PsalmsOfJohn: 10/6/19

More Prayer And More Christians Praying

These days a great many people I know are thinking and talking in terms of "where do we go from here?" Even secular people are asking too ..

In my own Christian circles the answer is immediate: "prayer, more prayer and more Christians praying". This is not a new conclusion for Jesus' Church when the world hides from the light of Christ.

In my early days of Bible College our very fearsome theology teacher told us that he would ask a great many questions of us over our years of study, and that the answer to all the questions would be "Jesus". This turned out to be a true statement, and is still true to this day! (I have now known this teacher for nearly 20 years and, long ago, learned that he is kind, gentle, (even soft), full of love and a very godly and Christ filled man, his fierceness is illusory!)

Here are quotes about prayer from some of my heroes of the faith:

• Martin Luther - "To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing".

• Mother Theresa - "Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts".

• EM Bounds - "God shapes the world by prayer".

• John Wesley - "God does nothing except in response to believing prayer".

• John Wesley again - "I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it".

• Elisabeth Elliot - "Prayer lays hold of God's plan and becomes the link between His will and its accomplishment on earth. Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit's power".

It is so good that all through the centuries so many have been praying so obediently. We cannot imagine how awful the world would be without the good that their, (and our), prayers have brought, and without the many blocks their, (and our), prayers have placed to obstruct Satan's plans for evil.

I've seen a few end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it apocalyptic movies so beloved of Hollywood producers; I'm sure that none of them come close to the horrors that a prayer-less world would suffer. Yet here we are ..

So I ask: Jesus, how would you have us pray? How would you have me pray? How, as our Father's son? How as your brother, Lord? How as a husband, father and grandfather? How as your ambassador on the Earth? How as your steward of the Earth? How as your servant in this place?

The Australian Prayer Network teaches that prayer is an activity of God which requires human co-operation to achieve God's desired ends. God knows all the "ends from the beginnings" (Isaiah 46:10, Revelation 21:6). Human prayer releases God's power. God wants to work through us (Luke 10:19; John 14:12), so that our lives come to have the meaning He planned for us before we were born (Psalm 139:14-17). Good things happen because we obey and do what God asks of us.

God wants us to be totally available to Him, and radically obedient. When God brought Australian Prayer Network into being He made it clear that that was what He seeks in His intercessors .. availability and obedience ..

Continuous Prayer

Scripture shows us prayer in action, it is constant and continuous. Revelation chapters 4 and 5 show us the eternal prayer meeting in Heaven. We are the blood purchased "persons from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9), we are very precious to our Lord. As we pray, our prayers join those in the "golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (Revelation 5:8).

Our prayers are also very precious! We participate with the "10,000 times 10,000 angels" (Revelation 5:11). The apostle John was shown this scene so that he could tell us about it. What an awesome responsibility we have been given. (10,000 X 10,000 = 100,000,000, a truly huge number!) When John wrote the book of Revelation it is estimated that the world population was between 200 million and 300 million; this suggests that there was one praying in Heaven for every two or three on the Earth!

Prayer was a constant during Jesus' life on Earth (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; John 17:1); in everything He sought the counsel and direction of His, (now our), Father. We are encouraged to do the same. Even now Jesus is constantly praying, by His Spirit, and interceding for us (Romans 8:27). He died that we may be forgiven our sins and saved (1 Thessalonians 5:10). Now He prays that we may have life "to the full" (John 10:10).

We can hear from Jesus. Our Brother and Lord communicates with us, God's children .. "Listen, O my people, to my instruction; incline your ears to the words of my mouth" (Psalm 78:1 NASB).

Many people have difficulty with the idea of talking or communicating with God, or being close with Him. But the very instant we are saved, Jesus brings us to His Father to be adopted as His children and to come fully into His inheritance just as Jesus is. It took years for me to accept how closely Jesus had brought me into His family .. right into the very arms of His Father! Jesus' Father is now our "Abba" (Romans 8:15); I am certain that Father God's love for each one of us is much greater than my best love and care for my own children .. We are not alone in our desire for relationship, many Psalms are cries for God's loving attention, or even His rescue (Psalm 102, 140, 141, 142, 143), in other Psalms we see God's great love and commitment to us (Psalm 91, 23).

We can also ask ..

• "Lord, what is the big problem in the world?"

• "What is the big problem in my world?"

• "What is the main thing which you want me to pray for?" and

• "Lord, what is something helpful that I can do?"

Drought

Australia is in a major season of drought. About a decade ago, during our previous drought, many people asked the Australian Prayer Network to pray for rain. APN ran a survey; the many thousands of members were asked which Scripture God gave them when they asked about our nation and the drought. Results overwhelmingly revealed that God wanted us all to consider Haggai Chapter 1: "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house, [God's Temple], remains a ruin?" (Haggai 1:4). It was clear that it was the sin of the Church which was causing God to withhold the rain. Not the sin of the secular population, or of the Australian population as a whole, but the sin of the Christian people.

The survey also showed that the sins which particularly concerned God were:

• Lack of Christian intimacy with God

• Idolatry

• Sexual sins

• The shedding of innocent blood

• Injustice, and

• Broken covenants.

Drought Again

Once again

Australia

is in a time of devastating drought. Are we still immersed in the same spiritual problems? In the years between then and now, has the Church in Australia become more Christ focused? More intimately involved with Jesus? Have we become more united? Do we still overlook our own acceptance of the world's moral codes? Our acceptance of our own moral failures? Have we grown to care more for ".. justice, mercy and faithfulness .." (Micah 6:8; Matthew 23:23) and the "widows and orphans" (James 1:27)? Or do we still focus on our own local congregation, our buildings and mortgages, our sound and video systems, our travel, celebrity and wealth? Do we still love our lives above Jesus (Revelation 12:11)?

Can we truly expect God to grant us the great revival we ask Him for? The peace we ask for?

In 2nd Chronicles the chronicler, (possibly Ezra), writes about times of drought and great difficulty:

"When I, [God], shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:13-14).

When times are tough for us it may be that God is withholding benefits, and not Satan causing more trouble than usual (John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8).

These two verses from Chronicles still speak to us today. God's Word is eternal and imperishable (1 Peter 1:23). God is calling to His people .. today that is us .. the oikos, the household and family of God .. the ecclesia, the ones He has gathered in His name, His people to rule in this world and to steward His Creation (Genesis 1:26).

He wants us to humble ourselves, that is, to put Jesus first in our lives, not just on Sundays, and to honour others and put them ahead of our self, to truly be servants. (I am reminded of the "me", "me", "me" that I am so familiar with in my own life).

Jesus asks us to pray and seek His face; to regularly and frequently seek intimate time with Him, to ask: "Lord Jesus, what are you saying? What are you doing? How can I be part of all this, here and now?"

Ezra's next words are where God asks us to repent; to identify our sinfulness, then seek forgiveness, and then to change direction, to chart a new course, to repent ..

We pray "Father .. lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:13); my experience is that in Christ I can say "no" to temptation, Jesus will always help me to do this. But when temptation comes, instead of relying on my own (small) strength, I must turn my spiritual eyes to Jesus and ask for His (mighty) help. Satan hates this and continues to bring temptation to me .. it is a constant battle .. But it is very reassuring when Jesus wins my battles for me, again and again .. Sometimes I think that Satan is getting tired and may move on from me, but this never lasts, he is a very persistent foe.

Repenting or charting a new course is hard, it means changing our habits, perhaps even our lifestyle. (Joining with someone else or with a group can be great for this ..)

Then, towards the end of verse 14, the chronicler reports God's promise that we all long for:

" .. then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land". And what a promise this is! We know Scripture so we know that this promise is rock solid, we can base our faith on it because the promise is based on Jesus and His life and work.

Our World

We can each make a difference in our world. We each have a God given purpose (Ephesians 2:10) which we can discover and work towards. We can be encouraged and look at our world with hope .. Time with Jesus, intimacy, conversation, day by day .. Even starting in the smallest ways ..

Bless us all. Amen.

Favourite Scriptures

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3).

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6).

"I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please'" (Isaiah 46:10).

Note:

This is the 5th article I have posted on prayer - I believe that it may be my own most thought about subject, certainly it is a passion of mine, and it is Jesus who puts our (healthy) passions in us; He wants us to be engaged, even excited, as we go about the lives He has given us ..

PsalmsOfJohn

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Prayer Now