Day 22 Prayer

Day 22

Prayer

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:

      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 forgive our debtors.
        And do not lead us into temptation,
      But deliver us from the evil one.
      For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

(Matthew 6:5-15)

Prayer is the 14^th pillar

Prayer is the 14^th pillar that holds the temple of Truth!

Beloved, prayer is a two way communication with God.  Amen!  Prayer is the most powerful outlet God has given us.  Prayer is like a spiritual minister: when you pray, you release spiritual power that is directed according to your request.  And that is the reason the devil has attacked prayer so much.  The devil will do anything in his power to keep your prayer time short and shallow, and if you would allow him, the devil would love that you do not pray at all.

The most powerful men on earth are those who are always on their knees.

The devil knows that you are only weak until you go on your knees, for temptation is a door and prayer is the key that shuts it.  Hallelujah! If you are struggling to overcome temptations, sins, vices, bad habits, marital problems, financial problems, and anything else as Christians, please do check your prayer life.

I am not saying that people who pray do not have problems.  The difference is that as we pray daily and submit our petitions to God, He directs our steps out of any problem.  We must develop a steadfast prayer life, an open two way communication with God, because, though we can share the truth, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ with people, only God can convict hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit, and only God can change people’s hearts.  So we ought to spend a lot of time in prayer for all our brothers and sisters, for all our ministries and projects.  The good thing about prayer is that prayer is universal.  You can pray for anyone from anywhere in the world at anytime, and God will hear and answer all your prayers. How wonderful is that? Thank You, Oh LORD, for Your faithfulness. Amen!

Now, first things first.  There is time for everything under the sun. There are times for microwave prayers, and there are times for real and sincere prayers! Microwave prayers are what we do too much of in this generation.  We are so busy and have so much to do, that prayer must be squeezed into our tight schedule.  For we live in a microwave world, and even our prayers have to be fast and short.  No time to waste, even in our relationship with God.  “Got my life to live.” 

How foolish are we!  If we only knew where we were going, if we only had God’s divine favor, all would be well.  My dear beloved, all things belong to God.  I repeat: all things belong to God.  All the seemingly good things you are chasing with all your might, these things belong to God and He gives to whomever He desires.

You dash off without spending enough time with God, and you expect His divine favor upon you.  This is like passing the CEO at reception without giving him proper attention when he was trying to speak with you; not giving him enough of your time, leaving him at the reception and rushing into his office looking for a job!  That is foolish!  And yet, that is what we do. We leave God behind and off we go, and we expect God to intervene for us?  I tell you the truth: all things are of God.  Everything your heart desires, God has got it, and He can give it to you anytime!

“The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.”  (Psalm 24:1)

Therefore, my dear beloved, let us stop chasing perishables at the expense of our quality time with God, for those things are rightfully ours if we become one with the owner--God.  I tell you the truth: I spent most of my life on this earth chasing perishable things and found none worthy of keeping.  I even told God that He must wait until I built my empire first, then I would come and serve Him, and God just laughed at me:  “This fool is looking for things that are in My hands, but he is giving Me his back and is looking the other way.  How can he not see this?”

God allowed me to go and make a fool of myself, a son of a King going from one place to another, begging in the world, working as a servant, trying to get someplace in the world, when I left ALL things at home.  When the fullness of time in my life had come, God commanded that everything that made me comfortable be removed from me.  All things were taken away from me, one by one, until there was nothing between myself and God.  Then God said to me, “seek me with all your heart and you shall find Me,” and I sought the LORD with all my heart with tears night, day and noon, until I found Him.  And when I found Him, I came to this realization:  how could I have been so blind for so long?

My dear beloved, God must remove the things we think we have, so that He can give us the things that we need.  Please do not fight Him.  You will thank Him later.  For I tell you boldly in the Lord Jesus, I do not chase money, money chases me: people wake me up to give me money; people wait while I pray to give me money.  As I write these messages, I am called to go fetch money.  Things come to me, I do not chase them.  Why?  Because I am special?  NO.  It is because I chose God above all else and I have accepted that I am indeed a son of a King! Hallelujah!  Praise the LORD!  He is worthy to be praised.  Amen!  In no way I am suggesting laziness, but on the contrary, that we should work hard, only with the LORD.

Beloved, I do not say this to boast in the flesh, but rather as a testimony of what God has done in my life, so that you may believe that I speak the truth in Christ and I lie not. Amen!

 Devotional l
We must develop a steadfast prayer life, a two way communication with God.  We must pray at least three times a day:  evening and morning and at noon.

“Evening and morning and at noon
         I will pray, and cry aloud,
         And He shall hear my voice.”  (Psalm 55:17)

“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He [Jesus] went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” (Mark 1:35)

“Now it came to pass in those days that He [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”  (Luke 6:12)

“My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD;
         In the morning I will direct it to You,
         And I will look up.”  (Psalm 5:3)

“I rise before the dawning of the morning,
         And cry for help;
         I hope in Your word.”  (Psalm 119:147)

“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.” (Acts 16:25)

Will you pray earnestly, my dear beloved so that the foundations of your prison may be shaken, and that the doors may be opened and that your chains be loosed?  In Jesus’ name.  Amen!

My dear beloved, there is power in prayer.  Don’t underestimate it. Don’t be lazy to pray.  Ask God to wake you up and give you strength and courage in prayer and He will give you everything you need to maintain a steadfast prayer life.  However, God will not force you to pray.  Prayer must be out of your own will.  You must get out of the bed yourself.  So let’s GET UP in Jesus’ name.  Amen!

The Bible states 3 o’clock at noon as the hour of prayer.  So if you can, join in at 3pm, as God’s worshipers offer prayers and supplications daily. Please do so with us.   Amen!

Conditions for God-pleasing prayer:

1)    Whole-heartedness:

 “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”  (Jeremiah 29:13)

2)    Contrition:

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

“Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
      You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
      “ If you take away the yoke from your midst,
      The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness.”  (Isaiah 58:9)

3)    Faith:

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”  (Mark 11:24)

4)    Righteousness:

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”   (James 5:16)

5)    Obedience:

“And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”

(1 John 3:22)

                           

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”  (1 John 5:14-15)

Finally, my dear beloved, let us use this powerful outlet that God has given us for our own benefit, that God may change situations around us through our prayers in Jesus’ name.  Amen!

Let us, therefore, not be lazy anymore and full of excuses, when it is time for sweet hour of prayer.  But with all diligence, let us seek God with all our hearts, minds, and souls, with the confidence that He will hear us in Jesus’ name.  Amen!  So when you pray, you must allow God to answer you while you pray.  Pray and be still and allow God to reply, like a conversation with your earthly father!

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Amen!

Meditation:  Prayer is a two way communication with God.  I talk to Him and I must listen to Him.

Prayer points:  LORD, please help me to develop a steadfast prayer life.  Please give me courage and strength to pursue Your righteousness.  Please teach me to pray.  I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Commitment:  I commit myself from today onward to start a steadfast prayer life—evening and morning and noon --through Christ who strengthens me.  Amen!