The overlooked treasure: Prayer

I have felt led to spend the next few Devos meditating on being thankful. More than once in my life I have heard believers that are struggling in their walk state: “What do I have to be thankful for?” I understand the passing emotion, however to live there is destructive and will blind you to all that there is to be thankful for.

The obvious one is our Salvation, and a lot has been written on that. I want to select some of the others that we might just take for granted.

To realize that we have been given the privilege to speak directly with the Lord is something that we should be very thankful for.

Let consider Prayer!

A PRAYER TO AVOID - by Richard Woike

O thou pleasant, comfortable, kindly, good-natured God:  How glad I am that I can look forward to another ordinary day.  Keep me today from anything that taxes my faith, from discomfort, from unnecessary strain, from unusual problems, especially those involving sickness or death, or the necessity of extending financial aid to relatives and friends.

Dear Lord, grant that nothing may occur which will disturb my satisfaction with the way I am, and the things I say, and the thoughts I think, the acts I do, or the many deeds I leave undone.

Give me this day, in addition to my daily bread, the butter, meats, and sweets that are my necessary diet, and let me not be troubled by qualms of conscience concerning the amount of time and money I spend on food and clothing, pastimes, good and bad, and those pursuits which, while not of spiritual value, are the accepted hallmark of the normal citizen of this enlightened community in this enlightened age.

About the future and the darkening trend of things, keep me from thoughtfulness.  Events rush on, the world travails.  Can screaming headlines prove thy hand's at work this very moment, bringing nearer that fateful cry, 'Behold! He comes!'?  O Lord, such disconcerting thoughts! Keep me from worrying about such things, and guide me safely to and from my office and my home.  Amen

Hopefully we pray nothing like that! But hopefully we pray!

John Bunyan: "You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until after you have prayed."

Words spoken to God are not just words.

1. Prayer is the POWER!

a. Overt Power – One of the healthiest things I did as a young believer was to keep a prayer diary. Time after time I could look back and see the clear answers to my prayers. I have had times when the only explanation for what happened was God openly demonstrating His power.

Exodus 9:28-29 Pray to the LORD, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't have to stay any longer." 29  Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD's.

2 Kings 19:15-19, 35 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16  Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. 17  "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18  They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. 19  Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." 35. That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning-- there were all the dead bodies!

b. Covert Power – Notice, though, whenever our prayers are answered by God overtly, the purpose is to make known Who God is! God is in the business of maturing children of God, so He does not encourage us to walk by sight, so most of His work is covert. Prayer affords that power to function in an incredible way. When you desire to see something happen, but do not pray about it, when it does happen, you think it was a coincidence! If on the other hand you are taking this issue to the Lord, and then out of seemingly nowhere what you hoped for happens, you know Who was working behind the scenes the entire time. Mordecai understood this and that is why he exhorted Esther:

Esther 4:14  “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

God’s name never appears in this book, yet His fingerprints are all through it!

Nehemiah 1:11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man." I was cupbearer to the king.

Nehemiah could have been put to death quickly when he did what he did, yet he believed that His Lord would be speaking to the King’s heart, and we all know the rest of the story!

John Guest wrote in Only a Prayer Away: "When we pray, we change. More often than not we become the answer to our own prayers as we open up ourselves to God in prayer."

"When a young man asked George Mueller to pray that he might be able to rise each morning for a quiet time, the wise Mueller replied, 'If you will get one leg out of bed, I'll ask the Lord to help get the other one out.'"

c. Invisible Power – Having ministered overseas for 22 years, this is a power I fully understand! I know for sure that when I am in heaven I will discover the hours of labor my spiritual family spent bringing our family and our ministry before the Lord. The protection, the supply of needs and the fruit of our ministry is a testimony of the power that was coming from our Father because so many lifted us up in prayer!

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 saints.

Colossians 4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.

Mark 9:29  He replied, "This kind (demon) can come out only by prayer. "

d. Unlimited Power – Prayer removes the limits of the world! We need not ask if we have the funds, the time, the abilities, etc. All we need to ask and seek is, “Is this from You Lord?” We need to stop trying to drag God to our plan and instead find out what He is doing and join Him there. When we do that…anything can happen!

         Matthew 21:22  If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

"Disturb us, O Lord, when we are too well satisfied with ourselves; when our dreams come true only because we have dreamed too little; when we arrive safely only because we sailed too close to the shore; when with the abundance of things we are losing our thirst for more of God; when in loving time, we have ceased to dream of eternity; when in our desire to build on this earth we have lost our vision of a new heaven."

The So What: What is your prayer life like? Have you kept a conscious record of how God has answered your prayers? Is “No” an answer? How many times has God saved you by saying “No?” What’s the difference between the Power of Prayer, versus the power of Personality or the Purse?

I have three more…for next time.