Tomorrow is the first of four special days that the General Overseer of my denomination has called to be set aside as special days of concerted prayer.  Starting at midnight and going till midnight there should not be a minute of any hour when there are no prayers being poured out to God on behalf of ourselves, our families, our churches, and our nation and world.  It should be an awesome time of communion with our Father.  I intend to pray as much as I can.  I have actually determined in my heart and mind that I will pray more tomorrow than I ever have. 

What is prayer to you? 

I could go on quite a bit on this but that is not the focus for now.  So for now, I will keep this simple.  I believe prayer to be, at the simplest level, communication with God.  A discussion with our Lord.  A talk with our Father. 

I actually heard an evangelist say once that this is not what prayer is.  He said prayer was asking and receiving from God.  I have to disagree with this.  If this was all prayer is, then how in the world are we supposed to pray without ceasing?  I want and need a lot of things but, I can’t even begin to come up with enough to continuously, never cease, to ask from God.  And if prayer is also receiving and we look to James 5:16 to see that righteous men’s prayers accomplish much, then why aren’t some receiving a whole lot?

Tuesday, in my first attempt to stimulate discussion, I posted and posited a scenario and some questions in hope of provoking thought on prayer, its effectiveness, and to ask if it was truly enough, in a given situation. 

I thank the three, only three, that responded with their comments.  They were good, loving responses to the situation I put forth.  But they didn’t get to the place I wanted to get to. 

I am one of the first ones that will say we have to love, and love, and love some more.  But I also believe, no, I know, that that love will look different depending on the person, the situation, and the circumstances. 

In that post, I asked the following questions.  What do you do?  How do you pray?  What do you ask for?  And do you think it would be effective?

The answers I got were great answers, and loving answers in a way, but the whole post was really designed to let me ask this question.

When is it time to stop letting people off the hook, so to speak, and tell them in no uncertain terms, that your praying for them in their current state, is probably a waste of time? 

Whew!  I got it out.  You will never know how hard it was for me to write that question. 

When I asked; what do you do; I knew that the vast majority say to simply pray.  Don’t confront, that has been done.  Don’t instruct, they already know.  Don’t judge, they need compassion. 

When I asked; how do you pray; I knew the vast majority of the faithful would say to pray for his salvation, his healing or comfort, and for God to be glorified.  I didn’t think anyone would pray for strength and instruction on how to disassemble the lies and deception our adversary had woven in this man’s life.

When I asked; what do you ask for; I knew the requests would mainly be in how to show love to the man, how to show compassion and how to love him.  I somehow knew that no one would ask God how to tell the guy that he is on his own if He doesn’t do a little more himself, like joining in the battle for his soul, than just relying on other warriors. 

Finally, when I asked if the prayers sent up would be effective; I somehow knew that most thought they would be.  I would have been very surprised if James 5:16 had not been brought up.  It was, by two out of the three commentators.  I even used it above.  It is a powerful verse but, we all have to admit that sometimes, no matter how fervent, no matter how much faith we have, what we ask for does not come about.  Sometimes people are not saved, sometimes people are not healed, and sometimes God is not glorified in a given situation. 

Jas 5:13-16  Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Who is James talking to?  He is talking to the brethren; those who walk in service to our King.  The man in my scenario was not described to be one of the brethren.  Just going to church does not mean you are fighting on the side of the Kingdom.  But you say, I am the one that is righteous and asked to do the praying.  Look at the part I emboldened.  It is the first part of James 5:16.  It is the part that no one bothers to memorize.  In my scenario the man never said he wanted to confess, or get forgiveness.  I purposefully implied that he only wanted healed.  Most of the people in church who don’t have nothing to do with you, the true prayer warriors, will quickly turn to you when they really, selfishly, need something.  But does that mean God will do what we ask?  Because of our service, and our faith?

It is time that we did a little bit more.  Prayer is our most effective weapon in the spiritual warfare we are involved in.  But we have to get it out of our head that it is to simply ask and receive.  In my scenario it is actually more about discussing the battle plan with our King. How do we let this man know that He can be healed, and forgiven, if he will only turn from his iniquity? 

 Isa 59:2  but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

The man in my scenario, and many of those out there that ask for prayer, have caused God to hide His face from them because of their iniquity.  Some of my own children are in this group.  Do I stop praying for them?  No.  But do I let them know that that is probably not enough?  That they have a part to play in their own salvation?  Every chance I get. 

What is wrong with letting those that are on the wide path to destruction know that they bear the responsibilty for their choice?  As the people in the culture we live in accelerate ever faster towards their doom, isn’t it time we joined in the fight, to ram into them if need be, to knock them off the path to destruction? 

Sometimes, love hurts.

Love you all

Tags: Boldness, Christianity, Christians, Compassion, Faith, God, Healing, Iniquity, Judgment, Love, Prayer, Responsibility, Self, Selfishness, Servant Hood, Service, Sin, Spiritual Warfare, Weapons

I have two goals in mind while writing this today.  The first is to say Happy Birthday Tammy.  I love you and hope you are having a good time.  And hopefully being refreshed also. 

My wife, Tammy, is out of town with some of the ladies from our church.  They go on a trip every year to get away and do whatever women do when they get away.  But today is her birthday and I wanted to let her know that I am thinking of her and also let her know and the world know how much I appreciate her.  I would not be here if not for her, especially her prayers.   And I mean that literally. 

Prayer is the second thing I want to touch on.  Do you pray?  How often?  Do you believe it actually does anything? 

Depending on the theological worldview a person holds, there are a lot of different beliefs about prayer.  For those who believe in the meticulous sovereignty of God prayer is actually only a means to somehow see ourselves as lined up with His will.  It can’t really bring about anything that God has not already brought about.  In this view does it really do anything?

In James 5:16 we are told that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man actually accomplishes a lot.  How does it accomplish anything if all is already decided?

It seems to me that prayer does actually get Gods attention and lets Him know we need or want something.  But if it is to bring something about it must be effectual.  What does that mean?  The dictionary definition in part says effectual means…capable of producing an intended effect; adequate.  So if this is the definition of effectual we must realize that what we ask of God has to be in line with His word and His will or it is not going to be either capable or adequate.  He will not do anything for us that is not lined up with His will. 

Prayer must also be fervent.  The definition of fervent is…

So prayer must also be for something that we really desire: desire with all our heart and spirit.  Something we want so much that we are willing to lay aside the things that take up so much of our time for.  How often do we just throw up empty words to heaven and then get mad or feel forsaken when God could not really tell whether we were serious or not? 

And prayer must come from a righteous man or woman.  And since none are righteous (Romans 3:10), this has to mean that the prayers that God can answer have to come from someone that has the righteousness of Christ applied to them.  Someone covered by the blood of Jesus. 

Therefore it looks like we can conclude that, if we are serving Jesus Christ, if we are one of His, if we are serious, zealous, and passionate about our needs, and if we ask for what is in line with God’s will, we actually have a voice in the Kingdom of God.    

Prayer is one of the most effective weapons we have in our arsenal against the unseen forces that are all around us.  Prayer is a weapon and its proper use is what makes us an effective soldier to be used by God in this battle to the death we are engaged in.  Hence the term, prayer warrior. 

I thank God that my wife, Tammy, is a prayer warrior.  She is in the midst of the fray daily.  The enemy has seen her effectiveness and I know this firsthand.  And if not for her, like I said in the beginning, I would not be here. 

I just want her to know that I am there, beside her, praying with and for her, no matter how tough the battle gets.

Why don’t we all band together in effectual fervent prayer.  And actually do something.

Happy Birthday, Sweet T.  I love you and

Love you all

Tags: Faith, Power, Prayer, Righteousness, Spiritual Warfare, Weapons, Zealous