“When you pray…” Matthew 6:9 [emphases added]
… devoted to prayer…”
(Rom. 12:12)
Stop and think about prayer. How would you define prayer or how would you
explain praying? In the above passage
from Matthew, Jesus said, “When you pray,” which seems to imply that prayer is
a part of the Christian walk. Moreover,
Paul instructed Roman Christians to be devoted to prayer. It bears repeating that this blog is not
intended to be a guilt trip; however, like going to the doctor, it is best, to
be honest about your diet, exercise level, and other activities that may affect
your health. Therefore, ask yourself and
answer only yourself, how is your prayer life?
Does “devoted to prayer” describe you?
Years ago, there was a movie, a
line of Union troops and Confederate troops were in a stalemate. Near the battlefield was a hill and on top
were commanders of the Union army. From
their position, they could view the entire battlefield, something that was
impossible from behind each sides line.
Imagine if one side had today’s technology, such as cell phones and
Bluetooth earpieces. The commanders
could speak directly to the troops and tell them what they see, and the
soldiers could reply. It’s important to
remember that we are in a battle here on earth, though it is not against other
people (Eph. 6:12). However, we
genuinely have an enemy (John 10:10), and he does seek to make you ineffective
or attack you (1 Pet. 5:8). Therefore,
using the battlefield and communication, as an illustration, is an appropriate
way to think about prayer.
Going back to your answer above,
how is your prayer life? If you can
honestly say, it’s great, nothing could be better; then perhaps this series is
not for you. However, if your prayer
life is not in the shape you’d like it to be in, then this could be a very
fitting series. What is one of the
greatest hindrances to a vibrant and active prayer life? Could it be, prayers that go unanswered?
Before going further, let us be
honest. To say that, “All prayers are
answered, but perhaps God said no or wait,” is at best a pious attempt to
explain unanswered prayers and at worst is skirting the issue. Reality is, sometimes we’ve prayed for people
to get better and they’ve died. We’ve
prayed for one thing, and the opposite has happened. Perhaps the helpless optimist tells us, we
pray for God to heal them and now they are at peace and healed; however, you
must admit, sounds more like sleight of hand, than actually answered prayers.
Therefore, we are now going to
press on and look for a sufficient answer to why our prayers go
unanswered. Join us.
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