02/21/2024
Have you ever thought of prayer as a way of channeling spiritual energy? E.M. Bounds gave us this remarkable thought to contemplate when he wrote these words “Prayer as spiritual energy makes way for, and brings into practical realization, the promises of God.” So far this year we have been studying the power of prayer, but until now we have been thinking of it simply as a tool, or means of communicating with God. Today however, we are seeing it in a new light… it carries a form of spiritual energy all unto itself, and not only delivers our thoughts to God, but changes who we are inside, and brings us into conformance with God’s will. Prayer is not just a means of asking God to deliver on His promises, but it makes us firm in our belief in them. Prayer is a fuel that strengthens our faith.
Jesus spoke to us of the power of prayer when he said this:
“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Matthew 21:22 KJV
Psalms 84 spoke to us as well when in it we hear that all of God's promises to us are available to us.
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
Psalms 84:11 KJV
And Thomas Aquinas said that prayer was not the sounds, or the words we pray, but the love we exude; listen:
“Prayer is not the reverberation of sound; it is the articulation of love.”
Thomas Aquinas
Prayer is certainly our conversation with God. It is through the power of prayer that we bridge the physical and the spiritual. It is through the power of prayer that our desires are brought before the throne to be met in partnership with God's desire to fill them. It is through the power of prayer that our very groans and utterances are understood by God as completely as the words we speak. It is through the power of prayer that we grant God unfettered access to our very thoughts and beings; and it carries in it the power to change our will to be His will.
In the quiet places we seek Him, in secret we seek Him, but always in prayer we call out to Him: "My father who art in heaven." God wishes to enter into a relationship with us and what is a relationship without the active participation of two? If not for prayer there would be an infatuation of one without the knowledge of the other; but in prayer there is love that unites one for the other. Love is the power that constructs the bridge of prayer.
This morning when we pray let's do so with the full acknowledgement of the spiritual energy we are exercising. Let's understand that this energy arcs between ourselves and the divine for an instant before we touch, and then allows us to commune as we walk hand in hand together. God walked with Adam and now He walks with us... As His children.
“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:26 KJV
Prayer... Along with faith it joins us with our greater family, and gives us access to the promises of our Heavenly Father.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the love that transforms my inadequate words into your divine language, and for allowing me to join with you in heavenly conversation. Thank you for the spark of your amazing power that makes my words holy, and not just lame earthly expressions spoken into the air about me without truly believing you are there to receive them. Thank you Lord for the power of prayer that has changed me forever, and transformed my will into yours, so that I might become the worthy recipient of your every promise. Help me Father as my heart strives to complete the bridge between this, my earthly body and spirit, and your glorious self, and Holy Spirit. In this way I am able to speak holy words before your throne in unison with your heavenly host, saying as they do… Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, and doing so confidently knowing that you hear me, and answer me with your promises. My imperfection is covered by the blood of your Son Jesus, and made perfect by Him so that my prayers are like His… humbly, and faithfully prayed so that your will is done, and you are glorified. Hear me in this my prayer of thanksgiving and worship, and know that I praise your Holy Name by lifting it up before the world, and all creation. Hear me as I pray these things in the name of your Son Jesus Christ.
Amen
Rich Forbes