I recently saw "Raiders of the Lost Ark" again for the millionth time or so. (I love Indiana Jones! :-)) One line I always find interesting is the way Belloq describes the Ark of the Covenant. "Do you realize what the Ark is, Jones? It's a transmitter! It's a radio for speaking to God!" Of course, while it's true the Ark did house The Lord's presence in the Old Testament during Moses' time, it wasn't really how the Israelites prayed to God. They had to go through the High Priest to make sacrifices on their behalf and they would hear what God said to Moses. It was a much different process than the direct access we have today with God through Jesus Christ! As 1 Timothy 2:5 tells us, there's one God and one mediator between God and man- Christ Jesus.
I heard a great sermon at church a few weeks back about the power of prayer and God's ability to do anything! In thinking on that, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 came to mind, wherein we are commanded to "pray without ceasing."
Of course, the question often arises, "How do we practically obey this verse?" While we may not be able to devote 24 hours a day to praying and nothing else, we can devote every second we're alive to be in a continual mode of prayer. I think of it as an ongoing conversation with God- He's always listening and He's always speaking to us when we listen to His Word in The Bible.
And while we're praying, we should remember that Jesus invites us to ask anything in His Name and He will do it. But there's a caveat to John 14:13- first, it's anything asked in Jesus' Name and also, it's so that The Father may be glorified in The Son. Thus, it must be something that will glorify God and in His Name. (It's not an invitation to bring your Christmas list to Santa Claus or put money into the vending machine to get whatever you desire.)
And if we do what Jesus said in John 15:7, we'll find our desires matching up to God's desires. So what does a guy like me need to do? The dude abides. :-) (And no, I haven't seen the movie that line references- I just knew the line and threw it in for fun.)
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." (John 15:7) Probably the number one thing I'd say about prayer- be totally honest with God. Jesus already knows all your thoughts anyway. (Psalms 139).
One of my favorite quotes on prayer from Jimmy Abegg-
"But what God wants most is honesty, for us to open our hearts and come to Him without pretense or posturing. Some of my most powerful prayers aren't even couched in 'proper' language. Many of them I wouldn't dare pray aloud in church. But they are honest cries from my heart. Sometimes the best prayers are something like this: 'Oh my God, Help.' "
So don't be afraid to pray big prayers- God is able to do abundantly more than we can think or imagine! (Like Ephesians 3:20 says) It's interesting that we particularly tend to discard modern day examples of healing. (Probably because of some phony faith healers out there who do run scams, sadly.) But this doesn't mean God can't do it and doesn't still do it as He so chooses. (Check 1 Corinthians 12:9-10 - The Spirit gives some the gifts of healing and some the working of miracles- among many others. The caveat with that is that these gifts are to be used for the glory of God alone, not man's glory- going back to John 14:13.)
Jesus told us that with faith the size of a mustard seed (which is quite tiny indeed), we can speak to a tree and tell it to plant itself in the sea and it would obey us. We can make mountains move- by faith in Jesus' power (not our own power). And it's always according to God's will. He reigns sovereign and supreme. (See Matthew 17:14-21, Luke 17:5-6 and Romans 9)
Psalms 103:3 says that The Lord heals all our diseases. God is plenty capable of bringing physical healing- if He chooses. But we must also remember 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, where Paul was tortured with a thorn in his side- three times he pleaded with The Lord to remove it, but God didn't do it. Instead, He said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." (And, as we can see in 1 Corinthians 1 and numerous other places in the Bible- check out Gideon's Thermoplyae-style battle in Judges 7 where 300 Jews fought humanly-impossible odds and won with The Lord's help...plenty of other examples- basically, see the entire history of the Jewish people- God loves to take what the world loves to despise and hate and shame the strong and bring to nothing all the puffed up folks- so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.)
As Job reminded us, The Lord gives and He takes- blessed be the Name of The Lord. Ultimately, we trust His will and His eternal love for us above our own feelings and desires. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." (Job 13:15)
In Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-13, The Lord Jesus gives what we know as The Lord's Prayer. The disciples asked Him, "Lord, teach us to pray" and He demonstrated a structure for us to follow. In it, we see some important elements of prayer- adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication and intercession.
(As written in Matthew 6:9-13 ESV)
"Pray then like this:
'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.' "
And of course, we have powerful pictures from The Lord Jesus about the way God answers our prayers. No good parent gives their son a snake when he asks for a fish or a scorpion when he wants an egg. If we who are evil know how to give good gifts to our kids, how much more will our good Father give good gifts- like the Holy Spirit- to those who ask Him? Be bold and persistent in prayer- knowing that we can be confident in God's goodness. Ask, seek and knock- it will be given, you will find and the door will be opened to you. Persistence pays off, whether it's a friend coming at midnight begging for a loaf of bread or a widow pleading with a wicked judge to grant her justice in a case. Seek the Lord in the prayer closet- not making a big show of it for a reward, so that someone thinks we're oh-so-holy- but in secret where God sees what's done in secret and meets us there. (See all of Matthew 6 and Luke 18.) We have an audience with the God of the universe who is eager to bless us with things we need and answer our prayers according to His will- we only need to come to Him!
So, how do we keep praying to Jesus and trusting Him without ceasing? Well, we do sometimes falter in trust and faith and obedience and God is willing to forgive us when we truly repent. (Luke 17:4, 1 John 1:9) But with every breath He lends, we breathe in and keep focusing our mindset on Him (Colossians 3:1-4, Romans 8:1-11 [particularly verses 5-8]. As Genesis 2:7 says, The Lord formed us and breathed the breath of life into us. We keep breathing that borrowed air and breathe in both life and New Life- physically and spiritually. (Also check Job 33:4 and Isaiah 42:5 and Acts 17:25) "As long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit." (Job 27:3-4) "In Him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)
"By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." (1 John 4:13) The Spirit of His power strengthens us in our inner being (see Ephesians 3:16) when we let Him.
Our every breath is a prayer to God- we keep the phone line open and never hang up- we keep a running text message or instant message chain with Him going- we can even communicate telepathically because He knows all our thoughts- and His Spirit brings to mind His Scripture (when we know it and listen to His voice). (Psalms 139, Psalms 94:10-11, 1 Corinthians 2:11-16, John 16:13-15 and John 17:17 and John 14:6)
"It is The Spirit Who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." - Jesus Christ in John 6:63
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