrimage through cancer, relationships with God were strengthened, others were restored, and some were begun for the first time. However, many prayers were uttered in secret and their answer known only between the person who offered them and God. Not all prayers are meant to be encouraging to the masses, some are only for the eyes and hearts of the person who prays them.
So, we ask ourselves, what about those prayers that seem to go unanswered? What about the Saints who pray for the healing of children who never get well? This perplexed me for a long time, then in a moment of crisis with my own daughter, the word came to me... God doesn't let bad things happen to us to test our faith... He uses those times to show us the strength of our faith.
I went to college at The Virginia Military Institute and that was one of the most physically and mentally demanding times of my life. I was there with my classmates, and we underwent the same trials together. That kind of joint suffering has an unexpected outcome... it cements people together. I am still joined to my classmates by phone, email, and reunions over 50 years later. I am revealing this now because when times are at their worst and we are praying, those desperate prayers have a very similar effect, they bring us closer to God, deeper into our relationship with Him, and to a point where our faith takes a giant leap forward. Those times reveal God's existence, cement us in our relationship with Him, and confirm our being right with Him as our Heavenly Father.
So, I think about the two points that E.M. Bounds made in his devotional and I pray that for all those who don't know Jesus and our Heavenly Father. I pray for their first answered prayer to be that Jesus comes into their lives, and that with each succeeding prayer they increase in their relationship with Him and grow in righteousness... I pray that they will become more right, more good, more merciful, and indeed more Christ-like in every aspect of themselves. My friend, will you join me in prayer today? Are you prepared to receive the proof of God’s existence, and the relationship He desires to have with us?
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, for answered prayers, whether they are public or private, demonstrative, or quietly forgiving. Father, I pray that my relationship with you is forever right and righteous. I pray that you use me to demonstrate your existence to me and all those around me. Heavenly Father, you hear my prayers and answer every one in your own perfect will and vision. In your hands I entrust the outcome of my life through prayer and know that although you haven't used me on the scale that you once used Elijah that you will use me none the less, and protect me... even from myself and any misaligned desires I might harbor. Lord, as I pray, strengthen my belief in your presence within my life, and allow me a glimpse of my being right with you through your answers to my prayers. As I listen to you in my quiet times, speak to me Abba, and instruct me in how I should pray; guide my words such that they will be used in service to you... even as you did with those of Elijah. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who uses our prayers to reveal yourself to us, and to lead us in how to live righteously. Holy are you whose Spirit abide is us and helps us as we pray. Even in the presence of your Holy Spirit we find your amazing mercy and grace at work, our prayers answered, and our lives righted. Open our hearts and our minds as we pray so that you will guide or steps and open our spirits as you teach us how to join in conversation with you… even as we employ heavenly languages such as moans, tears, and joyous laughter. Let every prayer we pray expand our horizons of faith and bring us closer to you in loving embrace. Call to us in prayer, reassure us as you answer them, proclaim us worthy as we trust in your promise of grace, and let no promise be more perfect than that which we find in the gospel of Jesus, and the eternity we are promised by believing in Him. Praised be your name Father, and may all honor and glory be yours forever, and always.
Let all of creation call out Hallelujah! And every man, woman, and child, claim an… Amen!
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
1 John 5:14-15 ESV
“Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.[a]
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,[b]
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,[c]
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.”
Matthew 6:9-13 ESV
Rich Forbes