09/06/2024
This morning I read about the relationship between being consecrated (becoming sacred or holy) and prayer. Although it is much like the chicken and the egg, in which we ask which came first, there is no doubt that they go hand in hand. But, reading the bible and attempting to adhere to every commandment without speaking with God is nearly impossible to my way of thinking. As a matter of fact, it would be ignoring a great portion of the bible itself as it deals with prayer, praying, and those who pray. Pastor E.M. Bounds, attempted to explain this conundrum to us in his discussion of prayer and consecration; yet still left us with a bit of the conundrum to consider. In one statement he says...
"Prayer leads to full consecration." – E. M. Bounds
While almost immediately he wrote something that appeared to reverse this thinking when he said:
"The prayer life is direct fruit of entire consecration to God." – E. M. Bounds
I believe that in reading this the words "full" and then "entire" give us clues to this mystery, and help us understand him. I will rephrase his thoughts to add clarity...
“Prayer leads us to a fullness of consecration and as our consecration increases in depth so does our ability to pray, and likewise, those prayers feed our increased consecration all the more.”
In as much as we wish to consecrate ourselves, or to separately reach a perfection in prayer, we find them to be linked in a symbiotic relationship, with each one advancing itself through the efforts of the other. We might imagine scenarios in which prayer can exist without consecration or that consecration can be achieved without prayer, but as hard as we might try to separate the two, one gives birth to the other. At its core, prayer is our spiritual communion with God and until this happens can we say that we believe, or have faith? After all, what is prayer in the absence of faith but hollow recitation, and what is consecration without communication and relationship with God?
“Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:12-13 KJV
This morning I pray that we increase our consecration through our relationship with God in prayer. I pray that our times of prayerful communion will bear the fruit of consecration in fullness and increase. I pray that even as one grows, the other might benefit from its bounty and grow likewise. I pray that God continues to nurture our prayer lives and faith throughout our years, making us more acceptable to Him as we grow.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for hearing us as we pray, and for our deep desire to know you, to be perfected in you, and to be consecrated by you. Thank you Lord for increasing us in our belief and faith as we speak with you each day in prayer, and approach a state of holiness in our closets, chairs, and secret places as we do so. Help us Holy Father to come to you through your Son Jesus Christ, and to obey your will just as He does. Abba, in as much as our quest for you comes to its fruition, and achieves holiness, let us come to you all the more in prayer. Let our holiness and prayer feed upon one another, and drink from the same cup. Let us experience and grow in the New Covenant that Jesus presented to us in what we call communion. Let our sweat and wine become blood as we pray, and our bread become the body of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ as we believe. Let your Word, and His life, become the nourishment of our faith, and each sip of prayer quench the thirst of our relationship. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who walks with us, speaks with us, and increases our understanding and faith in you with each step we take together. Hear today our prayers, and see from our heart the burning desire we have to become holy as Jesus is holy, and to hear your small voice as Elijah heard it. Lift us up Father and perfect us as we cry out to you... “Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God, who was, and is, and is to come”, and we pray fervently to you in whom our life has been made full, and our faith holy, and eternal. Amen
“Then you will call on Me and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear [your voice] and I will listen to you. Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:12-13 AMP
Rich Forbes