Serving Christ in the Community of Crookes
WESLEY
HALL
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Serving Christ in the Community of Crookes
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Living
on a Prayer by
Steve Sowerby Do we just
say the Lord's Prayer and that's it? Just what is the point of praying anyway? The point my friends is this God made man to be
his companion, his friend, his perfect creation. God intended man to live with him in paradise. Now if we are
meant to be his friends, how can we be friends if we don't talk to one another?
We don't phone our best friend up, and when they say “hello” stay
silent do we? No.
We say things like, “Hi Bert, how are you?”
And, “fine Ernie, how are you?”
“Oh I’m OK, just thought I’d ring and see if you'd like to come
over later.” And so on and so forth. We have voices we have ways of communicating to
one another. Now if we talk to one
another so easily then why can't we talk to God so easily too?
Maybe we feel a little too self-conscious, maybe we feel a bit silly
talking to the air. Maybe we simply
just don't want to. Maybe we expect too much from God, just like the
kids at Christmas we expect God to provide for us anyway because that's the way
he is: NICE.
Maybe that's it, maybe we don't have to say anything because God knows
what we want? I tell you, God does
know what we want, but he also knows what we need. Take a couple
married for say 45 years. The wife
has cooked her husband the same meal on Saturday ever since they were married -
TRIPE. One day the husband turns to
his wife and says, “Can I have something else?”
And the wife says, “Why, don't you like tripe?”
And the husband says, “No I don't.”
So the wife says, “Why didn't you say before?”
And the husband replies, “I didn't want to upset you.”
So the wife says, “You wouldn't have upset me.” So you can see how if we don't say anything the
status quo remains. We don't
progress any further than day one of our walk with God.
How can that possibly be any good to us? Or maybe we like the status quo, being stuck in our own
little zone of comfort where no-one can reach us with subversive messages to
tempt us from God. But in doing so
we find ourselves being disconnected from God.
What's the point of having a phone if you don't use it? Prayer can be a very powerful experience for the individual and for some it can be very disturbing. Let me try and explain. When we pray we enter into a completely different dimension, one where time has no meaning and space does not exist. In other words, God's domain. So we should not be at all surprised to find that our physical perceptions are changed as well as our spiritual ones. Often when I've prayed I've found myself
physically shaking for quite a while afterwards, and sometimes I've felt very
sick. But at the same time I've
felt overwhelmed by the sheer joy of it all.
I've felt a real connection with The Almighty. But please don't let my experiences put you off
praying. We don't all get the same
response. Sometimes it's much more
pleasant and calming than that. Either
way we make a connection. Many times I've heard people say that when they
pray time seems to fly by and two hours seems more like two minutes.
Don't get me wrong I'm not talking about transcendental meditation here;
going onto another plane of existence. No,
what I'm talking about is connecting with the supreme being, and to do that we
don't have to enter a state of complete trance similar to the Shamen or Gurus or
so called Mediums trying to contact the dead.
No, what we have to do is just simply talk, just as you might talk to
your friends. And in doing just
that we enter this other world, a world of dreams and possibilities that become
manifest through simply having faith in Jesus Christ. Luke: Chapter 18 vv 1-8
speaks of the persistent Widow who kept coming to the judge asking for justice
against her adversaries, and after constant badgering he relented and granted
what she asked for. Jesus told this
story to his disciples to show that they should pray to God and never give up.
So having read this, when we pray, should we be also like the Widow and
keep on praying to God? Well I think we should even if we think that God has turned
his ear against us. Paul writes to the church in Ephesus (Ephesians:
Chapter 6 v 18),
“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.” I think that the
first part of this verse is very important: "pray
in the spirit." What does
Paul mean “pray in the spirit?” The
Holy Spirit was sent by God so that we may continue to do the work that Jesus
started. The Holy Spirit is part of
the Holy Trinity. You cannot
possibly hope to lead a holy life without Him. The Holy Spirit is the essential person that gives
us the power over the Devil. That's
why Paul says, “with this in mind, be
alert.” For if we do not pray
in the spirit the Devil will find his way into throwing you into
confusion. He will make you think
that the Lord wants you to do something that is going to be wonderful for the
Church but is in fact designed to destroy it . Don't be
surprised if you find that God does not answer your prayer immediately.
For like the Judge in the parable (Luke:
Chapter 18 vs 1-8) He waits to
see whether you really think that you need whatever you asked for.
He knows what is best for you, but do you know?
I said previously that maybe we didn't need to say anything because God
knows what we need, He will look after us just like he looks after the birds of
the air. But that doesn't mean that we should not talk to God and ask.
Anyway God likes us to talk to Him, tell Him how we are doing, how we are
feeling, if we have any problems, if we have anything to give thanks for,
anything we are angry about, sad about or even just to say Hi. Isn't it great when we get a phone call from
someone that we haven't heard from for ages, you have so much to talk about. The Lord likes that, He likes to listen to us.
He likes to have a conversation. He
likes a good laugh. He likes to
know how we are feeling. He wants
to have that kind of relationship with us.
He may take a long time to answer to us sometimes, but he does answer.
And boy, when he answers our prayers, he doesn't half make an impact.
If we go to the Lord with what to us seems like a
impossible situation He gets hold of it, remolds it, shakes it up and presents
a clear answer to the problem. “No
problem” says the Lord. BANG,
there you go, problem solved. We shouldn't
be at all surprised by what God can do, after all he made me! Prayer is a
vital link between us and The Lord God Almighty.
In the Gospel of Luke,
Jesus taught his disciples how to pray (Chapter 11 vv 1-1).
This chapter contains what we call the Lords Prayer.
Also, if we read on (vv 9-13),
we see that Jesus is making the point that if we know how, even with our sinful
nature, to be kind to one another, then God, who is so much greater, will, with
all his majesty, give us more of our share of the Holy Spirit if we only ask.
He will not give us something that is detrimental to our well being, or
our souls. No, God has promised us that if we ask, He will give us a
wonderful share in the inheritance. He
will give us the Holy Spirit to help us in our daily walk just as he gave
strength to Samson when he needed it, or when he gave Daniel the courage to
stand up for what he believed to be right, even though it was against the law.
Or when he gave Stephen the words to say when he was accused of blasphemy
against Moses and God, and also the courage to ask God for his killers’
forgiveness. Before Jesus
came and died for us the Temple in Jerusalem had a curtain that separated the
people from God who resided in the most sacred of all places: The Holy of
Holies. Or so the Priests claimed.
Only the Chief Priest was allowed into the sacred place.
If you had a request to ask the Lord you brought a sacrifice to the alter
usually a young Lamb. You paid the
Priests a Temple Tax, then you could tell the Priests your request, they would
the pass it on to the Chief Priest, who would then present your request to the
Lord in the Holy of Holies. All
very unnecessary. But what
happened on the day that Jesus died, was that the Temple curtain was torn from
top to bottom effectively taking down the barrier that separated God from man.
It was ripped from top to bottom, signifying from Heaven to Earth. This was a symbol to the Jews that they didn't
need to go through all the stumbling blocks that were in place to separate man
from God. They could, through the
sacrifice of Christ Jesus, go directly to God with their prayers and say
whatever they wanted and not pay anyone money to do so.
In effect we have a direct line through to The Lord that is open 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for life for ever.
In Christ's sacrifice on the Cross we find that
the distance between ourselves and God has been bridged.
There is a picture that demonstrates this perfectly.
The image is one of two sides of a big chasm.
On one side you have mankind and on the other you have God.
And in
the middle we find the Cross of Crucifixion with each arm spread out from one
side to the other showing that through Christ we have the means to meet with The
Lord. There is no other person to stop us from being with The Almighty (Romans:
Chapter 8 vs 38-39). Now
with all barriers removed we have no reason not to talk to The Lord.
Do not be afraid, there is no need to feel silly,
no need to feel awkward, no need to think that you have to come out with long
complicated words or sentences, such as “O Lord thou art the most wondrous,
most highly to be praise-ed, blah blah blah, O Lord, blah blah, blah.”
No, God knows what is in your heart, and the words you use will not make
any difference. And it's what comes
from the heart that is the key. Always expect a favourable response from prayer.
Proverbs:
Chapter 15 v 8 “The Lord
detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases
him.” I tell you do not pray to the Lord with deceit in your heart
for God will turn his ear from you and your prayers will not be answered.
Pray to The lord in the spirit and God will hear your prayer and be
gracious to you in your need. If you have a request to the Lord be careful that
you do not ask with a conceited heart. Do
not think that you deserve a reward for being good.
If you have a disagreement between yourself and your neighbour why should
God listen to your prayer? What
reason do you give for asking his grace upon yourself?
First go and make amends with your neighbour and then call upon the Lord
with your prayers. Then maybe the
Lord will make his face to shine upon you. Even so always pray with a sincere heart.
Be honest if you have failed in sin, if you have struggled with
temptation, if you have not been a good neighbour.
Seek God's forgiveness. For
he knows that we are weak in our own mortality and must call to him just as a
lost Lamb calls to it's Mother. Remember, whatever our reasons for praying, The
Lord loves us and wants what is best for us even if we can't always see it. Amen |
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