“The spectacle of a nation praying is more awe inspiring than the explosion of an atomic bomb. The force of prayer is greater than any possible combination of man made or man controlled powers, because prayer is man’s greatest means of tapping the infinite resources of God.”
Guess who said that? J. Edgar Hoover! That's right! The 48 year Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations. I never would have guessed that as a source, but the last thought is very profound... "prayer is man's greatest means of tapping the infinite resources of God."
Isn't that an amazing thought. God has "blesseds us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ." (Eph 1.3) The means by which we appropriate those infinite blessings is the intimacy of prayer. See James 4.2 "You have not because you ask not!" God tells us to ask in the name of Christ and we will receive. When we ask God for His will, we can be confident that we are going to find it. We ask GOd for His blessings on His terms in His time and he showers them upon us! As Pastors, we might wonder why our church doesn't grow. As Parents, we wonder why we struggle with our children. As Sunday School teachers, we wonder why our students are not growing and appropriating the Truth. How much do we pray for these things. You ever wonder why people don't come to the Lord in faith and repentance? How much do you pray for God to work a miracle of rebirth in the lives of people? Prayer is the means by which we tap the infinite resources of God.
How much have you tapped into the resources God has stored for you? Prayer is an earnest discipline of pouring your heart out to God and seeking His face and His will in the issues of life. It is not vainly repeating some prayer found buried in the an Old Testament geneology. It is honest and passionate. It is heartfelt and mind driven. What a privilege we have to enter into the presence of Holy God and pour out our requests to Him in confidence and boldness.
Grace to You!
3 comments:
I think for the majority of Christians in our culture, prayer is the most neglected area of their spiritual life. This is because we can pray any time, anywhere. Certainly not reading the Bible would trail as a close second though.
Big Chris
Because I said so
All "vainly repeat[ed] [] prayer[s]
are futile, as our Lord taught. The prayer of Jabez, in-and-of-itself, is the Word of God. THE PRAYER OF JABEZ became an abomination as it became the flagship for anthropocentric (man-centered) theology. Hearing "in the name of Jesus" tacked onto man-centered prayers is no less onerous to me. Praying on the merits of, for the glory of, and for the advancement of the Kingdom of Jesus isn't easy, and it's nearly impossible to do audibly and articulately. As a result, the prayers we hear others pray and the prayers we pray aloud usually sound man-centered, even if our silent prayers aren't. God, of course, needs no language to know our prayers, so articulating them is unnecessary to communicating them to Him. At the same time, articulating them while consciously focusing on praying according to His will changes us.
Thank you for the reminder. The priority of prayer should be in the forefront of our mind. The firtslight of our morning. The best part of our day, and the highpoint of our evening. One hot summers day I had to lift up my voice in thanksgivving to God for the work He has provided. I was mindfull of the plowman who failed to return thanks.
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