…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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