When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut
your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place . . . —Matthew 6:6
‘The primary thought
in the area of religion [read -- your faith] is— keep your
eyes on God, not on people. […]Have no motivation other than to know your
Father in heaven. It is impossible to
carry on your life as a disciple without definite times of secret prayer. “When
you pray, do not use vain repetitions . . .” (Matthew 6:7). God does not hear us because we pray
earnestly— He hears us solely on the basis of redemption. God is never
impressed by our earnestness. […] Prayer
is coming into perfect fellowship and oneness with God. If the Son of God
has been formed in us through regeneration (see Galatians 4:19), then He will
continue to press on beyond our common sense and will change our attitude about
the things for which we pray. We pray
religious nonsense without even involving our will, and then we say that God did
not answer— but in reality we have never asked for anything. […] Asking means that our will must be involved.
Whenever Jesus talked about prayer, He spoke with wonderful childlike
simplicity. […] But remember that we
have to ask things of God that are in keeping with the God whom Jesus Christ
revealed.’ CHAMBERS
I am sure that you have heard people pray in church. I was telling the students in our Haitian
bible study about King James English. That
some people believed that if you are going to talk to God, you must speak in
the right language … so people will pray saying Thee and Thou and Art … and
they never talk like that except when they pray. So I asked, if God hears in
King James English .. what is the rest of the world to do? Does God not hear their prayers? I also have heard people pray with great
passion .. great passion .. almost working themselves up into a sweat … even yelling
at times .. as if increasing the volume will help get the words up to the
Throne of Grace and the ears of God.
Here are some thoughts .. the Holy Spirit prays for us those
things that are too hard for us to pray …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, our high priest, is making intercession
for us before the Father. Hebrews 6:19-20 “We have this hope as
an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind
the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has
become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
The Bible tells us to pray … Prayer is a big deal. It is probably the greatest weakness in the lives of most Christians. Why must we pray .. if God knows everything? Because
He wants us to. (really I could stop there) Because He, the creator God, said to. Because, somehow, it
brings focus to our relationship with
Him. Because … it is an important part of spiritual warfare …. Prayer quickeneth
(a little King James) our spirit … Ephesians
6:17-18 “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. With this in mind, be
alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” ELGIN
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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