‘[…]When a person is born again from above, the
life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that
life. Prayer is the way that the life of
God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in
the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for
ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God
Himself. […] To say that “prayer changes things” is not as close to the truth
as saying, “Prayer changes me and then I change things.” God has established
things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person
looks at things. Prayer is not a matter
of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner
nature.’ CHAMBERS
We understand our Christian faith in terms of our
culture, affluence and technology. What I mean is that as Americans Christians who may
have 5 or 6 Bibles in the house, we believe that in order to live the “normal” Christian
life, you must have a Bible … and more is better. (and frankly many believe it is not the ‘reading’
but the ‘having’ that is most important) But what does that mean for people who
can’t read or who don’t have access to a Bible?
Are they denied that life? Did they get the spiritual short end of the stick? If we share the Gospel with a person in a
remote village and they accept Jesus, what happens when we leave that
village? What is it that they have that
will help them with their new life? The answer
is prayer.
In our practice, we have relegated prayer as a means to start something
or to end something. But prayer is a
vital link in our relationship with God. 1
Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice
always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will
for you in Christ Jesus.”
God has equipped us for relationship with Him. He gave us His Spirit who helps us .. even to
pray … He has given us His Son who intercedes on our behalf … He has adopted us
as His children and given us entrance to His presence. Those are spiritual
truths and we don’t need to know how to read or have a Bible to experience
them. Having a Bible and being able to
read it is a huge blessing … but prayer is no less powerful … James 5:16-18 “Therefore confess your
sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is
powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed
earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and
a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth
produced its crops.”
Bondye
Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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