Saturday, October 17, 2015

Why Do You Pray? When Do You Pray? Who Do You Pray To?




…I say to you, he who believes in Me,…greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. —John 14:12

“Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. […] Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. However God may engineer your circumstances, your duty is to pray. Never allow yourself this thought, “I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly cannot be used where you have not yet been placed. Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually offering up prayers to Him. […] When you labor at prayer, from God’s perspective there are always results. What an astonishment it will be to see, once the veil is finally lifted, all the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you have been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.” CHAMBERS

(Ephesians 6:11-18)  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”

Prayer is how you engage in spiritual warfare.  The full armor equips you.  Prayer is you engaging in the battle.  Many people use prayer as a means of escape.  “Lord, if you get me out of this, I will follow you.”  When the right thing to pray is, “Lord I will follow you, whether you get me out of this or not”.  Courage is not the absence of fear, but action in the face of fear. 

Joshua 1:8-9 says obey the Word and do not be afraid.  Why?  Because God is with you if you are born again. “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Prayer is so important but, next to reading the Word, is the most the neglected aspect of our faith.  You don’t have to pray in King James English to be heard by God, but these words in Psalm 5 were put to music are a great way to start a conversation with your Father.  (Psalm 5:1-3) “Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.  My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”

Ok, I am going to say something that might shake things up a bit.  You can let me know if you disagree.  Question.  Who do you pray to?  My answer .. to the Father.  The Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8 :26) “ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” 

Jesus is at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest making intercession for us.  (Hebrews 4:14 -16) “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  What is the “then” … because Jesus is our High Priest .. and the sacrifice … we can approach God.  When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray .. Jesus said pray to the Father … he didn’t mention anyone else .. you can check it out on your own.  Think about it.  ELGIN

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