[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Monday, January 27, 2014

[Paul]

Hello to all of you on this Monday, another day which the Lord has made.  I hope that those of you reading these lines are having a good day, whether that be morning, afternoon or evening, by God's matchless grace and His providential care.

Sometimes in searching for something to post in these Daily Thought messages, I draw a blank.  However today at my senior citizens center, I had a considerable amount of downtime, so I brought along a past edition of Decision Magazine, published by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.  Some of you may have read this article previously, and some may not have.  Anyway it was written by Ross Rhoads who is BGEA's chaplain, and he wrote what I consider to be a short but very profound article.  It is entitled "Do We Pray?" and is rendered as follows:

If we examined the needs of our hearts and the needs of the world, we would pray more than we would do any other activity.  Martin Luther said he should pray three hours before he spoke 30 minutes.  There was something about the early Reformers--let alone the apostle Paul, who said, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17)--that we do not have in the church today.

We hold the Bible as innerant, we have the cardinal doctrines, and we hold all of those dear.  But we don't pray.  I know I don't pray enough.  This past summer I preached four times every weekend for 15 weeks.  Talking, talking; teaching, teaching.

Did I spend equal time in prayer? I talk to people; do I talk to God? Do I listen to Him? Do I set aside times when I don't have distractions, and just think about the Lord Jesus and pray to the Father and ask for the fullness of the Holy Spirit?

Remember this rule:  Little prayer, little power; much prayer, much power.

And what do we pray about? Do we call on Him only when we're in trouble and need help? I would encourage you to talk to the Father about His Son.  If you talk to me about my children and grandchildren, my ears perk up! How do you think the Father feels when we never thank Him for His presence and brag about Jesus--which is what praising is?

Here is a thought that should comfort us:  Jesus is ever living to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).  Even if we're not praying enough, Jesus is praying.  His will shall be done, with or without our prayer.  But our prayer is an evidence of our love for Him.

And there you have it for today.  I hope this article, short as it was, ministered to you today.  For me, the most difficult part of praying is praying "according to God's will" as it says in 1 John 5:14.  This might sound like an ignorant question, but if we don't know what God's will is in a particular situation while praying for loved ones or circumstances in one's or another friends' life, how can we know clearly the will of God to pray effectively with that in mind? If this is an ignorant question, maybe I just have to return to the kindergarten of prayer.  Among the many readers of these messages there are at least three pastors, and would appreciate prayerful consideration from them if they are moved to respond, as your answers will be shared with the others.  Thanks for any Spirit-guided responses.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing, tomorrow there will be another Daily Thought message for you.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul