Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people
Prayer, as we all know is the essence of the Christian faith, the integral part of personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the ultimate way to develop that relationship with our creator. And above all, it should be known as a two way communication. Though it’s one of the mostly talked, mostly practiced, mostly agreed upon principle, yet it’s one of the mostly misunderstood, least experienced and mostly formulated one. Prayer should be more of an experience than of a practice, that’s the discussion in this passage
Prayer, as we all know is the essence of the Christian faith, the integral part of personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the ultimate way to develop that relationship with our creator. And above all, it should be known as a two way communication. Though it’s one of the mostly talked, mostly practiced, mostly agreed upon principle, yet it’s one of the mostly misunderstood, least experienced and mostly formulated one. Prayer should be more of an experience than of a practice, that’s the discussion in this passage
God created Man in His own image and had a wonderful relationship going. But, Adam sinned and we lost that direct relationship with God, Sin separated us. Jesus Christ put that relationship back in place and we can now approach Father God through Him, which is the very reason He created us, to have a relationship ie., through prayer. But how are we today with that relationship as Christians, as believers, who accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. How is our Love for our God, is it Cold, or is it Hot or is it Warm to the extend God has to spit us out. If you Love someone, don’t you spend more time with them?. Jesus in fact mentions this as the most important commandment (Mark 12:28-29) "...The Lord our God, The Lord is one. Love The Lord our God with all your Heart and all your Soul and with all your Mind and with all your Strength". How is our love for our God today?
The Lord ’s Prayer in Mathew 6:9 gives us the insight on how to pray. And I know all of us have the experience of Prayer and no one if asked will deny the power of prayer. That’s one of the common factors that all the denomination will agree upon. Every Christian if asked can witness an incident in life where God answered their prayer. But this passage is not about How to pray or what to pray or how much time you should spend every day…it’s about, how as ChriMarstians, we must sustain a pray life, how does it affect your life and other peoples life…and above all, how does it bond the relationship with God…we’ll be looking into those aspects from the life of various God’s people in the scripture and Jesus himself. I’ve divided their prayer experience into seven categories for discussion. In a nutshell it should help you gauge your prayer life and encourage you to sustain and spend more time in prayer.
1. Habitual prayer
Daniel's prayer habits are well recorded in the Bible. He prayed 3 times daily in his upstairs room with the Windows open towards Jerusalem. The scripture says Daniel was so distinguished among the administrators and satraps, with his exceptional qualities. The very reason why his colleges hated him and planned to kill him. They couldn’t find any fault with Daniel and hence they came up with a shrewd plan.., convinced the king and got the signed executive order that says “anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days except the king…, shall be thrown into the lions’ den” (Daniel 6:6-9). Remember they suggested the order be only for 30 days, ‘cause they know that Daniel has a habit and can’t spend a day without doing it ie., praying. Daniel in spite of knowing that the decree has been published didn’t give up his habit of praying 3 times (Daniel 6:10). In fact he was so steadfast that, when these people came to check on him, he was still praying. So, where did he get that courage, the faith, the hope that God will take care of him and that he shouldn’t be afraid of the people, even the King? It's because of his experience in prayer with God he got that unshakable courage. Without that experience, without that intimate relationship with God, he won't be able to do that. And we all know what happened after that, God did an amazing miracle to save him. And eventually everyone who planned to kill him was thrown to the hungry lions.
Remember a habit doesn't develop without an involvement, without the love towards the act in the habit and without reaping the goods. The more these factors are experienced, the stronger the habit will be. Daniel experienced those factors in prayer and hence stood steadfast in time of trial. His prayer life not only saved him, but also made the King a believer in our God and made him send a message to the entire nation, that everyone should fear and reverence the God of Daniel (Daniel 6:26, 27). And Eventually Daniel life prospered (Daniel 6:28) and that was due to his prayer life. The habitual prayer life.
We can say the same about David - Psalms 55:16 - As for me, I call to God, and the LORD saves me. 17 Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He too had the habit of praying regularly and going to God for everything. We read in Psalms, how he puts God first in everything and how he pours out his heart towards God. He goes to Him for his needs, for forgiveness, in time of distress and also in time of victory. If you want to know how personal he was with God, God himself calls David “…a man after my own heart” Acts 13:22“After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’”. A prayer from the heart always gets you closer to God. And if that becomes a habit, you can walk with God. We should aim for that…to walk with God.
2. Purposefull Prayer
Purposeful prayer is when you pray to know the will of God for you and your family. Jesus Christ, came to know His purpose in a very early age. At the age of 12, we can see Him listen and question the teachers in the temple courts and when questioned, we also see Him answer His parents that He's about His Father's buisness (Luke2:49). After He grew-up, during His days of ministry, many times, He took time to be lonely and prayed (Luke 5:16). He very well knows His purpose, but didn't take it for granted; instead he was in constant fellowship with the Father to make sure the purpose was done according to His will. He goes on to say that He can do nothing of His own..but only what He sees the Father doing..Such was his fellowship with the Father (John 5:19-20 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he himself is doing; and greater works than these will he show him, that you may marvel). Praying to Know the purpose is one thing, but to keep praying to do it right (ie. in His way), is even more important.
Looking into some details in the life of Jesus, due to the many miracles Jesus did and his powerful teachings, he was a celebrity in town. People witnessed and enjoyed all those benefits that they never had seen or heard before. Apparently they don’t want Jesus to leave them and they insisted Him to stay with them, in their town (Luke 4:42-44). But, Jesus without hesitation echoes His purpose and leaves to the next town - “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. The fan base and the celebrity status were creating a comfort zone for Jesus, but that didn't affect Him, just because he was in constant touch with the Father. He was very vigilant on his purpose and every step in His ministry he does it with according to Father God's will. His prayer life re-instates the fact that, even after knowing your purpose and being successful in establishing your lives towards the purpose, you’ll have to be in constant touch with our Father God. That'll help us be vigilant to the circumstances, do the things as per God's plan and will enable us hear His voice, as written in John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” Ask yourself, if you are His Sheep? If you are taught by God? if you're not sure, then this is the time to think, spend time in prayer and get that experience that God has in store for you. Prayer is through which we can sense God’s desires and make it our own. We should always remember that God not only lets us know His desires and purpose, but also guides us through it, till the end.
3. Persistent Prayer
Being persistent apparently means, to continue firmly and not giving up and being hopeful. That’s one of the aspects of prayer life we should have, ie., being persistent. Jesus himself mentioned it in the parable in Luke 18:1-8,
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
where a Widow persistently approaches an unjust judge for justice. Initially he refuses, but eventually, her persistence pays off and he decides to help her. Jesus when saying this parable stresses on the fact that when an unjust judge comes forward to help, due to the window’s persistence, it’s even more assured that the heavenly father will bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night. So, never give-up on praying, you may not get the answers quickly, but be assured your prayers are being heard and at the right time, God will answer you prayer. Remember, persistent only comes, if you have hope that at some point your try is going to succeed. Have Hope in prayer and know that God always hears our prayer and above all, the very act of coming to His presence pleases Him.
In another passage in Luke 18-35-43,
35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
A blind man sitting on the side of the road, as soon as he knows that Jesus is passing by, he started shouting...” Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me…”. Hearing this, the People near him asked him to keep quiet. But, he shouts even more to get the attention of Jesus. Eventually Jesus stops and heals him. Looking at this passage, the blind man had no doubt in his mind that Jesus can heal him, but it's just the matter of approaching him. The circumstances around him are not in favor of him; in fact they were discouraging him. But still, he was persistent with his approach. The script says “...he shouted even more…” Applying that to our lives, we do know that Jesus can do wonders in our lives, we do know he is our provider, we do know that he can heal us... but it's just the matter of approaching him, it’s the matter of our availability. That's where our busy lives and our priorities come to play. Most of the times those are not in favor of approaching him, but if we are persistent allocating time for him, in approaching him, we can definitely see God's hand in our lives; to the extend, people seeing our lives will Praise the God in heaven. That's exactly what happened in the Blind man's life, seeing him get healed; people started praising God in Heaven (Luke 18:43). His persistence made him an instant witness and brought glory to God.
We can see David’s persistence and witness in Psalms 40,
Psalms 401I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 3And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
David starts it by saying “I waited patiently for the LORD”, then he goes on to speak with confidence and hope “.. …He inclined unto me, and heard my cry”. Look how personal his statement is… God inclined towards him and heard his cry. That’s the kind of relationship he had with God, to the extend God inclines towards him to hear him. In verse 2&3, he mentions how God lifts him up from a slimy pit and then goes on to say that many will trust in the Lord seeing his witness. Look how his prayer life made others believe in God. Though a prayer life itself is personal, its outcome will have a positive impact on others and indeed bring glory to God. So, be persistent and keep praying, never giving up. The answers to the prayers might be delayed due to good reasons, but God never delay the hearing of your prayer. God loves to hear from you, if you love to speak to Him.
4. Specific Prayer
We see some God's people do specific and to the point prayers in the scripture and get answered. A specific prayer usually comes in desperate times and most of it is time constraint. David went and asked God, can I go after the philistines, will you deliver them to me ? And God answered yes and he goes and wins them.
Samuel 5:18-19 Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?” The LORD answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.”
The philistines had already surrounded the valley of Rephaim to capture David. It’s just the matter of time before they attack David. Time is crucial here. David knows that, but, instead of urging to prepare his army, look what he does? He goes to God in this desperate time and asks Him straight, without speaking many words, not taking much time; if he can Go and if he’ll win. And God gives him a GO and the rest is history, where he goes on to win the Philistines. Those are the characteristics of God’s people, they don’t panic even if their life is at stake, and they know that God can deliver. And that kind of character is only developed when you have an intimate relationship with God, which is turn, comes by spending time with God.
Paul had a specific request for God about removing his weakness (a thorn). He prayed 3 times for that and God answered Him by saying ”My grace is sufficient for you..”, it may not be the exact answer Paul expected, but it satisfies Paul and he goes on to say “when I’m weak I’m strong..” When God answers, that’s the best you can get, there’s no alternative or better solution to the problem. That’s what Paul realizes and gets strengtened.
We seeJabez’s prayer in 1 chorinicals4:10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
His own mother named him Jabez, saying “I gave birth to him in pain”, but he prays that God keeps him from harm, so that he doesn’t cause pain and he even goes beyond that by asking God to bless him and God granted his request. Because he caused pain, he was named after that; he must have been poked with that meaning since his childhood. But, his faith in God is amazing, and his life was totally the opposite to his name, ie.,, he was honored among his brothers, God blessed him and enlarged his territory and kept him from harm and he was free of pain. What do we learn here, no matter how the world sees us, if we rely on God, have faith in him and call on him, He’ll change the situation. And He’s able to bless us, no matter what the situation is. In prayer we can change the very meaning of our lives for Good.
Now, all these people are able to suceed with these specific prayer approach, just because they already have an ongoing relationship with God. Which enables them to approach Him with faith and confidence. Just imagine, how would you approach a stranger in need. You’ll be formal, you might need to introduce yourself and explain the situation before coming to the point. But when you approach a close friend you don’t need any introduction, your approach will be with confidence, with faith and above all you can be as specific as possible, since they know you well. These people of God approached God with that unwavering faith and confidence, ‘because they know who they serve and they know he hears them every time they approach him. And they have an ongoing and active relationship with God. Likewise, make God your friend, and you can approach Him in love than in fear. Yes, the Bible says Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, but as you get closer and grow in the relationship with God, it's the love that develops and a complete Love casts away the fear. And that's the ultimate relationship with God, complete Love. Spending time alone in Prayer makes this happen. I understand that time alone is the caviar here, with family, with kids, with responsibilities, and with all the schedules filling our calendar, it's hard to find that time alone. Our responsibility on earth should not be a hurdle to this. Remember Enoch walked with God for 300 years and yet had sons and daughters and ran his family. Jesus, withdrew himself to spend time in prayer, in spite of being popular and a large crowd following him all the time. It is doable, if only you’re willing and asking God for help with your prayer life. He’s is able to take you to the most holy place experience in prayer.
5. Praying for the will of God
Knowing God’s will is very important, but, how we execute that is even more important. Once we know God’s will, God doesn’t let us handle that ourselves, he wants us to do it His way, and he is ready to lead us and teach us His way of fulfilling it. But most of the times we get so excited that God let us know His will or calling in our lives, that we forget to ask God’s further guidance on it and end-up doing things our own way. Sometimes, we even pray for God’s help that certain things be done in certain way known to us. Remember our ways are always restricted to the resources that we have circumstances that we face and things that we see. But, God’s will, should be done by His ways throughout and not ours. Looking into Jesus life, though He knows the very purpose of His life from the early age, he was still in constant touch of father God, to fulfill His purpose. Though he was anointed, did miracles and had followers, still he withdrew himself to spend time alone with God, just so that he does everything, just the way God wants Him to do. Doing His will His way, means, not being restricted by the resources we have, getting over the circumstances we face and seeing and believing things we don’t see now. And to do His will His way is to Yield to Him. Yielding to God is like agreeing with God on His very purpose, its trusting him, it's surrendering yourself to Him in spite of all the unfavorable circumstances and it’s having faith in Him believing in things that you don’t see at all, till his purpose is fulfilled. Giving or yielding to God might make you take a path that may not be acceptable worldly, but that's what will bring the ultimate Glory to God. When Jesus told His disciples He'll have to suffer and die and rise up on the 3rd day, that wasn’t acceptable in the eyes of Peter and he started rebuking Jesus.
Mathew 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
But Jesus was very clear about His purpose. He yielded himself to God's plan and Peter’s comment didn’t change it a bit, instead he rebuked Peter saying “…Get behind me, Satan”.
Sometimes foreseeing the circumstances brings in fear and anxiety, but going to God helps relieve the pain and increase the faith. Even Jesus when he prayed in the Garden of Gestamane, prayed that “…if possible, this vessel be removed”, but then He goes on to say “…not My will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42), thereby giving himself to the will of Father God to suffer, to die on the cross and then to resurrect, which brought in salvation to the mankind.
In another example, Mary, when approached by an angel with the news that she will become pregnant and give birth to a child, she enquires in surprise that how is it possible when she's a virgin, she can give birth to a baby.
Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. …34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. … For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
But once the Angel says "For with God nothing is impossible". She completely submits to God's will by saying “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word”and thereby bringing Glory to God with the birth of Jesus. Yielding to God's Will truely bring Glory to His name. After all that's the reason we're still on earth, to do His will, bring glory to Him. So, let’s not get the will in hand and try to execute it ourselves. God still owns the manual on how to execute it successfully and we’ll have to learn it through prayer.
6. Powerful Prayer
Powerful prayer by God's people is the one where God's power is revealed, to the extend it revives people to believe in the True God. Moreover, it doesn't always mean, doing a long and lengthy prayer. Looking at some of the examples in the script, the powerful prayers were short, crisp and clear and above all, it had an unwavering confidence that it's being heard.
In looking at the incident where Jesus raises Lausarus John 11:41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
He starts by saying "Thank you Father God for hearing my prayer..." and commands Lausarus to come out and God's power is revealed there by bringing alive a man dead for 4 days. And more people started believing. And in another incident in John 14-18-21, Jesus, when He fed five thousand people, he takes the 5 loves and 2 fishes and all he does is looks up to the heaven and gave thanks and broke the loaves and gave it to the disciple to serve the food and it fed and satisfied all five thousand men and even had a left over filling 12 baskets. Which amazed the people, to the extend, they want to make Jesus their king. In both these incidents, He just Thanks Father God instead of asking for the actual need, 'cause of Him spending time in prayer with Father God and His intimate relationship with Father God, He already knew this is going to happen and that it is Father God's will that this should happen.
Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. …34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. … For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
But once the Angel says "For with God nothing is impossible". She completely submits to God's will by saying “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word”and thereby bringing Glory to God with the birth of Jesus. Yielding to God's Will truely bring Glory to His name. After all that's the reason we're still on earth, to do His will, bring glory to Him. So, let’s not get the will in hand and try to execute it ourselves. God still owns the manual on how to execute it successfully and we’ll have to learn it through prayer.
6. Powerful Prayer
Powerful prayer by God's people is the one where God's power is revealed, to the extend it revives people to believe in the True God. Moreover, it doesn't always mean, doing a long and lengthy prayer. Looking at some of the examples in the script, the powerful prayers were short, crisp and clear and above all, it had an unwavering confidence that it's being heard.
In looking at the incident where Jesus raises Lausarus John 11:41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
He starts by saying "Thank you Father God for hearing my prayer..." and commands Lausarus to come out and God's power is revealed there by bringing alive a man dead for 4 days. And more people started believing. And in another incident in John 14-18-21, Jesus, when He fed five thousand people, he takes the 5 loves and 2 fishes and all he does is looks up to the heaven and gave thanks and broke the loaves and gave it to the disciple to serve the food and it fed and satisfied all five thousand men and even had a left over filling 12 baskets. Which amazed the people, to the extend, they want to make Jesus their king. In both these incidents, He just Thanks Father God instead of asking for the actual need, 'cause of Him spending time in prayer with Father God and His intimate relationship with Father God, He already knew this is going to happen and that it is Father God's will that this should happen.
Looking at some more powerful prayers from the scripture, here is Elisha’s powerful prayer…
1 kings 18:37 "Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God."
Elisha as in the above passage Prays and the fire comes down from heaven and consumed the offering and all the water. People seeing the power of God, started shouting, "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God."
1 kings 18:37 "Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God."
Elisha as in the above passage Prays and the fire comes down from heaven and consumed the offering and all the water. People seeing the power of God, started shouting, "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God."
In another incident, when Paul was preaching through the night, a young man falls down from the window and dies..
Acts 20:9 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
But instead of panicking, Paul comes down..puts his arms around him and says in faith "...don't worry...he's alive", and eventually they take the young man alive. Here Paul doesn't even have time to say a prayer; probably he did it in his heart. Paul here faces a very sensitive situation, when preaching the gospel. Someone dies in the very meeting where he’s preaching and he knows that, this might bring down the faith in the people listening. But Paul acts in faith and God changes the situation to strengthen the people's faith. Looks at verse 12, it says … the people were greatly comforted. In fact this incident would’ve made more people believe in Jesus. And more people would’ve seen Paul as a Man of God.
In all these biblical incidents, there wasn't a lengthy prayer, there wasn't a panic irrespective of the situations, the prayers were simple and clear, but it moved God to do wonders revealing his power. That’s because these were people of God, who had an intimate relationship with God. Powerful prayer is always an outcome of the regular prayer in private. If we look at the background of the God's people in these incidents, we could very well find they all spend lots of time alone in prayer. Take for eg., the prayer Jesus did when resurrecting Lausarus, The words that he said in public were to just thank father God for hearing His prayer, which means he did the actual prayer in private even before he came there. He himself makes a reference to praying in private in Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you”. The effect of a simple prayer in public is always the effect of a continual prayer life in private. Let’s pray that God helps us with that kind of prayer life.
7. Forgiveness Prayer
Prayer of forgiveness for others. This is one of the toughest prayer, and this kind of prayer really shows the spiritual maturity in a person. Forgiving others or praying to forgive others, after they've hurt you and after you've gone through the pain, is one thing, but doing the same prayer right when you're being hurt, right when you're in pain, right there for the very people who hurt you is what shows the ultimate God's love. And that's what Jesus did when he was on the Cross and praying for the people around Him...
Acts 20:9 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
But instead of panicking, Paul comes down..puts his arms around him and says in faith "...don't worry...he's alive", and eventually they take the young man alive. Here Paul doesn't even have time to say a prayer; probably he did it in his heart. Paul here faces a very sensitive situation, when preaching the gospel. Someone dies in the very meeting where he’s preaching and he knows that, this might bring down the faith in the people listening. But Paul acts in faith and God changes the situation to strengthen the people's faith. Looks at verse 12, it says … the people were greatly comforted. In fact this incident would’ve made more people believe in Jesus. And more people would’ve seen Paul as a Man of God.
In all these biblical incidents, there wasn't a lengthy prayer, there wasn't a panic irrespective of the situations, the prayers were simple and clear, but it moved God to do wonders revealing his power. That’s because these were people of God, who had an intimate relationship with God. Powerful prayer is always an outcome of the regular prayer in private. If we look at the background of the God's people in these incidents, we could very well find they all spend lots of time alone in prayer. Take for eg., the prayer Jesus did when resurrecting Lausarus, The words that he said in public were to just thank father God for hearing His prayer, which means he did the actual prayer in private even before he came there. He himself makes a reference to praying in private in Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you”. The effect of a simple prayer in public is always the effect of a continual prayer life in private. Let’s pray that God helps us with that kind of prayer life.
7. Forgiveness Prayer
Prayer of forgiveness for others. This is one of the toughest prayer, and this kind of prayer really shows the spiritual maturity in a person. Forgiving others or praying to forgive others, after they've hurt you and after you've gone through the pain, is one thing, but doing the same prayer right when you're being hurt, right when you're in pain, right there for the very people who hurt you is what shows the ultimate God's love. And that's what Jesus did when he was on the Cross and praying for the people around Him...
Luke 23:34 - Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
This He did when he was still in pain and agony, when the people were still mocking him, when he was still hanging on the cross. That’s the kind of Love he had towards the people, The ultimate Godly love. Well, if you think only Jesus can do this, because He was the son of God, think about Stephen, he did the same prayer when he was being stoned and just before he died.
Acts 7:59-60 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Spiritual growth and maturity is directly proportional to the intimacy we have with God. We can very well reach this spiritual maturity by walking with God. John 14:12 says, if you believe in me... you'll do what I did and you'll even do greater than these..., which is what was seen in Stephen's life and later in other apostles life. When circumstances or people hurt you, the heat of the movement shouldn't drive you actions, you should yield to the spirit of God to drive your actions, which will bring harmony and not hatred. Also praying for the forgiveness of others, just reduces the burden in your heart, clears your mind, make God's love flow through you without obstruction, eventually you'll see things the way God sees it. Just imagine how many times we've done such prayers. Just like we approach God for our own forgiveness, we should also approach God for others forgiveness. When Job prayed for His friends (who hurt him with their comments), God changed his situation. The scripture says “…The lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. Job 42:10
Conclusion
Many times we focus on the reverence of God with formality and loose those close experience or encounter with him. Our God is a holy God and Reverence is necessary, but you should not use it as a formality and keep the distance in approaching God. If you're close to God, reverence, thankfulness, obedience comes naturally. But it’s the love that’ll dominate all. You’ll speak to Him like a friend, ask Him like He owns you, after all, you're His child and all that is yours is His and all that is His is yours. God spoke to Moses like a friend (Exodus 33:11). Abraham was called a Friend of God (James 2:23). God called David a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22).
And Jesus during his ministerial days said John 15:14“You are my friends if you do what I command” John 15:14. And we see in John 15:15 “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you”. Now here is the question… Are you a friend of God? If you have any doubt about that, start spending time with Him in Prayer, mediate on His words, eventually you’ll obey His words and beyond doubt, you’ll be His friend. That’s the experience we should long for and may God Bless you with that kind of experience. God Bless!!
