EFFECTIVE PRAYING
11th Oct 2017
Jesus declared in John 12:49, “I do not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.” Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Father, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” and 1 John 5:14 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching him that if we ask anything according to his will.......” In the light of these and other scriptures I am asking the Father to teach me how to pray.
We are living in desperate times and bombarded on an almost daily basis with heart rending situations; and asked to pray. How do we know what Father wants to do unless we ask and listen? We are told in Hebrews 4 “...to come boldly before the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.”
I want to know how to pray, how to partner with heaven in hearing what the Father wants and then asking Him with confidence to do His will in a particular situation. I want to be heard in the sense of agreeing with God and then declaring with His authority what is to happen. I want to be assured and bold, knowing He has heard and will now act.
It might sound arrogant to speak in such a way, but I observe that Jesus was confident in what He was doing, consequently His prayers were brief, to the point and effective.
Consider Elijah in 1 Kings 17:21, faced with the sudden death of a child in the house where he was a guest. He prayed, “Let this boy’s life return to him.” He stretched himself out on the boy three times and prayed. “The Lord heard and life returned.”
Prayer can so often be whining, pleading or simply rehearsing facts before God. I have done this many times; it’s time consuming and ineffective. So now I’m seeking to ask, “Father what do you see?” “want me to know?” “how do I bring your will and purpose to bear?” I need your mercy to hear what heaven wants me to do.
God speak in Jeremiah 23:18, “Who has stood in the council of the Lord to see and hear his word?” v22 “If they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people.”
Challenging - isn’t it!
by Joyce Sibthorpe
