Paul said, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ for you" (1 Thess. 5:16 - 18, NKJV, emphasis added).
A Bible-believing Christian is expected to do three things in his Christian walk - Rejoice always, pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks. It also implies that if a believer who fails to do that is not walking in the will of God.
Please refer to my previous message - "Pray without Ceasing". This message concerns the other two things - "Rejoice always" and "In everything give thanks".
What does it mean to rejoice always and in everything give thanks? Paul said that we can always find something to be thankful to God. In fact God wants us to praise Him and thank Him and rejoice in all circumstances, even in hardship, suffering and affliction; in bad times or in good times.
According to Paul to "give thanks always for all things" is expected of all Spirit-filled Christians:
"And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God" (Eph. 5:18 - 21, emphasis added).
The things that a Spirit filled believer does are:
1. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs - praising God.
2. Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord - rejoicing.
3. Giving thanks always for all things - in all circumstances, all situations, sicknesses and pain etc.
4. Submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Any believer who does not have these experiences might not be Spirit filled. He could have been baptized in the Holy Spirit at one time, but at this particular moment he might not be Spirit filled.
Praise is a sacrifice
It is just as important to praise God in the midst of your problems and difficulties as in any other time. You need to praise God even on those days when it seems impossible to find anything good to say to God or to anyone else.
Praising God is not always easy. When things are rough, when you are sick, when yours friends and family members ridicule you for your faith, when you don't know where to turn to, then it takes real effort and determination to praise God. Also, in the midst of difficult trials, it is hard not to indulge in self-pity and feel sorry for yourself!
God wants us to praise Him even when circumstances are at their worst.
The writer of Hebrews said, "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name" (Heb. 13:15, emphasis added).
Notice that the Bible calls praise a sacrifice! Any time you exert special effort at the expense of your own comfort or enjoyment, for the sake of please or obeying God, He will honor that sacrifice. God honors a sacrifice because a sacrifice honors God.
Not only does a sacrifice of praise bring honor to God, but it is also your most effective response to a situation that could bring on fear, doubt, discouragement, and depression. Difficult situations can beat your faith down until it is almost impossible to believe that God will answer your prayer. More than anything else, the sacrifice of praise can build up your faith to receive the victory from God.
The psalmis said, "Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing" (Ps. 107:22).
"I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord (Ps. 116:17).
The Power in Praise
David, the psalmist said, "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel" (Ps. 22:3, KJV).
No wonder God's power and pressence is near when we praise Him. he actually dwells, inhabits, and resides, in our praises!
Jehoshaphat's victory
A remarkable example of how God works while His children praise Him is found in 2 Chron. 20.
Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, and one day he discovered that his little kingdom was surrounded by the powerful armies of his enemies - the Moabites, the Ammonites, and others. Jehoshaphat knew that little Judah didn't have a chance in its own might, and so he cried out to God:
"O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You" (2 Chron. 20:12, NKJV, emphasis added).
An important step in the act of praising God is to take our eyes off the threatening circumstance and look to God instead. Notice that Jehoshaphat was not just closing his eyes to the threat against his kingdom or pretending the enemies were not there. But he took careful stock of the situation, recognized his own helplessness, and turned to God for help.
We are not to be blind to the very real threats of evil in our lives. Seeing them for what they are only gives us greater cause to praise and thank God for working in them with perfect control and authority. But we are to be preoccupied with the appearance of evil evil around us. See it, admit our helplessness to cope with it in our own strength, then turn to God.
God then said to Jehoshaphat, "Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's" (2 Chron. 20:15).
To me, that is a tremendous statement. We don't have the power to deal with the circumstance of our lives, so obviously, the battle isn't ours, but God's!
The Lord said further, "You will not need to fight in the battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, ..." (Verse 17).
What a promise! All they needed to do was to appoint singers to praise and sing to the Lord. When they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against their enemies (Verse 22).
Many of us are constantly defeated by the cicumstances around us because we are not ready accept that the battle is God's, not ours. God's Word makes it clear that the only way out of that dilemma is the step of faith on our part. We must believe that God's promises are valid, then accepting them, and daring to trust in them whether we understand God's way or not.
Solomon said, "Trust in the Lord will all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:6, NKJV).
The above is a Biblical principle: "Acceptance comes before understand" - a step of faith in God.
Jehoshaphat would never have dared follow God's plan for the battle if he had insisted on understanding it. God's proposal and promise undoubtedly staggered and went beyond Jehoshaphat's understanding. But he was a man who believed and trusted God. And we should do likewise.
Joshua's victory
Joshua was another leader who received battle orders from God that must have staggered his understanding and challenged his willingness to accept what must have seemed absurd to many who watched. Read Joshua 6:1 - 20 for the account of Joshua's victory. All they needed to do was to march around Jericho, seven times, with seven priest, marched before the Ark of the Covenant, blowing the trumpets of rams' horn (symbolic of praising the Lord). Joshua believed and trusted God and He delivered the enemies of Israel into their hands. Once again, the battle wasn't their but God's.
The examples of Jehoshaphat and Joshua clearly demonstrate that God wins our victories by means and principles that look utterly foolish and contradictory to our human wisdom and strategies. We are told to trust Him, praise Him, and watch Him work.
The danger of grumbling and complaining
Grumbling and complaining come so easy to all of us that we oftern don't realize what we are doing. Notice that, in the eyes of the Lord, grumbling is the very opposite of thanksgiving; a complaint is the opposite of trust; and murmuring is the opposite of acceptance.
The dictionary defines a complaint as an accusation. By complaining and grumbling you are actually accusing God of mismanaging the details of your day. The attitude of praise releases the power of God into your life, but the attitude of murmuring and complaining blocks the power.
Paul said, "And don't grumble as some of them did, for that is why God sent his angel of death to destroy them. All thses events happedned to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us, who live at the time when this age is drawing to a close" (1 Cor. 10:10, 11, NLT).
Paul was speaking about the behavior of the children of Israel on their wanderings from Egypt to the Promised Land. One of the terrible consequences is recorded in Numbers:
"Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and conseumed some in the outskirts of the camp" (Numbers 11:1, NKJV).
Forty years the children of Israel wandered, and every time something went wrong, they complained bitterly and wanted to go back to the fleshpots of Egypt. How the Lord dealt with them is recorded in Number 11 - 14.
Paul wrote to the believers at Philippi: "Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world" (Phil. 2:14 - 16, NKJV).
It is our lack of complaining and our joy in Christ that enables us to shine like beacons, holding out the Word of Life in a dark world. It was true in Philippi, and it is true today. Let us stop our grumblings and praise the Lord for every dark and crooked thing we see around us. Do it, and watch God's light penetrate the darkness!
Count it all joy
James said, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect amd complete, lacking nothing" (James 1:2 - 4, NKJV).
Peter said almost the same thing: "In this (your salvation) you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6, 7).
The method God uses to make our faith grow is to put trials (difficulties, temptations and problems) in our everyday experiences. Through this, our patience, endurance and steadfastness grow. God wants us to trust Him and rely more and more on His promises as we go through these trials.
God showed prophet Jeremiah that he would have to go with the Jews into Babylonian captivity for a lifetime. He said to him, "For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope" (Jer. 29:11, NLT).
The years of suffering in Babylon were part of God's plan for Jeremiah and the Jews. It was a good plan, the best plan, designed to give them a future and a hope.
God's plan for you and me is also a good plan. But we have to learn to trust Him and rely more and more on His promises. The purifying, the testing of our faith, have to come through circumstances that are a challenge to our determiantion to believe, trust, rely on God's Word, in spite of what our senses tell us. That is why Paul said we should walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7) because "All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
Conclusion
The main benefit of praise is that it lifts you above circumstances. Meditating on the problems you are facing will not build your faith to solve those problems. You must rise above the circumstances which are defeating you, by reaching up and catching hold of the Hand of God who is higher than you. As you begin to praise God and rejoice in Him, He will lift you up above your sorrows and into an environment of victory.
Praise centers our attention on the Lord rather than on our problems. When the storm of life were coming in on David, threatening to destroy him, he cried out to God:
"Lead me to the rock that is higher than I" (Ps. 61:2).
Praise lifts us up to stand on the Rock, Christ Jesus, who is much greater than any problem we might face!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Pray without Ceasing
Luke, a gospel writer recorded: "Then He (Jesus) spoke a parable to them, that man always ought to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1, NKJV, emphasis added).
Paul said, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thess. 5:16 - 18, emphasis added).
Other versions of the Bible say, "pray continually" (NIV) and "keep on praying" (NLT).
To pray without ceasing is the will of God for all Bible-believing Christians. The above Verses of Scripture also imply that if a believer in Christ does not pray without ceasing, he is not walking in the will of God!
Paul also said, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, ...." (Eph. 6:18, emphasis added).
Paul also said, "We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you" (Col. 1:3, emphasis added).
All these terms, "praying always", "pray without ceasing", "Pray continually" and "keep on praying" came from the mouth of Jesus and Paul with the highest authority. Therefore, I believe, the Holy Spirit is endeavoring to teach us that prayer is the most important exercise in a Christian's experience. The Holy Spirit wants us to believe that prayer is the most powerful weapon, the most priceless treasure, the greatest ministry in heaven and on earth, and best of all, prayer, with its potential, is available to us all.
Christians can learn how pray without ceasing, for otherwise why would Jesus and Paul wanted us to pray without ceasing? Why would they want believers to do something which they are not able to do?
The meaning of "Pray without ceasing"
Now, what does it mean to "pray without ceasing" or to "pray continually"?
Does it mean to give up our jobs, leave the responsibility of our families to others, and to go and live in a cave hign in the mountain, away from all people and all civilizations? Does it mean we should become fanatics in the the eyes of non-Christians? And, instead of doing our work properly, pleasing our bosses, and satisfying the needs of our families, freak out in front of them with our apparent supper-spirituality? The answer to all these questions is of couse "No".
By studying the prayer life of many Bible characters, and to see how the Scripture describe their walk with God, we can learn something of "pray without ceasing".
The psalmist said, "In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted" (Ps. 77:2, emphasis added).
David, the psalmist said, "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall contnually be in my mouth" (Ps. 34:1, emphasis added).
Psalmist Solomon said, "Prayer also will be made for Him continually, and daily He shall be praised" (Ps. 72:15, emphasis added).
The apostles said, "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4, emphasis added).
The writer of Hebrews said, "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name" (Heb. 13:15, emphasis added).
Paul said, "For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers" (Romans 1:9, emphasis added).
Paul said, "I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my fore-fathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day" (2 Tim. 1:3, emphasis added).
By studying the prayer life of other great men of God like Moses, Samuel, Elijah and Daniel we will not fail to realize that they had learned the art of praying without ceasing that comes by praying habitually. And we have been able to see mighty accomplishments through their prayers. We, as Christians, too, can do the same and accomplish much through praying habitually.
To pray habitually
From morning until night, hour by hour, minute by minute, the Christians's heart should be so close to the heart of God that that he can learn the art of praying habitually.
Like every other art, prayer needs preparation and preparation and practice for effectiveness. Before you can pray habitually, first, however, you must believe in the importance of prayer; you must believe in the privilege of prayer; you must believe in the purpose of prayer; and you must believe in the power of prayer. We have discussed some of these benefits of prayer in some of my other messages. Therefore we shall just mention some of these benefits here.
The privilege of prayer
James said, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8, NKJV).
What a glorious condescension of God's part! What an exiting invitation from God Himself. What a privilege to be children of God! When the children of Israel stood before Mt. Sinai, they were told to stay back, to keep from God's presence lest they should die. But here, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are brought right up close to our Heavenly Father; so close that we are urged, even implored, to "draw near to God". We can get as close to God as we want. We get close to God through prayer.
When God invites us to come close to Him, He wants us to open our hearts and to commune with Him, to learn more about Him, and to enjoy Him. Then His glory will radiate from us. His abundance of power will flow through us, and His blessed presence will keep us at all times in perfect peace. Then by standing on His many promises we will see how bountifully He provides for us. All of heaven and earth are ours because we are in Him and we are His. We must believe in the privelege of prayer, because that is the only way for any of us to draw near to Him.
The purpose and importance of prayer
Prayer is not only communion with God but is also a part of the Christians's growing process. The Word of God is our spiritual nourishment. The method by which we make use of this nourishment is to pray habitually. You can tell who are the praying Christians because they look like it, and they act like it. They love prayer! We eat (habitually) to produce a strong healthy body. In the same way, spiritually, prayer uses the the Word of God to change us into Christians with strong characters, effective in faith and victorious in service.
Our physical growth is a process "without ceasing"; it never stops, even though age will catch us up. Similarly, our spiritual growth is a "growth without ceasing". The true Christian is continually growing. How? By praying and studying the Word of God without ceasing!
There is nothing you and I will ever do that is as important as prayer. We need to cultivate the desire to pray. When we call upon the Name of the Lord, we will see great changes.
David, the psalmist said, "The poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles" (Ps. 34:6).
The psalmist said, "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses" (Ps. 107:19).
Read also Ps. 40:2, 3. You can find many more similar passeges in the Book of Psalms.
The power of prayer
All the power seen in nature, from the first day of creation until now, cannot be compared to the power cantained in one sentence of prayer offered by a penitent soul before the Throne of Grace.
In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9 - 14), Jesus told us about a tax collector who, under deep conviction of his guilt and wrong, went to the temple to seek cleansing and forgiveness. How many years it had taken for the wretched sinner to reach this state Jesus did not say, but we soon learn how long it took for him to receive a brand new heart from God. It took just long enough (only few seconds) to pray this - "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" A lifetime of sin is gone and forgiven and a whole man made righteous and holy in a instant!
Jesus said, "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified" (Verse 14).
That is the power of prayer! Moses used the power of prayer. He used the power of prayer to move the children of Israel out of Pharaoh's slavery, and He used the power of prayer to get them into the Promised Land. Israel was backslidden; Moses' brother had failed him, his leaders had defied him, his sister had dispised him. But Moses prayed on! Moses knew the power of prayer, and he knew the art of praying without ceasing.
Samuel knew and used the power of prayer. He prayed until wicked king Saul was deposed from his throne by God's declaration, and the shepherd boy, David, was promoted into Saul's place. Samuel wanted either his total conversion or his total collapse; he wanted the right man on the throne of Israel, and he put him there through the power of prayer. Sameil knew the art of praying without ceacing.
Elijah used the power of prayer when he prayed to hold back the rain from Israel for three and one-half years. Prayer made wicked Ahab tremble and brought down fire from heaven to consume a water-soak sacrifice. Yet Elijah was not a spiritual giant nor was him a person with special spiritual gifts. But he was a man with "a nature like ours" (James 5:17). What made him different is, he knew the art of praying without ceasing.
Daniel used the power of prayer. In my opinion, next to our Lord Jesus, Daniel may be recognized as the most powerful praying person in the Bible. Daniel prayed in order to obtain what seemed to be absolutely impossible thing. He received the revelation of Nebuchadnezzar's strange dreams (Daniel 2:1 - 45; 4:20 - 27), he stopped the mouths of roaring lions after being thrown into a pit alongside them (Daniel 6:16 - 23). Daniel did these things, and many more, by the power of prayer. He had learned the art of praying without ceasing. He knelt three times a day!
It is beyond the scope of this message to give more examples. But we must not forget to mention our Lord Jesus, the Master and Teacher of prayer. He raised the dead with authoritative prayer. His life was a life of continual prayer. He was up early in the morning to pray, sometimes praying all night, fasting and praying, continually praying. Let us not forget that there were great women of God in the Bible, like Hannah and Esther, who were great in prayer.
The one thing we notice about these prayer warriors is this - they walked with God (like Enoch before them). They wanted to be with God more than they wanted to be with anyone else. God was their reason for being here, living here, working here; and, when the time would come, their reason for going to be with Him forever. Nothing meant more to them than being in the presence of God and always pleasong God, just like Jesus did.
Jesus said, "The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him" (John 8:29, NKJV).
The act of pleasing God, the Father, is a continual act and, therefore, needs the art of praying without ceasing.
A good lesson from the psalmist
David, the psalmist said, "Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me" (Ps 55:17, 18).
For David, his battle was physical but for us it can be spiritual. The important thing is, what time we pray is not important, but it is important to learn that we can pray at any time. If we have started the day with God in prayer, we can walk with Him all through the day. We can talk to Him as we walk with Him. We can pray audibly or we can pray with the inner woice of the heart (our spirit). God enjoys them. Any time is prayer time:
The psalmist said, "He who keeps you will not slumber, Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps. 121:3, 4, NKJV).
The day and the night are the same with God, so that as we may want to, and as we need to, we can talk to God in prayer. He hears us anytime and He delights in hearing our prayer offered up to Him without ceasing!
Paul said, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thess. 5:16 - 18, emphasis added).
Other versions of the Bible say, "pray continually" (NIV) and "keep on praying" (NLT).
To pray without ceasing is the will of God for all Bible-believing Christians. The above Verses of Scripture also imply that if a believer in Christ does not pray without ceasing, he is not walking in the will of God!
Paul also said, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, ...." (Eph. 6:18, emphasis added).
Paul also said, "We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you" (Col. 1:3, emphasis added).
All these terms, "praying always", "pray without ceasing", "Pray continually" and "keep on praying" came from the mouth of Jesus and Paul with the highest authority. Therefore, I believe, the Holy Spirit is endeavoring to teach us that prayer is the most important exercise in a Christian's experience. The Holy Spirit wants us to believe that prayer is the most powerful weapon, the most priceless treasure, the greatest ministry in heaven and on earth, and best of all, prayer, with its potential, is available to us all.
Christians can learn how pray without ceasing, for otherwise why would Jesus and Paul wanted us to pray without ceasing? Why would they want believers to do something which they are not able to do?
The meaning of "Pray without ceasing"
Now, what does it mean to "pray without ceasing" or to "pray continually"?
Does it mean to give up our jobs, leave the responsibility of our families to others, and to go and live in a cave hign in the mountain, away from all people and all civilizations? Does it mean we should become fanatics in the the eyes of non-Christians? And, instead of doing our work properly, pleasing our bosses, and satisfying the needs of our families, freak out in front of them with our apparent supper-spirituality? The answer to all these questions is of couse "No".
By studying the prayer life of many Bible characters, and to see how the Scripture describe their walk with God, we can learn something of "pray without ceasing".
The psalmist said, "In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted" (Ps. 77:2, emphasis added).
David, the psalmist said, "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall contnually be in my mouth" (Ps. 34:1, emphasis added).
Psalmist Solomon said, "Prayer also will be made for Him continually, and daily He shall be praised" (Ps. 72:15, emphasis added).
The apostles said, "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4, emphasis added).
The writer of Hebrews said, "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name" (Heb. 13:15, emphasis added).
Paul said, "For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers" (Romans 1:9, emphasis added).
Paul said, "I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my fore-fathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day" (2 Tim. 1:3, emphasis added).
By studying the prayer life of other great men of God like Moses, Samuel, Elijah and Daniel we will not fail to realize that they had learned the art of praying without ceasing that comes by praying habitually. And we have been able to see mighty accomplishments through their prayers. We, as Christians, too, can do the same and accomplish much through praying habitually.
To pray habitually
From morning until night, hour by hour, minute by minute, the Christians's heart should be so close to the heart of God that that he can learn the art of praying habitually.
Like every other art, prayer needs preparation and preparation and practice for effectiveness. Before you can pray habitually, first, however, you must believe in the importance of prayer; you must believe in the privilege of prayer; you must believe in the purpose of prayer; and you must believe in the power of prayer. We have discussed some of these benefits of prayer in some of my other messages. Therefore we shall just mention some of these benefits here.
The privilege of prayer
James said, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8, NKJV).
What a glorious condescension of God's part! What an exiting invitation from God Himself. What a privilege to be children of God! When the children of Israel stood before Mt. Sinai, they were told to stay back, to keep from God's presence lest they should die. But here, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are brought right up close to our Heavenly Father; so close that we are urged, even implored, to "draw near to God". We can get as close to God as we want. We get close to God through prayer.
When God invites us to come close to Him, He wants us to open our hearts and to commune with Him, to learn more about Him, and to enjoy Him. Then His glory will radiate from us. His abundance of power will flow through us, and His blessed presence will keep us at all times in perfect peace. Then by standing on His many promises we will see how bountifully He provides for us. All of heaven and earth are ours because we are in Him and we are His. We must believe in the privelege of prayer, because that is the only way for any of us to draw near to Him.
The purpose and importance of prayer
Prayer is not only communion with God but is also a part of the Christians's growing process. The Word of God is our spiritual nourishment. The method by which we make use of this nourishment is to pray habitually. You can tell who are the praying Christians because they look like it, and they act like it. They love prayer! We eat (habitually) to produce a strong healthy body. In the same way, spiritually, prayer uses the the Word of God to change us into Christians with strong characters, effective in faith and victorious in service.
Our physical growth is a process "without ceasing"; it never stops, even though age will catch us up. Similarly, our spiritual growth is a "growth without ceasing". The true Christian is continually growing. How? By praying and studying the Word of God without ceasing!
There is nothing you and I will ever do that is as important as prayer. We need to cultivate the desire to pray. When we call upon the Name of the Lord, we will see great changes.
David, the psalmist said, "The poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles" (Ps. 34:6).
The psalmist said, "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses" (Ps. 107:19).
Read also Ps. 40:2, 3. You can find many more similar passeges in the Book of Psalms.
The power of prayer
All the power seen in nature, from the first day of creation until now, cannot be compared to the power cantained in one sentence of prayer offered by a penitent soul before the Throne of Grace.
In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9 - 14), Jesus told us about a tax collector who, under deep conviction of his guilt and wrong, went to the temple to seek cleansing and forgiveness. How many years it had taken for the wretched sinner to reach this state Jesus did not say, but we soon learn how long it took for him to receive a brand new heart from God. It took just long enough (only few seconds) to pray this - "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" A lifetime of sin is gone and forgiven and a whole man made righteous and holy in a instant!
Jesus said, "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified" (Verse 14).
That is the power of prayer! Moses used the power of prayer. He used the power of prayer to move the children of Israel out of Pharaoh's slavery, and He used the power of prayer to get them into the Promised Land. Israel was backslidden; Moses' brother had failed him, his leaders had defied him, his sister had dispised him. But Moses prayed on! Moses knew the power of prayer, and he knew the art of praying without ceasing.
Samuel knew and used the power of prayer. He prayed until wicked king Saul was deposed from his throne by God's declaration, and the shepherd boy, David, was promoted into Saul's place. Samuel wanted either his total conversion or his total collapse; he wanted the right man on the throne of Israel, and he put him there through the power of prayer. Sameil knew the art of praying without ceacing.
Elijah used the power of prayer when he prayed to hold back the rain from Israel for three and one-half years. Prayer made wicked Ahab tremble and brought down fire from heaven to consume a water-soak sacrifice. Yet Elijah was not a spiritual giant nor was him a person with special spiritual gifts. But he was a man with "a nature like ours" (James 5:17). What made him different is, he knew the art of praying without ceasing.
Daniel used the power of prayer. In my opinion, next to our Lord Jesus, Daniel may be recognized as the most powerful praying person in the Bible. Daniel prayed in order to obtain what seemed to be absolutely impossible thing. He received the revelation of Nebuchadnezzar's strange dreams (Daniel 2:1 - 45; 4:20 - 27), he stopped the mouths of roaring lions after being thrown into a pit alongside them (Daniel 6:16 - 23). Daniel did these things, and many more, by the power of prayer. He had learned the art of praying without ceasing. He knelt three times a day!
It is beyond the scope of this message to give more examples. But we must not forget to mention our Lord Jesus, the Master and Teacher of prayer. He raised the dead with authoritative prayer. His life was a life of continual prayer. He was up early in the morning to pray, sometimes praying all night, fasting and praying, continually praying. Let us not forget that there were great women of God in the Bible, like Hannah and Esther, who were great in prayer.
The one thing we notice about these prayer warriors is this - they walked with God (like Enoch before them). They wanted to be with God more than they wanted to be with anyone else. God was their reason for being here, living here, working here; and, when the time would come, their reason for going to be with Him forever. Nothing meant more to them than being in the presence of God and always pleasong God, just like Jesus did.
Jesus said, "The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him" (John 8:29, NKJV).
The act of pleasing God, the Father, is a continual act and, therefore, needs the art of praying without ceasing.
A good lesson from the psalmist
David, the psalmist said, "Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me" (Ps 55:17, 18).
For David, his battle was physical but for us it can be spiritual. The important thing is, what time we pray is not important, but it is important to learn that we can pray at any time. If we have started the day with God in prayer, we can walk with Him all through the day. We can talk to Him as we walk with Him. We can pray audibly or we can pray with the inner woice of the heart (our spirit). God enjoys them. Any time is prayer time:
The psalmist said, "He who keeps you will not slumber, Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps. 121:3, 4, NKJV).
The day and the night are the same with God, so that as we may want to, and as we need to, we can talk to God in prayer. He hears us anytime and He delights in hearing our prayer offered up to Him without ceasing!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Reasons of Unanswered Prayer
This message is an extension of my earlier message, "The Problem of Unanswered Prayer".
There are many promises of God regarding answered prayer. Here are some of them:
Jesus said, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23, NKJV),
Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven" (Matt. 18:18, 19).
Jesus said, "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive" (Matt. 21:22).
Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7).
The above are not only just some statements of promises in the Bible, but they are the promises of our Lord Jesus Himself. Many believers might argue that they have fulfilled all the conditions for answered prayers and yet, not many of their prayers are answered. They believed; they agreed concerning what they asked for; they obeyed His Words, but they went on their way disappointed! Why?
The reason is, we cannot take Jesus' sayings out of context. We have to look elsewhere in the Gospels other conditions for answered prayer. It is extremely dangerous to take phrases or statements, albeit the sayings of Jesus, out of context, and set up doctrines around them. I am confident, when we all meet in heaven, there will be no need for contradictory doctrines. For there we will finally see truth, not doctrine. At this time, living on earth, let us look at the inherent danger in restricting God to the confines of our doctrines. Many believers, by demanding that the above promises be absolute and universal, make a sham and mockery of the logic with which God always works. Let us discuss the reasons why many of our prayers are left unanswered.
The question of Christian maturity
God is never unreasonable. He is never irrational. And above all, He is never illogical. The problem is with us. Look at it this way - If God gave every individual believer, young or old, every answer to every prayer that might pop up in his head, the world would be filled almost immediately with anarchy, chaos, and confusion. Therefore even though we stand on every one of the promises of God, God must, in our best interest, see to it that some of our prayers are not answered.
The age, maturity in Christ, basic intelligence, and wisdom of the believer making a request of God are important factors in whether or not God can honor a petition. Some make the statement that God can do anything. Certainly this is true within the context of God's being all-powerful. But He cannot and will not always do anything, because anything can sometimes be harmful to the children He loves and wants to protect. His ability to answer prayer not only hinges on His abilities, but also on our abilities, situations, and relationship with Him.
Without elaborating, a moment of thought will produce a broad collection of ridiculous prayers that God would find impossible to answer. You can see, therefore, where maturity and rationality of desire enter most powerfully into the question of whether or not we are leaving God room in which to answer our prayers.
The question of selfishness
There are times when we go before God in fits of resentment, stamping our feet and demanding God to do something about this or that situation. It never enters our minds that if He did answer those prayers, it might cause harm to someone else. All too often our only thought is, "How does this factor influence my particular situation?" God, on the other hand, must always take the broad view. He can never, in His concern with one individual, lose sight of mankind as a whole. If God were bound to answer every prayer brought before Him, He would not remain the Supreme Being for very long, because we all have the tendency of dictatorship.
The question of pride
The next factor entering into our relationship with God in the area of prayer is pride. The thought of the Almighty God could listen to us and actually hand over to us the things that we asked for can make us feel proud. How easy it is to feel there is something deserving and inherently moral with ourselves. How simple to begin to see answered prayer as an indication of worthiness within us!
The Scripture says that God hears us when we humble ourselves (2 Chron. 7:14). Furthermore, Solomon said, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). Therefore we must be particularly watchful that we never allow a blessing from God to become the sourse of our downfall. If there is a danger of this, God has no other choice but to deny us our petition.
In my opinion, many believers do not have their prayers answered simply because God has answered prayers for them in the past and they allowed these prayer answers to swell them up spiritually to where they thought it was some inherent merit within themselves. We must always remember that it is by God's grace our prayers are answered.
The question of time factor
Every living person is confined to a time factor. There are twenty-four hours and not twenty-five; twelve months and not thirteen. And God has to consider the time factor He created to determine whether a specific prayer request will be honored or not.
For instance, if a person should come late to salvation and then when feeble and infirm in body, feel a burden to go and serve in the foreign missions. At the same time his fellow Church members also keep on encouraging and persuading him to go because they feel it is a good thing for him to do. And so they commit their prayers to the Lord. Chances are that God would dissuade this party from his cherished goal by denying the honest, well-motivated prayers of the dedicated individual and his friends.
Some might argue with me on this point. They might point out some elderly and feeble missionary who is still doing an effective job for the Lord. I agree with them. The difference is, though, this individual has been in the mission field for years! He is not a novice confronted with all the normal trials and problems, plus the added burden of too advanced in years.
The question of mountain-moving faith
Jesus said, "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says" (Mark 11:23, NKJV).
"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray believe that you receive them, and you will have them" (Mark 11:24).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. In the context of the above two verses of Scripture Jesus was speaking to His disciples concerning their need to have "faith in God" (Verse 22). He used the removing of the mountain before them as an illustration of exercising the "faith in God". Therefore the mountain He referred to was not the physical mountain.
2. The "mountain" that Jesus referred to is a mountain of doubt, bitterness, fear, unbelief, wrath, lust, envy, jealousy and the like.
3. Before we can aspire to the great promise of Verse 24, we must first remove the negative mountains within our lives!
4. In Verse 23 Jesus did not say, "If I speak to this mountain," or "If an angel speaks to this mountain," He said, "Whoever says to this mountain". It is our responsibility and initiative to remove the mountain hindering our Christian walk.
Very often we only want the promise of Mark 11:24. Unfortunately, in our mad scramble to get to Mark 11:24, we completely ignore Mark 11:23. And the two verses go together. Jesus gave them both as one thought. It was the Bible translators who broke them into two separate verses.
So next time you pray and claim the promises (healing, miracles, financial blessing etc.) in Mark 11:24 and your prayer is not answered the problem does not lie at the focal point of your thinking. It lies back at the point where you are standing. The frustration of God's desire to answer our prayer is not created at God's end. It is created at our end! Only after we start moving the mountains hindering the fulfillment of Mark 11:24 can the Lord start doing His part and giving us a real mountain-moving demonstration of active faith.
The question of principle versus formula
The Christian Church is full of faith teachers who preach the promises of God in answering all the prayers of the congregation of believers. Thrilling and exciting as all this is, Pastors and Church leaders must be aware that many believers are being led astray by being taught a formula before they understand the principle underlying that formula. And a formula without a principle can be as dangerous as a loaded gun in the hands of a child!
A common faith message goes like this - "It is really very simple. If you have faith, the Lord will give you exactly what you profess with your mouth." Now, in all honesty there is a grain of truth in this statement, but a "grain" of truth misused can be a dangerous as an outright lie.
The truth of the matter is, we can open the door to errors by carelessly repeating something over and over again. To them this is confession of God's Word and by confession, things they want are going to be hatched into reality. This is the "faith" formula many believers learned and used. You will hear common statements like - "By faith, I will be a millionaire", "By faith, I am going to get a better job", "By faith, I am going to be healed". This faith formula is nothing more than wishful thinking.
Believers need to understand that God is not a Santa Claus. And there are no spiritual slot machines. And finally, going around blindly repeating some wish is not going to bring it about. What these misguided faith teachers are really doing is setting the stage for a chronic case of frustration.
There is a story about a divored man wanted God to change the heart of his estranged wife and force her to do exactly what he wanted her to do. Obviously, this is a clear case of spiritual manipulation and God will not answer his prayer. God will never violate a person's free will. And God's whole relationship with man is built on the principle of man's right to do whatever he chooses to do.
The question of indiscriminate testimonies
It is a common practice in Charismatic Churches to invite members to come forward to give testimonies on what God has blessed them recently. I believe testifying is a good, moral, spiritually uplifting practice. And we should give God the glory and the credit when He goes out of His way to bless us with answered prayer.
Sound good? It certainly seems to be a moral position and one cannot be faulted. But what does Scripture say about it? If we search the Scripture, we will find that there are many times (e.g. Matt. 8:4; 9:30; 17:9) when Jesus specifically admonished the disciples and others not to give testimony regarding something that happened. Therefore it would appear that once again we are confronted with a situation in which timing is as important as action.
How can witnessing and testimonies be harmful? In many ways. For example, we do not know the status of our neighbor's spiritual temperature on any given moment. We know we have our mountaintops and our valleys. But we do not know the situation of the one sitting next to us in a Church meeting. The very day the Lord has brought us out of the wilderness may be the day when he is being refined by the trials of life. Therefore, when we stand up, indiscriminately and launch into a glowing account of how much God loves us and demonstrates it by showering us with gifts and blessings, we could be plunging our neighbor into the depths of despondency.
Certainly the right thing to do is to be ready to give your testimony. But wait until the Holy Spirit leads you to give that testimony. Indisciminate testifying can be as wrong in the sight of the Lord as refusing to testify. As we are told in Ecclesiastes, there is a time, a season, and a place for almost everything - time to testify God's goodness included. That is why it is so important to attune our spiritual ear to the promptings of God's Spirit.
Conclusion
The subject of unanswered prayer is so vast and so wide-range that it is beyond the scope of this message to write more. In fact what I have shared is only a little more than scratching the surface. I do hope, though, this discussion will yield some food for thought and give some solace perhaps to those who might think they have ingrained qualities that make them unacceptable to God when they come before Him in prayer.
Why do we sometimes pray and see amazing, miraculous healings? And then another time we pray just as fervently, just as honestly, just as much faith, and nothing happens? I don't know and I don't think anyone knows. Only God knows.
James said, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, ..." (James 4:3).
Ultimately, I believe, if we could see things with the wisdom of God's eyes, the above verse would cover every case of unanswered prayer.
There are many promises of God regarding answered prayer. Here are some of them:
Jesus said, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23, NKJV),
Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven" (Matt. 18:18, 19).
Jesus said, "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive" (Matt. 21:22).
Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7).
The above are not only just some statements of promises in the Bible, but they are the promises of our Lord Jesus Himself. Many believers might argue that they have fulfilled all the conditions for answered prayers and yet, not many of their prayers are answered. They believed; they agreed concerning what they asked for; they obeyed His Words, but they went on their way disappointed! Why?
The reason is, we cannot take Jesus' sayings out of context. We have to look elsewhere in the Gospels other conditions for answered prayer. It is extremely dangerous to take phrases or statements, albeit the sayings of Jesus, out of context, and set up doctrines around them. I am confident, when we all meet in heaven, there will be no need for contradictory doctrines. For there we will finally see truth, not doctrine. At this time, living on earth, let us look at the inherent danger in restricting God to the confines of our doctrines. Many believers, by demanding that the above promises be absolute and universal, make a sham and mockery of the logic with which God always works. Let us discuss the reasons why many of our prayers are left unanswered.
The question of Christian maturity
God is never unreasonable. He is never irrational. And above all, He is never illogical. The problem is with us. Look at it this way - If God gave every individual believer, young or old, every answer to every prayer that might pop up in his head, the world would be filled almost immediately with anarchy, chaos, and confusion. Therefore even though we stand on every one of the promises of God, God must, in our best interest, see to it that some of our prayers are not answered.
The age, maturity in Christ, basic intelligence, and wisdom of the believer making a request of God are important factors in whether or not God can honor a petition. Some make the statement that God can do anything. Certainly this is true within the context of God's being all-powerful. But He cannot and will not always do anything, because anything can sometimes be harmful to the children He loves and wants to protect. His ability to answer prayer not only hinges on His abilities, but also on our abilities, situations, and relationship with Him.
Without elaborating, a moment of thought will produce a broad collection of ridiculous prayers that God would find impossible to answer. You can see, therefore, where maturity and rationality of desire enter most powerfully into the question of whether or not we are leaving God room in which to answer our prayers.
The question of selfishness
There are times when we go before God in fits of resentment, stamping our feet and demanding God to do something about this or that situation. It never enters our minds that if He did answer those prayers, it might cause harm to someone else. All too often our only thought is, "How does this factor influence my particular situation?" God, on the other hand, must always take the broad view. He can never, in His concern with one individual, lose sight of mankind as a whole. If God were bound to answer every prayer brought before Him, He would not remain the Supreme Being for very long, because we all have the tendency of dictatorship.
The question of pride
The next factor entering into our relationship with God in the area of prayer is pride. The thought of the Almighty God could listen to us and actually hand over to us the things that we asked for can make us feel proud. How easy it is to feel there is something deserving and inherently moral with ourselves. How simple to begin to see answered prayer as an indication of worthiness within us!
The Scripture says that God hears us when we humble ourselves (2 Chron. 7:14). Furthermore, Solomon said, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). Therefore we must be particularly watchful that we never allow a blessing from God to become the sourse of our downfall. If there is a danger of this, God has no other choice but to deny us our petition.
In my opinion, many believers do not have their prayers answered simply because God has answered prayers for them in the past and they allowed these prayer answers to swell them up spiritually to where they thought it was some inherent merit within themselves. We must always remember that it is by God's grace our prayers are answered.
The question of time factor
Every living person is confined to a time factor. There are twenty-four hours and not twenty-five; twelve months and not thirteen. And God has to consider the time factor He created to determine whether a specific prayer request will be honored or not.
For instance, if a person should come late to salvation and then when feeble and infirm in body, feel a burden to go and serve in the foreign missions. At the same time his fellow Church members also keep on encouraging and persuading him to go because they feel it is a good thing for him to do. And so they commit their prayers to the Lord. Chances are that God would dissuade this party from his cherished goal by denying the honest, well-motivated prayers of the dedicated individual and his friends.
Some might argue with me on this point. They might point out some elderly and feeble missionary who is still doing an effective job for the Lord. I agree with them. The difference is, though, this individual has been in the mission field for years! He is not a novice confronted with all the normal trials and problems, plus the added burden of too advanced in years.
The question of mountain-moving faith
Jesus said, "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says" (Mark 11:23, NKJV).
"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray believe that you receive them, and you will have them" (Mark 11:24).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. In the context of the above two verses of Scripture Jesus was speaking to His disciples concerning their need to have "faith in God" (Verse 22). He used the removing of the mountain before them as an illustration of exercising the "faith in God". Therefore the mountain He referred to was not the physical mountain.
2. The "mountain" that Jesus referred to is a mountain of doubt, bitterness, fear, unbelief, wrath, lust, envy, jealousy and the like.
3. Before we can aspire to the great promise of Verse 24, we must first remove the negative mountains within our lives!
4. In Verse 23 Jesus did not say, "If I speak to this mountain," or "If an angel speaks to this mountain," He said, "Whoever says to this mountain". It is our responsibility and initiative to remove the mountain hindering our Christian walk.
Very often we only want the promise of Mark 11:24. Unfortunately, in our mad scramble to get to Mark 11:24, we completely ignore Mark 11:23. And the two verses go together. Jesus gave them both as one thought. It was the Bible translators who broke them into two separate verses.
So next time you pray and claim the promises (healing, miracles, financial blessing etc.) in Mark 11:24 and your prayer is not answered the problem does not lie at the focal point of your thinking. It lies back at the point where you are standing. The frustration of God's desire to answer our prayer is not created at God's end. It is created at our end! Only after we start moving the mountains hindering the fulfillment of Mark 11:24 can the Lord start doing His part and giving us a real mountain-moving demonstration of active faith.
The question of principle versus formula
The Christian Church is full of faith teachers who preach the promises of God in answering all the prayers of the congregation of believers. Thrilling and exciting as all this is, Pastors and Church leaders must be aware that many believers are being led astray by being taught a formula before they understand the principle underlying that formula. And a formula without a principle can be as dangerous as a loaded gun in the hands of a child!
A common faith message goes like this - "It is really very simple. If you have faith, the Lord will give you exactly what you profess with your mouth." Now, in all honesty there is a grain of truth in this statement, but a "grain" of truth misused can be a dangerous as an outright lie.
The truth of the matter is, we can open the door to errors by carelessly repeating something over and over again. To them this is confession of God's Word and by confession, things they want are going to be hatched into reality. This is the "faith" formula many believers learned and used. You will hear common statements like - "By faith, I will be a millionaire", "By faith, I am going to get a better job", "By faith, I am going to be healed". This faith formula is nothing more than wishful thinking.
Believers need to understand that God is not a Santa Claus. And there are no spiritual slot machines. And finally, going around blindly repeating some wish is not going to bring it about. What these misguided faith teachers are really doing is setting the stage for a chronic case of frustration.
There is a story about a divored man wanted God to change the heart of his estranged wife and force her to do exactly what he wanted her to do. Obviously, this is a clear case of spiritual manipulation and God will not answer his prayer. God will never violate a person's free will. And God's whole relationship with man is built on the principle of man's right to do whatever he chooses to do.
The question of indiscriminate testimonies
It is a common practice in Charismatic Churches to invite members to come forward to give testimonies on what God has blessed them recently. I believe testifying is a good, moral, spiritually uplifting practice. And we should give God the glory and the credit when He goes out of His way to bless us with answered prayer.
Sound good? It certainly seems to be a moral position and one cannot be faulted. But what does Scripture say about it? If we search the Scripture, we will find that there are many times (e.g. Matt. 8:4; 9:30; 17:9) when Jesus specifically admonished the disciples and others not to give testimony regarding something that happened. Therefore it would appear that once again we are confronted with a situation in which timing is as important as action.
How can witnessing and testimonies be harmful? In many ways. For example, we do not know the status of our neighbor's spiritual temperature on any given moment. We know we have our mountaintops and our valleys. But we do not know the situation of the one sitting next to us in a Church meeting. The very day the Lord has brought us out of the wilderness may be the day when he is being refined by the trials of life. Therefore, when we stand up, indiscriminately and launch into a glowing account of how much God loves us and demonstrates it by showering us with gifts and blessings, we could be plunging our neighbor into the depths of despondency.
Certainly the right thing to do is to be ready to give your testimony. But wait until the Holy Spirit leads you to give that testimony. Indisciminate testifying can be as wrong in the sight of the Lord as refusing to testify. As we are told in Ecclesiastes, there is a time, a season, and a place for almost everything - time to testify God's goodness included. That is why it is so important to attune our spiritual ear to the promptings of God's Spirit.
Conclusion
The subject of unanswered prayer is so vast and so wide-range that it is beyond the scope of this message to write more. In fact what I have shared is only a little more than scratching the surface. I do hope, though, this discussion will yield some food for thought and give some solace perhaps to those who might think they have ingrained qualities that make them unacceptable to God when they come before Him in prayer.
Why do we sometimes pray and see amazing, miraculous healings? And then another time we pray just as fervently, just as honestly, just as much faith, and nothing happens? I don't know and I don't think anyone knows. Only God knows.
James said, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, ..." (James 4:3).
Ultimately, I believe, if we could see things with the wisdom of God's eyes, the above verse would cover every case of unanswered prayer.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
The Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is part of Christ's Sermon on the Mount. He was teaching His disciples how not to pray like the hypocrites (Matt. 6:6) or like the heathen (Matt. 6:7) did. The reason why they should not pray like them is because "the Father knows the things they have need of before they ask Him" (Matt. 6:8). And so He gave them a Model Prayer in the form of worship and petition.
"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen" (Matt. 6:9 - 13, KJV, emphasis added).
The Lord's Prayer is meant to be Christians' "model" prayer. It was given to us as an example to express the way or manner in which we are to pray. It was not some "flowery" prayer for God to hear to impress Him. It is a simple prayer from the heart of those who fear God. This prayer shows us the way God would have us approach Him when we come before the Throne of grace seeking answers to our petitions. Let us study the contents of the Lord's Prayer.
We should always approach God in Praise and Worship
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name"
If the entire "Lord's Prayer" is to serve as an example for us, then we should take particular notice of this most important first lesson offered. That is, whenever we approach the throne of the all-powerful and Almighty God, we should approach it with words of praise and worship on our lips.
"Our Father" is a very intimate term. It means we can know this God personally and intimately enough to address Him as Father (or Abba Father). That means we can have an intimate relationship with the God of the Bible. And we have the assurance that He wants us to know Him in this personal and intimate way.
The phrase, "which art in heaven" indicates His location. The presence of His glory is manifested in heaven. One day, His glory is going to manifest throughout the whole earth:
"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14, NKJV).
Notice that there is a mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5) and the mediator is Jesus Christ. We can come boldly into God's presence becaus of Jesus Christ.
The phrase, "Hallowed be thy name" means "Let thy name be holy". The word "hallowed" means to render or to pronounce holy. God's name needs to be held in reverence, and treated as absolutely holy. If we can only catch a glimpse of God's holiness and awesomeness we are going to fall flat on our face to worship Him!
Let God's will be done
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven"
After we have come before God with praise and worship, the next step in our praying should be determining the will of God. And this is tremendously important. How many times we get into trouble because we don't first seek God's will before we go ahead and do what we like.
The phrase, "Thy kingdom come" means "Thy reign be everywhere". The word "kingdom", comes from the Greek word, "basileia" which means "reign" or "rule". This petition is the expression of the wish that God may reign everywhere, that His laws may be obeyed; and especially that the Gospel of Jesus Christ may be advanced everywhere, until the world shall be filled with His glory.
I believe every Christian should pray for God's will be done in his life, in his family and in his ministry, knowing that every believer has a ministry given by God. God's will be done in earth, as it is in heaven because in heaven God's perfect will is being accomplished.
Far too often, because of our carnal nature, our desire and wants are not in line with God's will for us. The only thing that fills our consciousness is our desire for the object or result. It really does not matter if it is what God wants or not. We want it and that's all that matters. It may not be good for us at the time, or it may be something diametrically contrary to God's plan for our life. As long as we want it, nothing else matters. But God knows that in our hearts we are not really committed to the thought that we do not want it if He does not want it.
A classic example comes to mind concerning Israel's demand for a king. It was outside God's will and plan for His people. But they were not to be put off. They demanded a king so they could be like the other nations surrounding them. And God gave them a king (Saul), to their eternal hurt. Saul was not God's choice for them as their king and He forewarned them through Samuel (1 Samuel 8:11 - 18). But they would not listen and they would not be deterred from their self-appointed path of folly.
How much trouble would we avoid if we would honestly seek the face of the Lord before we go before Him with a request? How much better in many cases if we would merely take our problems before Him ask for a solution to them, rather than going before Him with the solution we have determined as the proper one, and ask for His "rubber-stamp" approval?
Our daily bread
"Give us this day our daily bread"
At first glance this appears to be a petition for food, or for the money to buy the food. We should be ever aware that we are dependent upon the Lord's generosity for everything we need to survive in this world. Without air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, a roof over out heads, and clothes for our back, life would not last long. In short, we should petition this ("Give us this day our daily bread") before God, on a daily basis, to give us life's provision to meet our need. But not our greed!
Jesus Himself said that He is the "bread of life" (John 6:35, 48). Everything we seek and search for in life can be found only through Him. He is to be our model, our guide, our provider, our strength, our hope and our life. And we need Him (the Bread of Life) daily and that is the reason we must seek His face daily - in prayer.
Forgiveness
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors"
Note the qualification (the condition attached) of the above statement - God forgives us on the condition that we forgive others. "Forgiveness" is in the heart of God for Jesus continued with His Sermon on the Mount on "forgiveness" immediately after teaching His disciples the Lord's Prayer:
Jesus said, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 6:14, 15, NKJV).
Unforgiveness can be found in everyday life: A husband will refuse to forgive his wife. The wife will "hold it against" her husband. Children and parents keep a screen of unforgiveness between them. The Pastor will not forgive a Church member or one of the elders or leaders. The list is endless and there are very few people (including Christians) walking around who do not carry some area of resentment in their hearts.
I believe the two most destructive human emotions are guilt and resentment (revenge). They will eat up your physical health; they will upset your mental stability and you will lose the Lord's presence in you life. Your family life, your working life and your ministry will be severely affected.
Deliverance
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"
At first glance, it would seem the Lord sometimes leads us into temptation. Actually, though, this statement has a double meaning. It means first, help us to avoid wandering into temptation, and then protect us from being overcome by evil by delivering us from the evil one.
A petition similar to this is offered by the psalmist, David:
"Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies" (Psalm 141:4, NKJV).
It is important to realize that the Lord can never tempt us to evil. He will test us and sometimes allow temptation to come but He will give us the spiritual strength to overcome temptation.
James said, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed" (James 1:13, 14).
The world is full of vast array of demon spirits who are committed to hinder our walk with God. They use myraid tricks to bring about our destruction. Paul confirms this when he said:
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12, emphasis added).
Notice the word "against" appears 5 times in just one verse of Scripture and out of which 4 times are against demon spirits of various hierarchy. And we are not against people (flesh and blood) because they are not our problem - but the demons in them or behind them are!
John said our faith in the Lord Jesus overcomes the world: "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4, 5)?
John was talking about believers who are "born of God" can, by faith, overcome the world - world system influenced by the evil one.
His Kingdom
"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen"
This is what theologians said, a doxology.
Here ar some statements of facts:
1. The Kingdom is His - reign or dominion is His. He alone controls everything in His Kingdom.
2. The Power is His - He has the power to accomplish what we ask if what we asked is according to His will for us. We are weak and we cannot do many things. But He is the Almighty and all things are possible with Him.
3. The Glory is His - All Glory and Praise belongs to Him and He will not give His Glory to another (Isaiah 48:11). The Lord wants us to behold His Glory (John 17:24).
We should all praise and glorify God just as David did:
"Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all" (1 Chron. 29:10 - 12, NKJV).
"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen" (Matt. 6:9 - 13, KJV, emphasis added).
The Lord's Prayer is meant to be Christians' "model" prayer. It was given to us as an example to express the way or manner in which we are to pray. It was not some "flowery" prayer for God to hear to impress Him. It is a simple prayer from the heart of those who fear God. This prayer shows us the way God would have us approach Him when we come before the Throne of grace seeking answers to our petitions. Let us study the contents of the Lord's Prayer.
We should always approach God in Praise and Worship
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name"
If the entire "Lord's Prayer" is to serve as an example for us, then we should take particular notice of this most important first lesson offered. That is, whenever we approach the throne of the all-powerful and Almighty God, we should approach it with words of praise and worship on our lips.
"Our Father" is a very intimate term. It means we can know this God personally and intimately enough to address Him as Father (or Abba Father). That means we can have an intimate relationship with the God of the Bible. And we have the assurance that He wants us to know Him in this personal and intimate way.
The phrase, "which art in heaven" indicates His location. The presence of His glory is manifested in heaven. One day, His glory is going to manifest throughout the whole earth:
"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14, NKJV).
Notice that there is a mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5) and the mediator is Jesus Christ. We can come boldly into God's presence becaus of Jesus Christ.
The phrase, "Hallowed be thy name" means "Let thy name be holy". The word "hallowed" means to render or to pronounce holy. God's name needs to be held in reverence, and treated as absolutely holy. If we can only catch a glimpse of God's holiness and awesomeness we are going to fall flat on our face to worship Him!
Let God's will be done
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven"
After we have come before God with praise and worship, the next step in our praying should be determining the will of God. And this is tremendously important. How many times we get into trouble because we don't first seek God's will before we go ahead and do what we like.
The phrase, "Thy kingdom come" means "Thy reign be everywhere". The word "kingdom", comes from the Greek word, "basileia" which means "reign" or "rule". This petition is the expression of the wish that God may reign everywhere, that His laws may be obeyed; and especially that the Gospel of Jesus Christ may be advanced everywhere, until the world shall be filled with His glory.
I believe every Christian should pray for God's will be done in his life, in his family and in his ministry, knowing that every believer has a ministry given by God. God's will be done in earth, as it is in heaven because in heaven God's perfect will is being accomplished.
Far too often, because of our carnal nature, our desire and wants are not in line with God's will for us. The only thing that fills our consciousness is our desire for the object or result. It really does not matter if it is what God wants or not. We want it and that's all that matters. It may not be good for us at the time, or it may be something diametrically contrary to God's plan for our life. As long as we want it, nothing else matters. But God knows that in our hearts we are not really committed to the thought that we do not want it if He does not want it.
A classic example comes to mind concerning Israel's demand for a king. It was outside God's will and plan for His people. But they were not to be put off. They demanded a king so they could be like the other nations surrounding them. And God gave them a king (Saul), to their eternal hurt. Saul was not God's choice for them as their king and He forewarned them through Samuel (1 Samuel 8:11 - 18). But they would not listen and they would not be deterred from their self-appointed path of folly.
How much trouble would we avoid if we would honestly seek the face of the Lord before we go before Him with a request? How much better in many cases if we would merely take our problems before Him ask for a solution to them, rather than going before Him with the solution we have determined as the proper one, and ask for His "rubber-stamp" approval?
Our daily bread
"Give us this day our daily bread"
At first glance this appears to be a petition for food, or for the money to buy the food. We should be ever aware that we are dependent upon the Lord's generosity for everything we need to survive in this world. Without air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, a roof over out heads, and clothes for our back, life would not last long. In short, we should petition this ("Give us this day our daily bread") before God, on a daily basis, to give us life's provision to meet our need. But not our greed!
Jesus Himself said that He is the "bread of life" (John 6:35, 48). Everything we seek and search for in life can be found only through Him. He is to be our model, our guide, our provider, our strength, our hope and our life. And we need Him (the Bread of Life) daily and that is the reason we must seek His face daily - in prayer.
Forgiveness
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors"
Note the qualification (the condition attached) of the above statement - God forgives us on the condition that we forgive others. "Forgiveness" is in the heart of God for Jesus continued with His Sermon on the Mount on "forgiveness" immediately after teaching His disciples the Lord's Prayer:
Jesus said, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 6:14, 15, NKJV).
Unforgiveness can be found in everyday life: A husband will refuse to forgive his wife. The wife will "hold it against" her husband. Children and parents keep a screen of unforgiveness between them. The Pastor will not forgive a Church member or one of the elders or leaders. The list is endless and there are very few people (including Christians) walking around who do not carry some area of resentment in their hearts.
I believe the two most destructive human emotions are guilt and resentment (revenge). They will eat up your physical health; they will upset your mental stability and you will lose the Lord's presence in you life. Your family life, your working life and your ministry will be severely affected.
Deliverance
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"
At first glance, it would seem the Lord sometimes leads us into temptation. Actually, though, this statement has a double meaning. It means first, help us to avoid wandering into temptation, and then protect us from being overcome by evil by delivering us from the evil one.
A petition similar to this is offered by the psalmist, David:
"Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies" (Psalm 141:4, NKJV).
It is important to realize that the Lord can never tempt us to evil. He will test us and sometimes allow temptation to come but He will give us the spiritual strength to overcome temptation.
James said, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed" (James 1:13, 14).
The world is full of vast array of demon spirits who are committed to hinder our walk with God. They use myraid tricks to bring about our destruction. Paul confirms this when he said:
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12, emphasis added).
Notice the word "against" appears 5 times in just one verse of Scripture and out of which 4 times are against demon spirits of various hierarchy. And we are not against people (flesh and blood) because they are not our problem - but the demons in them or behind them are!
John said our faith in the Lord Jesus overcomes the world: "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4, 5)?
John was talking about believers who are "born of God" can, by faith, overcome the world - world system influenced by the evil one.
His Kingdom
"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen"
This is what theologians said, a doxology.
Here ar some statements of facts:
1. The Kingdom is His - reign or dominion is His. He alone controls everything in His Kingdom.
2. The Power is His - He has the power to accomplish what we ask if what we asked is according to His will for us. We are weak and we cannot do many things. But He is the Almighty and all things are possible with Him.
3. The Glory is His - All Glory and Praise belongs to Him and He will not give His Glory to another (Isaiah 48:11). The Lord wants us to behold His Glory (John 17:24).
We should all praise and glorify God just as David did:
"Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all" (1 Chron. 29:10 - 12, NKJV).
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