Archive for December, 2022
Prayer: Placebo or Panacea?
Prayer is neither a placebo or a panacea. It is not a cure-all or a myth intended only to please. If it were a panacea, it would enable us to walk by sight and not faith. If it were a placebo, of all hoaxes it would be the most cruel. Of all the things prayer is, it is a formidable therapy.
One of the primary purposes of prayer is to get as close to God as possible. It is a gift from Jesus who gave us authority to pray in His name. It is a means by which we can fine tune our lives with the heartbeat of the Father. Though we tend to make prayer subjective, with our self the subject, it is most fulfilling when it is objective, and the object is our Heavenly Father. Always be more concerned with the one to whom you are praying than about what you are praying. Preoccupation with Him in prayer enriches the pray-er and enables spiritual, emotional, and physical victory.
The Greek word translated prayer is “proseuche.” It involves more than just saying a prayer. It is a general term which speaks of devotion and worship. Talking to the Lord in terms of reverence, adoration is vital. When a lot of people think of prayers they have in mind supplication, that is submitting a want-list to God. That is good, but adoration is imperative.
For some it is a time to express sanctified complaints or specialized needs. However, the real therapeutic advantage is gained through true “proseuche,” prayer, that is, adoration, devotion, and worship of God.
Our “most fundamental need, duty, honor and happiness,” said the late Fredrich von Hugel, “is not petition, nor even contrition, nor again even thanksgiving …. but adoration.”
The word adore has become restricted almost exclusively to modern love songs. It implies the lover has been captivated by an overwhelming passion for the object of his or her obsession. True adoration of God is that and more. It is eager adoration, honor, and worship of Him as deity.
Not only has the word meaning been lost, but the awe and wonder of being in the presence of the Supernatural has been bleached out of life. The media has used creative means to desensitize us to the true Supernatural. We have grown to consider the extraordinary as ordinary.
The prayer of David after his spiritual restoration is one worthy of our use: “Restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free spirit.” (Psalm 51: 12)
Through the prophet Isaiah God declared: “I dwell in high and holy places, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones … I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.” (Isaiah 57: 15)
Reflect on your prayer life in light of the concept shared herein. Does it need to be altered?
Your Prayer Closet
“…when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut thy door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.” Matthew 6: 6
Do you make a place in your daily life for inward retirement and waiting upon God, that you may learn the full meaning of prayer and the joy of communion with Him? And do you live in daily dependence upon His help and guidance? Those are thought provoking questions.
Do you have such a retreat center where you meet along with God, a place where you report for duty and get re-supplied for life?
A secret to prayer is secret prayer. It is where you admit God into the inner courtyard there to be enthroned. Prayer is to life what a global positioning satellite (GPS) is to a traveler. It lets you know where you are and how to get to where you need to go.
In the vernacular of the Bible, “the closet” is private prayer. Usually a reference to secret sin. To the worldly-oriented person the vogue thing is to “come out of the closet.” The only way for the Christian to counter what is pouring out of the carnal closet is to enter into the prayer closet. The Greek word for closet is “tameion” which can be translated closet, inner room, storeroom, or simply room. Originally it was used as a storeroom in which valuables were locked. Prayer is thus depicted as being the treasure room it really is. It is actually a reference to any private quiet place. It is a good discipline to establish one so when you are there you know what you are there for.
Pointed, private prayer is one of the best ways for the Lord to prove Himself. When only the Lord and the person praying know what is being prayed, all human manipulation is prevented. Some people have improperly mastered the art of using prayer to indirectly appeal publically for persons to answer a request.
Such as, “I want you to pray with me about ….” Or, “I have been praying about ,,,,:
I heard a church staff member pray in a worship service: “God you know my wife needs new glasses, and we can’t afford them. Please provide a means of getting them.” He got several offers from members of the congregation, and in doing so robbed God of the joy of privately providing.
Alone with God a bond develops. Sir Isaac Newton said, “I can take my telescope and see millions of miles into space; but I can lay my telescope aside, get down on my knees in earnest prayer, and I can see more of heaven and get closer to God than I can when assisted by all the telescopes and material agencies of earth.” You can have the same view. Resolve right now while it is on your mind where are you going to provide such a place and set a time to be there alone with God.
It Is Prayer Time
Jesus said to you, “ought always to pray, and not to faint….” Luke 18: 1
I don’t understand prayer. Jesus said to do it, so I do. Some say what is said to be an answer to prayer is simply coincident. I only know that when I pray coincidences happen.
A cause for a topic of prayer is not needed right now, just pick one from a smorgasbord of needs. We tend to pray when needs arise. If we prayed more, fewer needs would arise. So pray.
No one believes in prayer more than the devil, not that he practices it, but he suffers from it. We benefit from it, yet often neglect it. There are 953 references to prayer in the Bible. If the devil can obscure these or misdirect any one of these, he has succeeded in a vital way. Be not deceived. The devil is still endeavoring to pervert what God has provided.
South African pastor Andrew Murray said, “We must begin to believe that God, in the mystery of prayer, has entrusted us with a force that can move the heavenly world, and can bring its power down to earth.” When you come to believe prayer is the means to linking with heaven to get things done on earth, there is a tendency to pray. Time spent in prayer is time invested in eternity.
You can do more after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.
An excuse for not praying is often not having time is a revelation of improper priorities. Set the alarm clock a few minutes earlier and spend time alone in prayer. We live in a close culture. We are with people or in the media that gives us a feeling of involvement. Therefore, being unaccustomed to being alone it is challenging to designate time to be alone with God in prayer.
The following is a simple framework on which to frame your prayers.
It is A-C-T-S.
Acclaim. That is, praise God from whom all blessings flow. Romance God.
Confess. Be honest to God. Name specifics for which you need forgiveness.
Thanksgiving. Count your many blessings, name them one by one.
Supplication. Ask God to supply your needs and those of others. It is good not only to pray for the needs of others, but it is also OK to pray for God to bless you real good. Let Him know the things for which you need Him to bless you.
The disciples did not ask Jesus how to pray, but to pray. We still need to follow His instructions and talk to the Lord more often.
A confidant saw Abraham Lincoln before a great fire place with his elbows on his knees, and his face in his hands, and heard him pray, “Oh God, Oh God help me, I cannot lead these people without your help. Without you.”
We all need to pray the first part of that prayer, “Oh God help me….
Remember. “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” (James 5: 16 NLT)