Simple Prayer
In the darkness, we are awakened by a little voice, calling," Mommy, Daddy." Stumbling out of bed, I gingerly navigate in the direction of the sound hoping that we did a thorough job of picking up the toys the night before. Reaching the room at last, I speak softly to the sleepy child, and quickly arrange the twisted blankets to cover his shivering little frame . A hug and kiss reward my simple efforts and I stumble back to bed. Meanwhile, a contented child snuggles in those warm covers, confident that his parents hear and care about the simplest of his needs.
If there is anything we Christians need to be confident of today, it is that we have a Heavenly Father who hears us and cares about us. The Living God knows this, and has taken great pains to reveal Himself to us. And what does He want His children to know? When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, He told them to speak to God by saying the simple words "Our Father"--the familiar, comforting term for One in heaven who listens for our little voice. Even though he is such a Father, we must not lose sight of the fact that God also described Himself as a consuming Fire and the HOLY ONE of Israel. Yet the one does not need to negate the other. Is it not more amazing and comforting to know that the Almighty God, who just spoke a word and created the universe is the same one who desires us to call Him Father? Little children always want to believe that their daddy is the biggest, strongest guy around. How much more do we desire to know that there is a powerful, loving God who cares about our smallest and greatest needs and also has the power to do something about them.
But how do we connect what we know about God with the burdens of everyday life? There is just one means. . . believing prayer. In James 4:2b, God tells us that one of the reasons that we don't have is that we don't ask. How many times have we failed to bring our needs to God and have just wrestled through a situation the best we could? Meanwhile, we have a heavenly Father who desires to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we could ask or think in the situation.
And how are we to pray? We begin with all that we know about God and bring all that we know about the situation, pouring out our heart to God. The more we understand what the Bible teaches us about God the more we see Him as one that we want to pour out our hearts to. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus began with "Our Father...", but then added, "Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, they will be done." If we are to be effective in prayer we must take our proper place beneath the Living God. The LORD, He is God. We are his humble creation, dearly loved by Him, but still weak, fallen creatures. We acknowledge this when we are willing to submit to His plans and His agenda. George Mueller described it as having "no will of our own in the matter". Another godly Christian once stated that when we come to God our hands have to be empty. When this is our posture, we can in faith bring all that we know about our situation to God. No detail is too small for Him to hear about. No problem is to great for Him to solve. Potty training trials, learning difficulties, friendship heartaches, financial troubles all can be brought to Jesus. I do not know how many times we as a couple have cried out to God about a situation only to see Him intervene in ways we could not have imagined. There have been times when we have waited years before some of our prayers have been answered and other times when they were answered in a moment but what would have happened if we had never prayed?
There are many events in the Bible that teach about God and His desire to answer our prayers but one of our favorites is the story of blind Bartimaeus. Begging on the side of the road, Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was near. He had no way to find Jesus in a crowd of people so he did the only thing he could, he began to call out to Jesus. "Jesus, thou Son of David have mercy on me". Bringing all that He knew and believed about Jesus, Bartimaeus presented his need to Him. However, those around him were not happy with his "rude" request. The Bible doesn't tell us if they were concerned about not being able to hear Jesus themselves, or whether they were embarrassed or unbelieving. Probably it was a combination of things. Whatever the case, those around Bartimaeus told him to be quiet. Undaunted, Bartimaeus refused to listen to them and instead just called out even more. He knew in his heart that Jesus could help him and he was not going to let Jesus just pass him by. Jesus heard his cries and told him to come near. When Bartimaeus came to Jesus, instead of the stern rebuke that he probably feared, he heard the Master's wonderful words, "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus, full of faith, boldly gave Jesus his simple request," Lord, I want to see." Jesus answered kindly, "Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole." Immediately Bartimaeus could see! But what would have happened if he had failed to ask? Instead of passively bowing to the will of the unbelieving crowd, Bartimaeus insisted on being heard and his life was changed forever. The ultimate outcome of this event? He followed Jesus.
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:15-16
If there is anything we Christians need to be confident of today, it is that we have a Heavenly Father who hears us and cares about us. The Living God knows this, and has taken great pains to reveal Himself to us. And what does He want His children to know? When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, He told them to speak to God by saying the simple words "Our Father"--the familiar, comforting term for One in heaven who listens for our little voice. Even though he is such a Father, we must not lose sight of the fact that God also described Himself as a consuming Fire and the HOLY ONE of Israel. Yet the one does not need to negate the other. Is it not more amazing and comforting to know that the Almighty God, who just spoke a word and created the universe is the same one who desires us to call Him Father? Little children always want to believe that their daddy is the biggest, strongest guy around. How much more do we desire to know that there is a powerful, loving God who cares about our smallest and greatest needs and also has the power to do something about them.
But how do we connect what we know about God with the burdens of everyday life? There is just one means. . . believing prayer. In James 4:2b, God tells us that one of the reasons that we don't have is that we don't ask. How many times have we failed to bring our needs to God and have just wrestled through a situation the best we could? Meanwhile, we have a heavenly Father who desires to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we could ask or think in the situation.
And how are we to pray? We begin with all that we know about God and bring all that we know about the situation, pouring out our heart to God. The more we understand what the Bible teaches us about God the more we see Him as one that we want to pour out our hearts to. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus began with "Our Father...", but then added, "Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, they will be done." If we are to be effective in prayer we must take our proper place beneath the Living God. The LORD, He is God. We are his humble creation, dearly loved by Him, but still weak, fallen creatures. We acknowledge this when we are willing to submit to His plans and His agenda. George Mueller described it as having "no will of our own in the matter". Another godly Christian once stated that when we come to God our hands have to be empty. When this is our posture, we can in faith bring all that we know about our situation to God. No detail is too small for Him to hear about. No problem is to great for Him to solve. Potty training trials, learning difficulties, friendship heartaches, financial troubles all can be brought to Jesus. I do not know how many times we as a couple have cried out to God about a situation only to see Him intervene in ways we could not have imagined. There have been times when we have waited years before some of our prayers have been answered and other times when they were answered in a moment but what would have happened if we had never prayed?
There are many events in the Bible that teach about God and His desire to answer our prayers but one of our favorites is the story of blind Bartimaeus. Begging on the side of the road, Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was near. He had no way to find Jesus in a crowd of people so he did the only thing he could, he began to call out to Jesus. "Jesus, thou Son of David have mercy on me". Bringing all that He knew and believed about Jesus, Bartimaeus presented his need to Him. However, those around him were not happy with his "rude" request. The Bible doesn't tell us if they were concerned about not being able to hear Jesus themselves, or whether they were embarrassed or unbelieving. Probably it was a combination of things. Whatever the case, those around Bartimaeus told him to be quiet. Undaunted, Bartimaeus refused to listen to them and instead just called out even more. He knew in his heart that Jesus could help him and he was not going to let Jesus just pass him by. Jesus heard his cries and told him to come near. When Bartimaeus came to Jesus, instead of the stern rebuke that he probably feared, he heard the Master's wonderful words, "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus, full of faith, boldly gave Jesus his simple request," Lord, I want to see." Jesus answered kindly, "Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole." Immediately Bartimaeus could see! But what would have happened if he had failed to ask? Instead of passively bowing to the will of the unbelieving crowd, Bartimaeus insisted on being heard and his life was changed forever. The ultimate outcome of this event? He followed Jesus.
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:15-16
posted by pressingon at
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