Very often prayer seems like a struggle. That is because sometimes, it is. Jesus bled from wounds that were given to him by the Romans before the crucifixion but even before that, He broke out in bloody sweat from the action of prayer. Prayer is sometimes warfare, and the enemy does not want you doing it. When we finally get to that mature level of prayer where we are in the process of aligning our will with Gods, the battle will rage as it did for Jesus at Gethsemane.Jesus began his ministry in prayer and ended it in prayer. He prayed in the mornings and He prayed in the evenings. He spent days in prayer, and He prayed at all the crucial points in His life and ministry; at his baptism, at his transfiguration, at his death. Jesus wanted to maintain the relationship He had with His Father. And He knew that while He was here, prayer was the only means for this.
Does prayer matter?
Jesus believed it did. He prayed about everything and he prayed all the time. The Romans of the time prayed and kept charms for good luck but they didn’t really expect their prayers to do anything. The Greeks derided prayer, weaving crude, ridiculous and sometimes obscene prayers into plays and theater to bring out laughter in their audience. But those stubborn Jews believed that they followed the supreme and loving God and that He did hear and answer their prayers. Prayer matters because we need that communion with God. It matters because without it, God will ultimately not be able to bring about His will in our lives. The Bible is the place we go to understand and get a glimpse of the mind of God. But prayer is where we get to know His heart.
Jesus offers us no metaphysical proof of the effectiveness of prayer, but He not only prayed, He told the disciples on at least one occasion that they failed in their attempts to heal a boy because of a lack of prayer. If we are going to believe Jesus then we must believe that prayer works and it matters. Just not necessarily in the way we want at all times. If we pray we may not get what we want, but oftentimes we get something we need. Peter once prayed for food and got a lesson in racism, Paul asked for healing and received humility, we ask for relief and get patience.
Are prayers always answered?
No. I know they are heard but that does not mean they are answered. Jesus prayed that we would all be one as He and the Father were one yet we have over 34,000 distinct and identifiable denominations and sects of Christianity today. Sometimes we ourselves hinder even the prayers that God would love to bring about. Unanswered prayer sometimes shows us a God that actually restrains himself due to the freedom he has granted us. God respects our free will so much he allows things to play out naturally sometimes. Even though when we are faced with some seriously dire situations we sometimes would like to give up that very freedom.
In God’s creation project, He built in this component that we call free will so that we could share in the maintenance and direction of the project. He knew we could, and I think He knew we probably would; fail in our area of authority. But He wanted free, loving relationships with us above all else. And no matter how happy a five point Calvinist gets at the thought of God’s Omni-control, that just does not show us a loving God. It shows us a puppet master instead. God really wants relationships with real people not puppets.
Jesus taught us that prayer was necessary to maintain this relationship with our Father. Prayer is ultimately only a method of communion with God and this is what Jesus modeled for us. God desires a dynamic relationship with all of us and the only way that will occur is with consistent, persistent prayer. We pray to involve God in our lives. Ministry, family, jobs, etc are all areas where we ask God to be there for us and to strengthen us. But sometimes it has to be just about being with Him. Our ministries are our calling but our callings came after the Fall. Before that we had fellowship with God. We were created for fellowship with God. And since the Fall, prayer is the method of maintaining that fellowship.
Prayer involves an effort of will. I must decide to do it and like anything else, doing it consistently will make it become a habit instead of a planned event, a joy instead of effort. We must all pray and we must do it our way. If I try to pray like Pastor or some of you I am only setting myself up for failure. And while I believe it is good to start the day off and end the day talking to God it is not always that deep meaningful communion that I desire. That has to happen when each of our hearts and our lifestyles dictate.
But it must happen. Have you talked to your Father today?
Love you all
Tags: Bible, Calvin, Christ, communion with god, Father, Fellowship, Free will, greeks, Love, Prayer, Relationships, romans
