Thoughts on Prayer and Its Necessity

 

The Bible is filled with hundreds of passages on prayer. Because communication is so important for any relationship and people were created for relationship, prayer is integral to our being and to being in a relationship with God. 

Without daily prayer, we are like a plant that has no source of nutrients. We wither, turn inwards on ourselves, die, and become dust tossed about by every wind.

Prayer is the source of our nutrients, a channel of food, that grows us upward in our relationship with God, inward in our estimation of ourselves, and outward in our relationship with other people. 

Without relationship with God grown through prayer, we gain no guidance in our purpose of being alive. 

Our redemption by Jesus comes from His relationship with the Father and His sacrifice to have relationship with us. 

Our hearing God’s voice and being saved comes because of prayer and through our prayer of acceptance and confession of sins.

If we don’t pray, we cut off that which Jesus gave His life for—relationship with Him, and we negate the meaning and method of our salvation. Then we die a martyr to this world and have an eternal destiny without God.

Prayer is vital to our lives as Christians.

Tired Heart Seeking

 

“O unbelieving generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.” Mark 9:19

When Jesus returned from the Mount of Transfiguration, he became exasperated with the people. He spoke with exaggeration and frustration. His words, “this generation,” referred to the people of that age. Jesus said that generation would never believe in him.

“How long must I be with you for you to have faith in me? No matter how much I prove myself or how long I stay with you, you will never believe. Lest the boy never experience freedom from his torment because you do not believe in me, bring him to me. I care about him because of his torment and because your faith will never be enough to lead to his healing.” This was the spoken and unspoken meaning of Jesus’ words.

The amazing thing in verse twenty is the contrast between the beings—human and spirit. In both Mark’s and Luke’s recording of this event, even before Jesus spoke, the demon thrashed the boy to the ground. The demon recognized Jesus as being the Son of God, who has authority and power to command and control him. The demon's belief about Jesus contrasts with the generation's lack of faith in Him.

In verse twenty-two, the boy’s father’s words to Jesus showed the lack of faith by that generation of people. He said to Jesus, “If you can do anything, have compassion for us and help us.” A desperate father grasping for the last straw, the least possibility in his mind, for his son to have freedom from the evil spirit. This man may have exhausted his funds to see every doctor, the priest, and spiritual medium. Another chance for his son’s healing walked into town. This father heard whispers of a man named Jesus. He sought those who could direct him to Jesus, but he found only his disciples. With a loud sigh and deflation of hope, the father may have despaired. Then Jesus walked up to the clamorous crowd. The father’s hope rose. His eyes opened wider, and he sought Jesus’ attention. This father said to Jesus, “If you can, help us...”

Jesus’ response? Incredulity. Spoken and unspoken, Jesus said and may have felt, “How long must I keep showing miracles for these people to believe and be in a right relationship with God? Forever will not be enough time. They have hardened their hearts against me as the Messiah. They must choose to open their hearts and choose to believe in me. Anything is possible to him who believes!”

The boy’s father heard Jesus’ incredulity and exasperation. His hope increased, and he wanted to trust in Jesus. Jesus was the father’s last hope. The man acknowledged his small faith, yet desired belief. He was desperate for his son to be freed from the demon. The father said, “I do believe. Help my unbelief.”

Jesus rebuked the demon and demanded it leave the boy and never re-enter him.

Jesus clarified to the disciples that only prayer can expel such entities.

Jewish scribes argued with the nine disciples who didn't go with Jesus to the mountain. Nothing written in the Bible states these nine disciples had been communing with God. Instead, they stayed in town and became distracted by argumentative people. The disciples focused on defending against the scribes, not on the source of healing and wholeness.

The father, desperate and grasping at his last hope, wanted to believe. His cry, “Help my unbelief,” was his crying out to God for faith, who gives faith to all who ask of him. This father was praying. He recognized Jesus as his only hope and begged God to give him faith.

Jesus said, “This kind can only come out by prayer” (Mark 9:29). The father’s recognition of his own lack of faith led to his desperate cry of wanting faith. God gave him faith to believe in Jesus. God gave faith to the father when he opened his heart to him.

That day, Jesus did more than cast out a demon and make a boy well. He provided faith and hope to a man who had given up hope. This father and son met and experienced Jesus, the divine Son of God and Messiah. The disciples grew in their knowledge of, understanding of, and faith in Jesus. Mark omitted the scribes’ and crowd's faith in his gospel account. In his view, the crowd merely watched and listened.

Today, we each are part of one of these three groups: a growing disciple of Jesus, a desperate seeker of hope and faith, or a hardened and combative person.

Will you choose to grow in discipleship with Jesus?

Will you cry out to God to give you faith to believe?

Will you harden your heart more against Jesus and the salvation he offers to you each day?

It’s your choice. God will never force you to accept him or His forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life in his kingdom.

More

 

The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:7-8 [NASB]) 

Peter, the apostle of Jesus, wrote his epistle of 1 Peter to the Christians in Asia minor. He told them how to live as believers in a sinful world that worshipped manmade idols and success. Peter encouraged these Christians to stand strong in their faith while their friends and neighbors continued to live for their own desires. He reminded them Jesus suffered, too, for staying moral and true to God’s purposes. They would experience trials and tribulations as He did.

In 1 Peter 4:7-8, Peter concisely repeated what he wrote in verses one through six. He reminded them the end of the world was coming soon. For the Jews, it was imminent. The Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. For Christians, when Jesus began His ministry on earth, He heralded the beginning of the end. With His first coming and later ascent into heaven, His return to earth could occur at any time or day. The Christians could know the first part of God’s kingdom coming on earth was imminent.

How did Peter tell the Christians of Asia Minor to live as they waited for Jesus’ return to earth? In verse seven, he wrote, “Be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.” To the casual reader, Peter may have sounded like he told them to keep on praying. Yet, when considering the Greek words Peter wrote, we realize he taught these Christians, “Because Jesus was to return imminently, be clear of mind, heart, body, and spirit and have God’s perspective of the world. Understand the truth on both sides of a situation and gain God’s understanding from how He sees it. Then, with God’s perspective and giving all oneself to Him, dedicate yourselves to pray God’s will through His Spirit within you, forsaking your own earthly opinion. Offer your whole being: heart, mind, body, and spirit, as a sacrifice of self-desire and self-will for God’s will according to His wise and knowing perspective.”

Peter understood prayer is more than a “gimme list.” He realized prayer is meant to be a believer’s joining with the God to be in a closer relationship and likeness with Him. Prayer is about relationship with God.

When a parent first introduces prayer to a child, it would be at a meal and/or at bedtime. After that, the next time a person encounters the idea of prayer would be at church as part of worship or in Sunday School where the child hears about Jesus praying or the Jews of the Old Testament communing with God. Still, at each of the learning points, the child or teen may not have learned prayer is about having a relationship with God. The child/teen would have learned what prayer to say at which event or what is expected to be said in a prayer. Yet, that child/teen/young adult may not realize times of prayer are to be about seeking God, His perspective, His will, and growing to be closer to and more like Him.

Peter made this last point clean when he wrote in verse eight, “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” What was most important? Show deep love for each other. Our human idea of love is flawed. It often is self-serving. We love so that someone will return our love. We love because we are grateful for someone or something they did. Our love is connected to what we have experienced. It comes from our own needs and from our limited supplies. This love is not about what Peter wrote. He wrote about agape love, not philia love. He wrote about the love that comes from the source of all love, God. Just as God is the source of faith, joy, hope, salvation, etc., He is the source of true love. The love people give each other-philia or eros-is mixed with self-serving motives. Agape is pure love that does not depend on how a person feels. God loves. In 1 John 4:10, the apostle John wrote, “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to as a sacrifice to take away our sins. God’s love is a one-way covenant with us. He loves us even when we don’t love Him. He loves us when we sin, and He wants us to return to a relationship with Him. When Peter wrote 1 Peter 4:8, he meant, “Continue to love each believer like God loves so that the person’s sins against you do not keep you from loving the other believer with a tainted love.”

Having this form of love, agape love, God’s love, requires a person to have a close and growing relationship with God through Jesus. How does a person have a close relationship with God? Believe in Jesus, God’s Son, as the Savior who died to take your death judgment for your sins so you would not die and be eternally separated from God. Believe and live. Believe and experience pure love. Experience agape love that requires nothing from you except to receive it and be with God. Join God in prayer and Bible study growing in a closer relationship with Him and become more and more like Him. Be like Jesus, who though He was persecuted, hated, and hurt, still loved us, and died for us. Prayer becomes more than a recitation of thanks over a meal or a bedtime blessing over our sleep. Prayer becomes our connection with God, who loves us without end. It becomes so much a part of our relationship with God that it no longer feels like a discipline, but a sacred honor and blessing to be with Him. We then want to embrace any opportunity we have for prayer. Unable to get enough with the twice daily times of prayer we learned as children, we find ourselves breathing in and out, our hearts and minds joining with God, so when people see us, they see the heavenly Father. They marvel at the presence of the One with whom you have a genuine likeness.

Get out of meagerly praying for people based on your self-interest. Pray selflessly and with God’s will in mind. Grow in your relationship with Him. Become the shining beacon of His love to the world around you.

Pray because it is a privilege to join with God.

Pray with each breath.

Pray and thank the Lord for this blessing.

Always be thankful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 [NLT])

Poverty and Riches

O God, I beg two favors from You; let me have them before I die. First, help me to never tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and, thus, insult God’s holy name. Proverbs 30:7-9 (NLT)

These verses from Proverbs 30 appear to be an obvious teaching, especially after living as an adult for a while. We realize we tend to forget about God when life is easy. We leave Him. Parties, friends, vacations, and buying new things occupy our minds, as do thoughts of how smart we were to earn that money. Instead, we could praise God for what He gives and tell people of His faithfulness and love. When life is hard, we can grow closer to God because we recognize He gives what we need and because we pray to Him continually. Alternately, we can insult Him by blaming Him for not providing what we need and/or then stealing those items. Once we realize these tendencies, most probably after we have experienced both excess and poverty, we can learn from them.

When we read Proverbs 30:7-9, perhaps we think of tangible things we need, like money, shelter, food, drink, clothes, and medicine. In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus addressed people’s need for these things. He spoke of clothing and food and said if the Father clothes the flowers is such fine colors and feeds the birds without them worrying what they will eat, how much more so will He take care of our needs, we whom He made in His image. Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came to give us life more abundantly.

As we take this thought a step further, what other needs, non-physical, do we have? Jesus cares about the whole being. Humans have mental, emotional, and spiritual needs, along with physical needs. We need to feel safe and secure, be fed, know truth, experience peace, endure, and trust physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Life is more than just food, clothes, and where we will sleep, Jesus said. It includes every facet of who we are-mind, spirit, heart, and body. God takes care of the whole person throughout his or her life.

Jesus saves us from sin and death, a timeline of now and not yet. Most people consider the salvation He gives as something they will receive in the future after they die, the “not yet” of the timeline. Salvation happens when we believe in Jesus as God’s Son who died for our sins and when we confess and repent of our sins. When we accept the salvation He offers, He cleanses us from our sins, making us pure so we can live eternally with Him in heaven. Still, salvation is more than “not yet” in our lives. Jesus came to save us now and throughout our whole lives, too, the “now” part of the timeline. The saving now is spiritual, bodily, mental, and emotional, a feeling safe from torment, persecution, prejudice, abuse, and a host of other things. This saving “now” includes feeding our minds, spirits, and hearts with good things, too. Paul wrote about what we should think upon to feed us in Philippians 4:8-9 when he gave a list of “whatevers” to consider. We need to feed ourselves with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Jesus became wisdom for us, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:30. His Spirit teaches us God’s wisdom and knowledge and gives us understanding. We need to know truth. Jesus said, in John 14:6, He is the truth, way, and life. Jesus is truth. We can seek and rest secure knowing Jesus always tells and teaches truth while other people tell their “truths.” We can feel safe and secure knowing Jesus as the Truth. We can stand and endure knowing Jesus saved us. Ultimately, no matter what happens while we are alive, we recognize God wins and we will be with Him in heaven.

We, who have accepted the salvation Jesus gives, can know we are secure with God and can ask for His guidance, protection, and provision. Jesus’ saving us includes clothing us. Just as He feeds the birds and feeds us with His truths, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, Jesus, in Matthew 6, promised God would clothe us. Part of the clothing God gives to each of His children is about what Paul taught the Ephesian believers in Ephesians 6:10-20. He told them to put on the armor of faith. Faith in God is what enables each believer in Jesus Christ to “stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” We can stand firm and trust God because of who He is and His attributes - all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, wisdom, grace, mercy, and love. To stand firm, Paul told the Ephesian Christians to put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the helmet of salvation, and to hold the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. And, while wearing this armor, he told them to pray in the Spirit. Always keep in close communion with God while staying alert, Paul said. Notice all the pieces of armor come from God. God is faithful and gives faith. His strength never fails. Jesus is Truth and makes us righteous, gives us salvation, with His righteousness. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and His gospel, good news, is peace and gives peace. He is the Way to the Father. No one can go to the Father except through Him. Jesus gives His Spirit to each person when they believe in Him for salvation. By the Spirit of Jesus with faith and prayer, we can clothe ourselves with the armor of faith, then stand firm by trusting God. God provides and clothes us with His armor.

Because of the “armor of faith,” we, Christians, can be secure, feel safe and secure, be nourished spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Believers can rest sure of their ultimate salvation. God will give us His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding if we ask. Jesus reveals His truths to us when we seek Him. God meets our mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. Jesus told His followers not to worry about what they would eat, drink, or wear and where they would sleep. With Jesus as our Savior, we realize God cares and provides for our whole being. He feeds and clothes us and gives us shelter. God knows what we need before we even ask, but desires to hear from us and commune with us, so pray continually in the Spirit. Understanding this about God’s provisions, recognize when we have plenty and little, and be content with what He gives. Take note that what we own comes from God, not ourselves. Glorify Him for what He gives. Seek His plan for the gifts. Do not hurl insults at Him for what we do not have. Trust His heart and praise Him. Be faithful to God because He is faithful to us.

Will you deny the Lord when He gives overabundantly to you by walking away from a close communion with Him? Or will you seek Him and His purposes for what He gives you? Will you insult, blame, and curse God with your actions and words when He seems not to listen to your prayers and provide for your needs? Or will you trust in Him and His love for you while praising Him for what He has done and will do? Proverbs 30:7-9 brings us to the point where we must consider choosing faith in God and His purposes and love and being content with what He gives. Without trusting that God loves and cares for us, Satan might lead us astray with his lies, so that we insult God and turn our backs on Him. Trusting God means we will praise Him and be content whether or not He gives overabundantly. Will we seek His will, and trust and praise Him or insult and walk away from Him?

I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13 (NLT)

In whom do you trust?
Who gives you strength to live in this world?

In poverty and wealth, Jesus is still your Savior and Lord.

Whom will you trust and praise?

 

Victorious Unfolding

Who perceives his unintentional sins?

Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins;

do not let them rule over me.

Then I will be innocent

and cleansed from blatant rebellion.

May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable to You,

LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

 (Psalm 19:12-14 [HCSB])

We've heard and/or read verse fourteen before today. We need to put it into perspective with verses twelve and thirteen. Today, let’s consider these verses together and understand what God wants to teach us.

Remember when you were a teenage or a pre-teen. You had more freedom, but you tested the boundaries to see how much power you had at home and school. One day, you decided to stay at school “to be with your friends” and arrived home later than your parents wanted. On another day, a friend needed help to understand what the teacher taught in class. You stayed at school to help him understand, then lost track of time. This good deed made you later getting home than your parents wanted. Which of these is a blatant sin and which an unintentional sin? Are the repercussions for the late home arrival going to be the same? Probably not, but why?

¹² Who perceives his unintentional sins?

Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

Verse twelve speaks about unintentional sins (accidents, mistakes, errors), not rebellious disobedience. The Psalmist said we do not know our unintentional sins. Often, after the result of our mistake occurs, we realize we sinned. One reason we may have sinned is we didn't realize God speaks against those types of things. Another possibility is we didn't realize the words from our mouth contained unintended harshness. These sins were unintentional and, possibly, unknown to us until God told us in our time with Him. Sometimes God makes us aware of these mistakes and accidents as we read our Bible. Other times, He will make us aware of them as we listen to a sermon or as we pray. Perhaps He will teach about them through a devotional. The important point is that, once shown, we acknowledge them, ask forgiveness from God, then ask for strength to live God’s way so that sin doesn’t happen again. (Note: Since we from that point know that action, word, or thought is a sin, no longer can we say the sin is unintentional.)

¹³ Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins;

do not let them rule over me.

Then I will be innocent

and cleansed from blatant rebellion.

Verse thirteen speaks of another set of actions, thoughts, and words. These are willful sins. Willful sins are the deliberate breaking of a law, command, or precept. If you have children or remember being a child, you remember a child often tests or pushes the boundaries to see if he or she can get away with something. He or she will check to see how firm the boundary is. These actions, thoughts are words are willful sins. Willful sins fall in the list of moral laws concerned with things like killing, stealing, lying, etc. God explicitly commands in the Ten Commandments, do not kill, do not steal, and do not bear false witness along with several other commands. Another sin that falls into this willful sin category is letting your neighbor starve when you have food in your home. Jesus taught about loving your neighbor as you love yourself in Matthew 22:37-40. Willful sins are rebellion against the moral laws, commands, and precepts of God.

For both types of sin, unintentional and willful, the Psalmist, once made aware of them, imperatively requested God to cleanse him from them and not let them rule/reign over him. The Psalmist recognized he had no power to cleanse himself from sin or to keep himself from sinning. He was powerless. The Psalmist recognized God's holiness and ability to make a person holy. He recognized God’s ability to guide a person's mind, thoughts, and actions. God can do these things because He is omnipotent (all-powerful) and Ruler of all created things, since He is Yahweh God, the One before time and beyond time.

¹⁴ May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable to You,

LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

With God's cleansing of and rule over him, the Psalmist declared God made him clean/righteous. Being cleansed from sin and made righteous makes a person’s words, thoughts, and meditations acceptable to God. When God cleanses a person and reigns over him or her, the person can be in His presence and raise his or her thoughts, words, and meditations to Him in praise and worship. Only God’s cleansing makes a person clean and able to be in His presence. The Psalmist declared, "Oh Lord, You are my Rock and my Redeemer!" when he realized his cleansing and ability to lead a righteous life came from God.

With God’s rule and strength, He keeps us strong against temptations to sin. He is the One who saves and cleanses us from sin. Because of these, our reaction is to praise and worship Him.

Revisiting your pre-teen self, did you unknowingly break a family rule and experience your parents teaching you why that was not a good thing to do? Probably, they still continued to love, lead, and provide for you. On the other side of the coin, did you intentionally disobey your parents? Did they discipline you? Did your parents continue to love, lead, and provide for you after that? If your answer is yes to each of these, your parents were modeling their parenting after God’s example. If you have read through the Bible, you will encounter examples of when God did not protect or provide for His children, the Israelites, immediately. They had disobeyed Him too many times and needed a stricter discipline. For most of us, having our parents discipline us about a broken rule is all we need to correct our behavior or mistake.

Are you listening to God today?

Today, God is speaking to you. Are you listening to Him? What is He saying to you? God wants to have a love relationship with you. Will you listen as He tells you about your sins? Will you confess your sins to God and ask Him to cleanse you? Will you allow Him to reign in your life as King?

True peace comes with God’s forgiveness and reign in your life.

We each try to delay, block, or deny hearing God when He tells us about our misdeeds, and incorrect words and thoughts. We don't want to face them or Him. Perhaps we refuse to change our lives. Still, what He said won't leave our minds, hearts, and spirits. For peace, I urge you to turn to God in prayer now. Ask Him to make you strong enough to admit your sins and repent. Ask Him to be your Savior and cleanse you. Allow God to reign as King of your life. Experience the growth of your character and your relationship with God as a victorious unfolding.

Your life can be a victorious unfolding with God.

Lord, today, You have shown me a sin, many sins, if I am honest, and I want You to cleanse me from them, please. I have refused to recognize You in the past, but now I give up ruling my life. I give my life to You, Lord. Please take my life and make it what You want and use it for Your purposes. Please, Lord, keep me from being rebellious and hard of heart. Remind me when I stray in that direction, that You are God, and I am not. I am Your's, Lord. You reign supreme. Your love and power never fail. Thank you for cleansing me from my sins and being King over my life. Thank you, Father. Amen.

The Importance of Temple Time

Why were looking for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s house? Luke 2:49b [NASB]

Such simple words. We each could have said them when our parents wondered where we were and found us at a neighbor’s house. We would have said, “Didn’t you know I would be at the neighbor’s house? Where else would I be?” Our child could have said these words when we looked for them and he or she was with his or her best friend. He or she would have said, “Didn’t you know I would be with my friend? Where else would you look for me?”

Such innocent words, but the heart of each person is in them. If a parent knew the heart of the child, that parent would know if that child was not with them, he or she would be with the person who is second most important to them.

Jesus took it a step farther, and helped his parents grow in understanding. After his parents left Jerusalem, they could not find him among the caravan going to Galilee. They returned to Jerusalem searching for Jesus for three days and found Him in the temple answering and asking questions of the teachers. If His parents understood in their heart what was most dear to Him as a child after themselves, they would have known exactly where to find Him. Near His Father, His closest relationship besides them.

Take this a step farther. If someone is looking for you, where would they find you? Would it be in your quiet place or in the church in God’s presence? What is most important to you? What holds your heart? For Jesus, it was being with His Father.

Choosing to Face the Storms

Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak! (Matthew 26:41 [NLT])

Think about boating on Lake Erie or the Mediterranean Sea. The day begins with sun, calm seas, and a small breeze. You and a friend decide it’s  a beautiful day to take the sailboat out on the water. You raise the sails to get out of port. As you laze on deck with sails furled in the middle of the lake or sea, a wind arises that makes your boat rock furiously from starboard to port. Unfurling the sails will only cause you to catch too much wind and make your boat toss and turn at the storm’s mercy. A large ocean-going vessel comes to your starboard offering ropes to moor your boat to the ship’s sheltering side away from the wind. What should you do? Accept the offer or take your chances to ride out the storm?

Jesus knew about storms. He knew what caused humanity to stumble, when we face temptations and act upon them. These temptations when acted upon lead to sin. Each person alive has sinned. It’s part of the curse when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of which God told them not to eat. Jesus knew from where sin came. He addressed it immediately after his baptism by John in the Jordan River.

As Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and You bring Me great joy.” The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan for forty days. (Mark 1:10-13a [NLT])

Jesus understood humanity had great difficulty facing temptations. He faced temptations immediately after John baptized Him. Jesus faced temptations like any human does throughout His life. At any point in His three-year ministry, He could have said He wasn’t the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Christ, or the Messiah, then the Jewish religious leaders wouldn’t have challenged Him daily. Jesus could have said He was just a man whom God called to be a prophet. That’s what the people thought He must be.

Jesus faced the temptation to back down from the challenges presented by the people and the challenges presented by Satan. He willingly walked the path set before Him. Why? So, sin would be defeated and Jesus would have victory over death-eternal death, which is separation from God. Jesus faced and overcame temptation so that as sinless man, He could give power over temptation and sin to every person who believes in Him as their Savior and Lord. In the desert, Jesus was hungry. It would have been wonderful to enjoy a full stomach and so turn the stone into bread. But He didn’t do it. It would have been a relief if the angels of God’s kingdom carried Him from the heights while Satan tempted by Him. But He didn’t ask for their help.

Jesus faced the temptations to sin as a man and as the Son of God so He could give strength to people and enable them to overcome temptations without sinning. Our temptations do not differ from anyone else’s temptations. The foremost thought we have is to put our own selves first instead of seeking God and His will.  Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 10:13. He said, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.” [NLT] When you face  temptations, God is there ready to help you overcome them. In overcoming temptations, you must battle them, not ignore them. These battles strengthen you if you rely on the strength of God to get through the temptation and not to sin. If you rely on your own strength, you do not grow, but become prideful, another sin. This is key to overcoming power. We must rely on God to overcome by going through the struggle against temptation. Only God is all-powerful and all-knowing. Only He knows how to get through and become stronger.

Jesus chose to go through temptations instead of avoiding them. Avoiding them would not have made Him the conqueror. Facing temptations and overcoming them makes conquerors of people who believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus’ choice to face temptation, stand up to it, and overcome it, gives His followers His power to do the same thing. Consider what Paul wrote in Romans 8:31b-39.

If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one-for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one-for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened to death? (As Scriptures say, “For Your sake, we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, Who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. [NLT]

Jesus, because of His and the Father’s great love for us, came to earth to live as a man, to face temptation just as a man, and to overcome temptation because He is God. He died and rose to life again to provide us, each believer in Him as Lord and Savior, the ability not to sin and not to face eternal death. Jesus did not turn away from temptation but chose to go through it to prove He is the Son of God. By this, He gives us power to overcome and grow through our times of temptation. No wonder Jesus challenged His inner circle of Peter, James, and John when He repeatedly found them asleep as He was praying for strength to face, battle, and overcome His biggest challenge, the challenge to save our souls and make a way for us to be righteous and be in a relationship with God. With these words, these three disciples heard Jesus’ challenge, and He recognized their weakness. “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Matthew 26:41 [NLT]) These three men wanted to be faithful disciples of Jesus, but they were unable to face the temptation to sleep instead of keeping watch-praying.

We can overcome temptations and weaknesses and become stronger because of it. Jesus said that strength comes from God through prayer. Acknowledge your weakness. Ask God for His strength to walk with you through the temptation and to grow you as you walk with Him through it. Then pray with thanksgiving, praising God for the strength He gave you and the growth He caused because you walked with Him instead of falling asleep or walking in your own strength at the time of trial.

Consider the sail boat tossed furiously by the sudden storm. Consider yourself in that storm-tossed boat when a large steady ocean-going vessel offers you mooring ropes by which to secure your boat to the calmer side of that ship. Jesus is like that large ship. He provides His strength for you to hold on to while facing your temptations, your storms. With His strength and guidance, you can get through the storm and to your destination with less injury than if you faced the storm by yourself. You will be able to face another day and be wiser because of it. After having gone through that storm with Jesus, you will be able to help someone else face their temptations. Those temptations have made you more than a conqueror. You have become a stronger Christian in your prayer, thought, and physical life.

We are more than conquerors.

How?

Through Christ Jesus, who loves us.

Only with Jesus will we get through a temptation, conquer it, and become more than we were before the temptation. We are more than conquerors because of Jesus.

Lord, I have faced temptations. I have failed at times, too. I hate going through hard times. You, Lord, chose to face temptations because of Your love for me. I don’t understand why anyone would choose to do that, but You did it anyway. You loved me before You even knew me. Lord, I am undeserving of Your love. Make me more like You. Forgive me of my sins and wanting to live life my way. Help me not to shrug away battles and temptations because I am afraid, but to seek You by prayer and walk with You through them. Help me grow to be more like You, for You, Lord, are almighty. You are all-knowing. You chose to come to the world to die for my and other people’s sins because You love us. Thank you, Lord. Make me more like You. Mold me into Your image for Your purposes and glory. Amen.

More than Prayer

“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2 [NASB]

Paul wrote this verse is written in the letter to the church at Colossae. He wrote it because of a heresy that was causing problems in this Gentile Christian church. Paul wanted to expose the heresy, stop it, and encourage the church in their faith.

Notice Paul did not write to them and command them to keep praying, being vigilant and thankful when things were good. He commanded these three things when things were gray and troublesome in the Colossae church. What Paul specifically told the Colossian Christians is very important.

He told them to devote/persist, that means to persevere steadfastly. This command uses an active verb. Don’t let something or someone cause you to stop praying. Don’t make your request to God once. Be persistent. Pray and keep on praying. Once you have a relationship with someone, you don’t just suddenly stop relating to that person. That is not relationship. Relationship requires work from humans. It requires commitment and determination to keep on relating. Prayer is relating with God. It is seeking Him, speaking to Him, and asking for His will to be done. Therefore, from the first part of this verse, Paul commanded the Christians of Colossae should pray and keep on devoting themselves to prayer. Don’t stop when you ask once. Keep praying because you are in a relationship with God. Keep praying because God hasn’t answered your prayer yet. Keep praying because asking is not the only part of prayer.

Next in this verse, Paul said, “keeping alert in it.” Again, this is an active continuing verb. This command means you don’t just make your request then go about your business. It goes along with persistently devote yourselves to prayer. Pray and keep praying. Keeping alert or being watchful is an active verb that means to be on the alert, be awake, expect God to act upon your prayer to Him. When you pray, God hears and will answer. Expect Him to answer and wait and keep on waiting expecting Him to answer. This vigilance is like the watchman on the wall of a fortress. He knows the enemy is out there and so he will keep watching so he is not caught off guard. When we pray, we know God is there listening to us and with that knowing-our faith in God-we can expect and should keep on expecting that He will answer in some way. Don’t ask and then walk away. Don’t ask and say, “Oh well, God doesn’t really love me.” He does love you. God might have a bigger plan in action than what you asked for. Watch and He will often surprise you in how He answers your prayers.

The final command of this verse Paul wrote in his letter is “keeping an attitude of thanksgiving.” This verb denotes activity, too. It comes in relation to “keeping alert.” If one does not expect God to answer, one does not anticipate having to give thanks. Keeping alert anticipates God answering prayer. Keeping alert gives an impetus for us to be thankful. As we pray, we can be thankful we have a relationship with God. As we pray, we can be thankful for what God is going to do, though we may not know how He will do it. Devoting ourselves to prayer and being alert should mean we are ready to give thanks when God answers and for how He answers. Finally, being watchful and alert means we thank God afterwards for hearing our prayers and being faithful to His relationship with us.

Without anticipation of God hearing and answering our prayers, we don’t stay alert and watchful and we are not thankful for whatever happens in life. Sometimes God appears not to answer prayer. Sometimes God’s answers seem contrary to that for which we asked. Other times, God’s answers are so beyond anything we could think or imagine, and we are amazed at how He answered our prayers. The first scenario when it seems God does not answer our prayers reveals that we have either not been alert after we prayed, or we have not been thankful and so are blinded by our lack of growth in relationship or self-centeredness. The second scenario when God seems to answer our prayers in ways contrary to what we want or expect reveals the smallness of our thinking and pettiness of mind. We have not grown enough in our relationship with and faith in God to see that how God answered was for our good, though it may have hurt when He answered because He was growing us. The third scenario reveals a person who prayed and kept on praying, stayed alert and watchful expecting God to answer, and was always ready to thank God for who He is, what He was going to do, and what He did to answer our prayers. God answers prayer in ways we expect, in ways we can’t fathom and leaves us amazed, and sometimes waits to answer so that we can grow in our faith and relationship to Him.

Paul taught the Colossian Christians to steadfastly and persistently pray. He taught them to be ever watchful and expect God to answer prayer. Keep alert, he commanded. Finally, Paul taught the people always to be ready to give thanks to God because of His faithfulness to you. You can do this knowing that in whatever way He answered, His love for you and His will are perfect. God is to be thanked and praised for being omniscient, omnipotent, loving, merciful, and faithful to you.

Let’s put this lesson of Paul’s into perspective. This year has been one of the hardest, if not the hardest, my family has endured in almost twenty years and possibly the whole 30 years of my family’s life. We’ve experienced eleven major life stressors this year-illnesses, surgeries, torn ligaments, three deaths, family members walking away from their faith, and a handful of other things. Going through each of these stressors is hard. Going through them back to back is almost life-crushing.

As the year unfolded, we periodically looked back at the year at what happened. We saw where God’s hand entered into our lives to undergird, sustain, protect, guide, and provide for us. We didn’t enjoy going through the stressors. Some of them were downright painful to our hearts and minds. Still, we kept up our relationship with God. We persistently devoted ourselves to prayer daily minute by minute. We know Who reigns over all and Who will always be victorious. We trust God completely. That is how we were able to stand up during this year. We knew God would answer. We didn’t know how, when, or where, just that He is faithful and would intervene. We watched and waited for Him to answer and intervene. It did not seem at times as if He had, but those times of looking back helped us gain perspective to see where God had walked with us and sometimes carried us through the storms. Because of this year, our faith in God is stronger and our relationship, love, and trust of Him has grown exponentially.

Our faith in God made us persistent pray-ers and made us stay alert because we knew God had a plan and would answer. Our faith in God meant we could be thankful even before God answered prayer because He is always faithful to His children. He always does what is best for us though at the times it may hurt and seem not to be the best way. Perspective often comes when you look back over that time and recognize God’s hand intervening in places. Only then can you see a better picture of what God was doing for you and in you.

We could thank God for what He would do and Who we know He is. We could also thank God for how He was going to get us through the stressors. When we think we have it all figured out, God often surprises us with His ways because our view is so limited. He sees all possibilities and knows what is best for us, which is to grow us closer to Him and for us to be more like Him. Finally, we can be thankful after going through these stressors because God led us to the stressors and through them. He did not shelter and pamper us from hardships. God loves us enough to want us to grow and allows trials and testing to come into our lives to mold us and make us stronger. He does it because He is stronger than the trial and expects to help us go through them. You see, often people can’t get through hard times because they have forgotten to hold onto the One Who is greater than the trial. We humans lose focus and see the storm instead of the Master of the storms. When we lose our focus, we become like Peter who began to sink into the sea as he looked at the magnitude of the storm instead of the love and power of the Savior. He let troubles blind him to the power of God.

Paul did not teach the Colossians, “Do as I say and not as I do.” He taught from his personal experience with God. Paul had lived through persecution, flogging, imprisonment, and a myriad of other things. Yet he could still say, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” Paul still had a relationship with God as he went through a trial and afterwards. He expected God to answer his prayers and so he kept alert. Paul even praised and thanked the Lord before He answered his prayers. He was bold as to preach while in prison knowing preaching the gospel was what got him put into prison. Paul had learned the reality of an active alert, and thankful relationship with God. He prayed without ceasing because he knew Who is Lord and Master over all things and people. As some say today, Paul had an “attitude of gratitude.” He expected to thank God and so began immediately.

Have you kept your relationship with God during everything that has occurred in your life this year? Have you persistently prayed? Have you actively watched for God to work and answer your prayers? Have you thanked God for what He has done and, even before that, for who He is and what He was going to do? Each of part of this verse, these three commands, is active and continuous. They do not exist in isolation from each other. I encourage you to look back on your year and see where you kept up your prayers to God, where you actively sought Him to work, where you stopped expecting Him to answer your prayers, and where you have given or not given thanks for what He did. If at no other time in this year, this time of Thanksgiving should strongly encourage us to reflect on this year to see how we fared in our relationship with God.

Dear Lord, I am so fallible and sinful. I am selfish and see only my needs and my ways of fixing them. Please forgive me of my sin of self-centeredness. Forgive me of my laziness in relating to You. Forgive me of my lack of thankfulness and praise of You. Teach me, nudge me, remind me to devote myself to our relationship, to actively wait and watch for You, and to keep thanking You even when it seems You are silent. I thank You now for what You have done this year, and what You are going to do now and in this next year. I trust You completely. Let Your will be done.

Coup de Grace: His Blow of Grace

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7 [NASB]

Verses four through seven spoke to me. We all know these verses, but I don’t think I had seen them this way before. Verses four through six are commands. Verse seven is a blessing of shalom, heart peace that only God can give. After you have done those three things in verses four through six, then you have blessing-from Paul and from God. As I walked through those commands, I was like, “Yeah, yeah,” but then connections were made that hadn’t been there before for me. And I was like “Yes, I am going to have shalom!”  I am claiming. And I prayed that way for my family this morning.

Verse four: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” Rejoice at what God is going to do, at what He has done, at what He is doing, and at Who He is-I AM, Immanuel, Creator, Savior, Provider, etc.

Verse five: “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.” Don’t let what happens to you deter you from being who God has made you to be. Show the world God’s goodness, kindness, compassion, love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness even when things are not what you want them to be.

Verse six: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made know to God.” This one has been on my radar for years. Thanksgiving is not something I regularly do. Maybe you are like me. Today, I began thinking of all the things I could be thankful for and recognizing they all come from God’s hands.

Then the coup de grace (There is a reason grace is part of this French idiom.) is in verse seven. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” When you do these things, you will have peace because you recognize from where peace comes. God is your peace. Nothing that comes against you will prevail when you thank God for who He is, rejoice no matter what your circumstances, continue to be gentle in spirit, being anxious for no thing at all, but seek to keep in relationship with the Lord. This is how you have peace. And you don’t have it because you manufacture it. You have heart peace because of God’s grace, His blow of grace-the soft breeze that glides by your skin or the tumultuous wind that gets your attention and you know, despite it, you have peace because you are in a relationship with God.

What is coup de grace normally? In French, it’s an idiom that means a mercy killing, or the blow of grace. We could say that is what God does with His mercy toward us. His Son’s crucifixion was a mercy killing to save us from a dying misery. It’s God’s blow of grace on us that gives us eternal heart peace. Paul meant this when he wrote, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” God’s blow of grace may be a soft breeze across your mind or heart or may be a stiff knock to get you to that place, but His peace, no matter what your circumstances, will guard you and keep you. It’s a heart peace-shalom-that comes from knowing God, from being in a saving relationship with Him.

Verse seven is the coup de grace when you look at those four verses together. His blow of grace-His heart peace-will keep your hearts and minds when you rejoice always, remain gentle in spirit, stay calm and un-anxious, while giving thanks in expectation. Grow and keep on growing in your relationship with God and this peace, this shalom-heart peace-will be yours. That is coup de grace. This coup de grace is a different way to look at the French idiom, a Christian way.

Then finally we get to the familiar “whatevers” list in verse eight. Dwelling on the “whatevers”-whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, worthy of praise-can only happen because of having a close relationship with God and because they come from Him. Paul didn’t stop with the command to dwell on them. He told the people to practice them. Why? Because the “God of heart peace will be with you.” Just as Jesus taught people what comes out of a person in words and actions comes from his or her heart, Paul told the people to put into action those excellent things that God puts in them by practicing them. Following these last two commands, Paul gave a promise. The same promise he gave the people in verse seven. When you do these things, God’s heart peace will be with you.

It's not a magic trick. You don’t do things just to get peace. You have peace, God’s peace, the blow of God’s grace, when you are in a saving relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. The grace that brings each of us into relationship with God upon our profession of faith in Jesus as our Savior is how we get this peace. When you are in a relationship with God through Jesus, you dwell on those excellent things that come from God, and you have heart peace because God is with you.

A big sigh is expressed as relief and release enters and we understand much better than before. Rejoice. Show your gentle spirit from God. Be anxious for nothing but pray and supplicate with thanksgiving. These things come from the mind and “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ.” More than this, dwell on excellent and praise-worthy things, which only come from God, then practice them. And again/still, the God of peace shall be with you. Three verses of commands, then a promise of God’s peace. Next, two commands, and again a promise of God’s peace, heart peace.

Are you ready to breathe that sigh of relief? Are you seeking heart peace, the peace that passes all understanding? God gives it through His Son, Jesus Christ. Come walk in relationship with God. Rejoice. Be anxious for nothing. Have access to the Father through the Son. Be thankful before God answers prayer. Think on excellent and praise-worthy things and practice them. Receive unending heart and soul peace, the blow of God’s grace across your heart, soul, mind, and body. His merciful love calls to you.

Lord, God, many times I did not rejoice always. I was anxious and did not seek You first. I acted and reacted based on my best judgments or on my fears. Help me to walk with You so I can keep my eyes focused on You. Help me to recognize Your grace and merc,y and sway towards Your ways instead of my own ways. Forgive me my stubbornness and conceit thinking that I always know what is right. Without You, I flounder and fail. With You, I have learned I can have Your peace-heart peace-even in the middle of difficult times because You are God and nothing surprises You. Amen.

Prayer and Abiding

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4 [NASB])

Abiding is active, not lazy. It is not a come when you want. Abiding is not a half-hearted coming to be with Jesus. We do not walk halfway down a street and say we are abiding with our friend. To abide with that friend, we must purposely and actively be in the person’s presence. We have commonalities with that person. Jesus brought us those commonalities through salvation-selfless love and an open door to the Father.

Abiding in John 15 is a continual activity. We don’t say, “Um, wait here; I’ll be back soon or sometime.” Abiding with God is an active, continual (unbroken) fellowship/relationship, a complete staying with God because of commonalities-our recognition of Jesus’ gift of redemption on which we trusted and received salvation, and because of our love for Him. It is the love of God, which we received, and which lives in us though the Holy Spirit.

This then means we can be in God’s presence always, and He desires that deep relationship with us. It is why His Son died for our sins. It means God is always present to help, guide, teach, and correct through His Holy Spirit, a constant influence, and His active hand in our lives to provide and protect. Not only are we to be continually in God’s presence, He is continually in ours dwelling in us to give us divine influence and energy for our daily lives and work.

Abiding is a dual being in relationship, me with God and God with me. Abiding is like a covenant; it is the fruit of the New Covenant given to us through Jesus’ death and resurrection. This dual relationship, covenant, if continual, through the Holy Spirit, shows itself in the fruits born of it-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness, and self-control. Jesus’ death and resurrection made abiding possible. We must seek to abide in Christ.

With this understanding of abiding (purposely, continually, and actively being in relationship with the Lord because of our love for God and His love for us, and made possible because of His Holy Spirit living in us), we understand what Paul meant in Romans 8:26-27. Paul said,

“In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words, and He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” [NASB]

For a person to pray with the Spirit’s interceding, that is with a depth that is inexpressible, the person must abide in Christ. Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit for apart from Me you can do nothing.” [NASB] Apart from Christ, we cannot be in God’s presence. We cannot relate to Him. When we are not abiding in Christ, we are like the branches that did not bear fruit, and were thrown away, dried up, and burned. The Holy Spirit is not actively guiding us without us abiding in Christ.

Now we can understand Paul’s verses of Romans 8:26-27 better. The Spirit can help our weakness in prayer if we are abiding in Christ.  The “help” the Spirit gives means to take hold with another, to walk alongside with and labor together. It is a cooperative action. The Spirit helps us pray, helps us relate to God, abide with Him. Why do we need this help? Because we are weak. We are frail-without sufficient strength-and unable to accomplish what we would like to do. We cannot pray as we want for God’s will to happen because we do not know exactly God’s will in situations. We pray-relate to God-because we love Him. We pray for another person because God loves that person and we want to be Christlike, have the mind of Christ. We want to love people as God loves people. WAIT!! Did you understand that. We pray for other people because of God’s love, which lives in us and shows itself as spiritual fruit. We should pray for a person because we love that person the way God loves that person. That is one of the greatest understandings about prayer.

Our prayers to God come from our relationship with Him. We want to be with Him and become like Him. We want to have the mind of Christ. As we are in relationship with God, our love for Him grows and our hearts are changed so that God’s will becomes our will. His mind becomes our mind. This means God’s love for another person becomes our love for that person. And ultimately, our love for the person, because of God’s love for the person, calls us to pray the will of God for that person.

Genuine prayer involves being in an abiding relationship with God that grows us to be more like Him-having His mind and bearing fruits of the Spirit-so that we have His will and love the people He loves. It allows us to pray the will of God for the person because we love him/her, not knowing necessarily what God’s will is. That is where the Holy Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words and asks the Father for His will-those things we do not know how to pray-to come about in the life of the person for whom we are praying.

What does all this mean? Genuine prayer comes from intentionally desiring to be in an active and continual deep relationship (abiding) so we know God better, know His will, and become more like Him. It is part of the forming us into Christlikeness, a growing to know God more and having His will as our will. Prayer is ineffectual unless we are abiding in Christ. Abiding is a continual two-way relationship (a covenant) with God that is an intentional, active, a continual, and a whole-hearted remaining with God. We abide with Him because of our love for Him and His love for us, which redemption through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection makes possible for each person.

Without abiding with Christ, our prayers do not include love for the other person because of God’s love. We are praying based on our tarnished and impure human understanding of love. Without abiding in Christ, our prayers do not incorporate asking God to do His will. We will be like the Gentiles about whom Jesus said, “They suppose they will be heard for their many words.” (Matthew 6:7 [NASB]) Instead, as Jesus said in the Lord’s Prayer, we should recognize Holy God, seek His kingdom, and His will.

Abiding in Christ makes prayer effective. As a result, we pray the will of God be done for the person whom God caused us to love enough to bring before His throne of grace. At that point, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us so that our desire for God’s will, unknown it may be to us, is spoken to the Father. This occurs because our wills unite with God’s will. Prayer helps us grow in our relationship with God. Prayer is relating with God. Abiding in Christ causes our prayers to grow us more like Him every day. That causes our prayers to align with the will of God because of His love for the people He has put in our hearts. We must ask ourselves, “Do I love the person enough to pray for God’s will to be done? Or am I loving the person my way, not God’s way, seeking my will to be done?” Remember, abiding in Christ is intentionally, actively, and continually seeking Him to know Him better, grow more like Him, and do His will because of our love for Him. Without abiding in Christ, we are no better than the Gentiles who prayed and weren’t heard. Jesus said they were like the withered vines that were gathered, thrown out, and burned.

Abiding in Christ is essential for growing more like Him and for genuine prayer. Jesus told the people how to abide in Him in John 15:7 & 10. In these verses, He said abiding with Him happens when you remain in God’s Word and keep His commands to love God and others.

Abiding is necessary for genuine prayer to occur. We must stay in God’s Word, reading, hearing, and studying it. We must also love the Lord, God, with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourself. (Mark 12:30-31)

Abiding is necessary for genuine prayer to occur.

Do you pray without abiding?

Lord, please forgive me of my running off and living my own way. Help me to grow closer to You. Help me to become like Jesus and have His mind so that I love You and others with the love You put in me. Please help me to love other people enough to pray for them and pray for Your will to be done even if I don’t understand it. Help me to yield my will for Yours and pray, “Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Help me not to allow my understanding of the person’s situation to sway me to pray what I think is best, but instead to pray for Your will even if the person will have to face difficult times. Often it is through difficult times that we return to You, asking for forgiveness, and seeking Your will, Lord. You have a greater plan than I know or understand. Help me to trust Your heart and follow Your way and will. Amen.