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To Pray or Not to
Pray
“Pray
without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
In the United States of America,
presidential elections are “right around the corner,”
and one of the candidates has stated he often prays
about his decisions as the leader of a nation. The
other man “professes not to
allow his religious beliefs to affect his political view”
(Long Beach, California, “Press Telegram,” October 16,
2004, page A15). Both men state they are religious and
hopefully BOTH of them pray. That would be very good,
especially in the light of today’s Scripture, in which
the Holy Spirit prompted us through the Apostle Paul
that (political or not) we should ALWAYS be in prayer –
about everything!
To pray or not to pray is
important, and it may well be the greatest difference
between the various leaders and people around the
world. It’s a great concern for ALL who are on this
earth: When you’re in trouble, what do you do? Cover up
your mistake? Blame it on someone else? Or pray?
What do you THINK about prayer?
Recently we had lunch in Washington, DC, with someone
who has great anger toward God, refusing to pray to Him
anymore until he “sees God”
and asks Him “about all the
suffering in the world…” Of course, by that time
it will be too late - The time to pray is now. It’s sad
that many simply don’t believe in prayer at all;
deciding that “God won’t
answer anyway… Why
bother?”
Right below the newspaper article
mentioned earlier (which was entitled, “Why
Shouldn’t Faith Guide Politicians?”), there was
an unrelated picture of a large number of religious
people obviously in prayer. They’re not Christians.
Does God hear those prayers? Does He hear any prayers?
The world is filled with Jews, Buddhists, Muslims,
Christians and others who pray, ostensibly to God. If
we call out to Him with competing prayers, whose side is
He on?
There is a fascinating account in
Scripture of an event that happened to Joshua on the day
after the “manna ceased”
(Joshua 5:12). Moses, the man of God, had died, the “manna”
that God had given them for food all those years was
suddenly gone and he (Joshua) was now responsible for
everything. It must have felt like God’s blessing was
gone.
Suddenly “a
Man stood opposite (Joshua)
with His sword drawn in His
hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, ‘Are you
for us or for our adversaries?” (Joshua 5:13).
Considering the context of those verses, you would
expect the Man to reply: “We’re
for YOU, Joshua, for ISRAEL, of course!” But He
did not. His response: “NO,
but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come”
(Joshua 5:14). It was at that point Joshua fell on his
face and worshipped the One who spoke to him. Joshua
and Israel were to be on GOD’S side, not the other way
around. It’s the same for the church.
He reasonably expects you to
respond to HIM; which is to say, our prayers are to be
in HIS will, not our own. John the Apostle observed, “Now
this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we
ask anything according to HIS WILL, He hears us. And if
we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that
we have the petitions that we have asked of Him”
(1 John 5:14-15). God anticipates that the prayers you
utter will be HIS prayers in you. But how CAN we know
how to pray in God’s will?
The answer is often glimpsed in
Scripture, but it is especially clear in Romans Chapter
8 – You need the Holy Spirit to show you how to pray,
and the Spirit is yours through Jesus Christ. There is
no other way. Look at Romans 8:10: “IF Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is
life because of righteousness.” When we have
placed our trust “in”
Christ, we are admittedly less different on the outside
than we would like, but inside, everything begins to
change. We start to know what to do and say, because
the Holy Spirit is nudging us into the directions we
should take. We can learn to pray in God’s will, and
HIS prayers in us are ANSWERED.
Through the Spirit of Christ, here
is the process that begins to occur: “the
Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know
what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit
Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows
what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes
intercession for the saints according to the will of God”
(Romans 8:26-27). I teach a study in Psalms on Thursday
mornings. The Book of Psalms is largely prayer and I
tell the listeners: when you THINK of someone, PRAY for
them. When that person next to you has a sad
expression, reach out and comfort them, and don’t forget
to pray! Often, God’s Spirit communicates God’s will
for prayer through what we see and hear.
Many years ago, I had reached a
point where I had failed as a worker, in marriage and in
just about every other important part of life. I had
read the Koran, the Book of Mormon and other
“scriptures” that were around at the time, including
some of what is called the Vedas. My life was not
changed. It was just information and the world has
plenty of that. I read the Bible last, not because of
any intention, but it was just the way things turned
out. After a year it was done and I was saddened
because once more, nothing changed. And then I prayed.
God suddenly flooded my mind with verses and sections of
the Bible. Along with this “download” was an
understanding of what had been read. The prayer was
answered and my life was changed – forever. I knew and
know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died and is
risen from the dead and this Book, this Bible, written
over a period of 1,400 years, a compilation of many
books by many authors, IS God’s written Word.
The Bible is FULL of the prayers of
men, women, boys and girls who prayed and were answered
by the Lord God, maker of heaven and earth. We are
COMMANDED to pray, and today’s Scripture is precisely
that: a command. When it says, “Pray
without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), the Lord
has us all in mind – leaders and non-leaders alike.
What will you do? Prayer is
similar to a muscle that becomes STRONG when it is
used. And the “strength” we need in prayer is not
really ours at all. It is HIS strength, in and through
ordinary people. The answers are His – we just need to
pray.
Let’s do it now: Father, I have not
prayed as I should. There have been times, many times,
when I did not WANT to pray. Forgive me, Lord. I trust
in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Fill me with Your Spirit and
let me be a person who PRAYS. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Ron Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
www.FridayStudy.org
www.FirstChurchontheNet.org
E-mail:
Ron@FridayStudy.org
Tel:
(562) 688-5559
PO Box 92131
Long Beach, CA 90809-2131
"While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
(Romans
5:8)
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