Last night i was talking to my niece about prayer, so i wrote a few pointers for her to get a better understanding of what i believe prayer truly is. This is a summary of an article i read by John Bunyan and i thought i would share this with y'all as well. This is is no means exhaustive, but i believe it is a good summary for her, a new child in Christ and also for anyone who is learning how to as a Christian.
1.Prayer is a sincere, sensible, pouring out of the heart and soul to God, through Christ, and using the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit. We have to pray:
a) According to the will of God
b) According to the bible and
c) With submission.
Read Psalm 66:17, 18 when David said that:
“I cried out to [the Lord] with my mouth;his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened [to my prayer]"
We do not pray so that people can see you, or to fulfill a duty, we pray so that you can communicate with God. Prayers are not supposed to be fake.
Why does God ask us to be sincere in prayer? Because when we are sincere, we open our hearts and say what we truly feel without fear or thinking of what the consequences are. God looks at our hearts and judges if we are being honest or not.
2.Prayer is Rational. This means that prayer is supposed to make sense. Prayer is not continuous babbling of many words but it is simple reasonable utterance straight from the heart. It can be short or it can be long, it can be alone or it can be amongst a gathering. Wherever the location, when we pray, we need to make sure our prayers make sense and that we are being understood by God.
3. Prayer is affectionate. In Psalms, words like yearns, pants, longs, consuming are used to describe how David Prayed. We are praying to a great and holy God. We therefore cannot come before Him lightly with no passion as if we were speaking to a stranger. Imagine, for example, how you would present yourself if you were given the opportunity to address a Hollywood celebrity of your dreams. We have seen fans on television cry, faint and scream because they are overcome with emotion, love, respect. Now celebrities do not in any way compare with the greatness that is of God yet we most times treat prayer like it is an unimportant duty we need to perform.
We should not use empty words to make our prayers longer. When talking to God, prayer should be filled with hope, trust, respect. We should forget everything else and focus only on our great Father. For without a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart to God, our prayer is nothing but useless lip-service.
4.Prayer is through Christ and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Simply mentioning the name of Christ in prayer does not mean that we are coming to God through Christ. A man that comes to God through Christ must first of all know who Christ is and believe in him. Likewise, any prayer that is without the assistance of the Holy Spirit cannot be the will of God because it is through the Holy Spirit that we can listen and understand the will of God. Romans 8:26, 27.
5.Prayer should be in line with the things that God has promised. We cannot possibly expect God to answer prayers that are contrary to His word. Likewise, the Spirit will guide you according the word of God. Any prayer outside the bible might as well be called blasphemy. For whatever we seek ask or need, the scriptures have to be fulfilled. This means that we need to know what the word of God says in order to pray aright. God only hears what is according to His will.
When Jesus was being arrested he said that he could not tell his Father to send legions of angels to save him because that would not be according to scripture. Matthew 26:53, 54.
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that He hears us- whatever we ask- we know that we have what we asked of Him" 1 John 5:14
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
God's Purpose
We were created to fulfill God's purpose.
Scripture details ways in which God used men like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, to fulfill the plans he had for His people. God would have done all these things Himself but He didn't, He used human beings, Why? Because God gave man dominion over the earth, He gave human beings the authority to to rule and control the earth and all living things on it. Even after the disobedience of Adam and Eve, God was still bound by this word, He therefore, could not go against it, because;
“God is not a human that he should lie, not a human being that he should change his mind”- Num 23:19
He could not interfere in the goings-on on the earth even when He needed to.He had to use human beings, just like he had planned before the fall of Adam and Eve, to fulfill His purpose.
Christ was alive at the time of creation, but God sent Christ as Jesus down to earth, in human form, so that He can use him to fulfill His purpose.
Friends, God needs us to change the world, and the only way God can use us is if we commune with Him constantly and listen to what He has to say. He offered His son and His spirit for us to easily understand the way His kingdom works and aid us in communicating with Him through prayer. Christ taught us how to pray and the Holy Spirit is here to guide us to the will of God. Jesus showed us and gave us everything that the Father has given him, he gave us the keys to the kingdom.
“ I confer on you a kingdom just as my father conferred one on me.'' Luke 22:8
Therefore prayer is not an option, it is a necessity. It is through prayer that God can work through human beings to impact the world. Everything Jesus did, healing the sick, resurrecting the dead, chasing demons, changing water to wine, feeding the 5000, preaching to multitudes of people, showing love to strangers, praying,fasting et al; was because He was doing His father's will. In the same way he says;
“ The words I say to you I do not speak on my authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work.” John 14: 10.
How much more clear can this be?
“Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven” Math 18:18
This verse does not focus on binding demons as much as it clearly tells us that everything that we do not permit or do not do here on earth, Heaven will also not permit. Likewise, the things we agree to, the things we freely accept, Heaven will also concur. This means that whatever we do, good or bad, Heaven will permit. Why? Because we have a will and because we have the authority from God to do rule (Not own)the earth. So when we welcome immorality, hate, perversion, sorrow, fear, poverty, sadness, trickery; Heaven will permit. Likewise when we do pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy, right and noble things, Heaven will also permit.
The ball is in our court, so to speak. Everything is possible. We decide what our lives should be. We are the vessels, the temples of the Lord; please note that a temple by definition is a place where divine presence resides. How wonderful is this! This is the reason that God heals us, we need healthy bodies, this is why he offers us salvation, We need to to believe in Him. God needs us for His glory and purpose and in return He has promised us many many wonderful blessings:
“What no eye has has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived- these are the things God has prepared for those who love Him” 1 Cor 2:9
Everything we do, everything we need, everything we desire; it is from our Father in heaven... and how do we communicate with Him... yes through Prayer. Jesus prayed alone so many times and for long hours every once in a while. He needed to listen to what His Father was telling Him to do.
So when Paul advises us to pray without ceasing, he is dead serious. We need to be in constant communication with God and though His Spirit, what we need to do will be revealed to us.
When we stop praying, God cannot use us yet He wants to work in us.
Scripture details ways in which God used men like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, to fulfill the plans he had for His people. God would have done all these things Himself but He didn't, He used human beings, Why? Because God gave man dominion over the earth, He gave human beings the authority to to rule and control the earth and all living things on it. Even after the disobedience of Adam and Eve, God was still bound by this word, He therefore, could not go against it, because;
“God is not a human that he should lie, not a human being that he should change his mind”- Num 23:19
He could not interfere in the goings-on on the earth even when He needed to.He had to use human beings, just like he had planned before the fall of Adam and Eve, to fulfill His purpose.
Christ was alive at the time of creation, but God sent Christ as Jesus down to earth, in human form, so that He can use him to fulfill His purpose.
Friends, God needs us to change the world, and the only way God can use us is if we commune with Him constantly and listen to what He has to say. He offered His son and His spirit for us to easily understand the way His kingdom works and aid us in communicating with Him through prayer. Christ taught us how to pray and the Holy Spirit is here to guide us to the will of God. Jesus showed us and gave us everything that the Father has given him, he gave us the keys to the kingdom.
“ I confer on you a kingdom just as my father conferred one on me.'' Luke 22:8
Therefore prayer is not an option, it is a necessity. It is through prayer that God can work through human beings to impact the world. Everything Jesus did, healing the sick, resurrecting the dead, chasing demons, changing water to wine, feeding the 5000, preaching to multitudes of people, showing love to strangers, praying,fasting et al; was because He was doing His father's will. In the same way he says;
“ The words I say to you I do not speak on my authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work.” John 14: 10.
How much more clear can this be?
“Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven” Math 18:18
This verse does not focus on binding demons as much as it clearly tells us that everything that we do not permit or do not do here on earth, Heaven will also not permit. Likewise, the things we agree to, the things we freely accept, Heaven will also concur. This means that whatever we do, good or bad, Heaven will permit. Why? Because we have a will and because we have the authority from God to do rule (Not own)the earth. So when we welcome immorality, hate, perversion, sorrow, fear, poverty, sadness, trickery; Heaven will permit. Likewise when we do pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy, right and noble things, Heaven will also permit.
The ball is in our court, so to speak. Everything is possible. We decide what our lives should be. We are the vessels, the temples of the Lord; please note that a temple by definition is a place where divine presence resides. How wonderful is this! This is the reason that God heals us, we need healthy bodies, this is why he offers us salvation, We need to to believe in Him. God needs us for His glory and purpose and in return He has promised us many many wonderful blessings:
“What no eye has has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived- these are the things God has prepared for those who love Him” 1 Cor 2:9
Everything we do, everything we need, everything we desire; it is from our Father in heaven... and how do we communicate with Him... yes through Prayer. Jesus prayed alone so many times and for long hours every once in a while. He needed to listen to what His Father was telling Him to do.
So when Paul advises us to pray without ceasing, he is dead serious. We need to be in constant communication with God and though His Spirit, what we need to do will be revealed to us.
When we stop praying, God cannot use us yet He wants to work in us.
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