WHEN YE PRAY

I would like to help with prayer because if we get prayer wrong we will not get too far in God. Now God wants us to pray. Jesus tells us this in Matthew, but He also tells us things not to do. Yet most Christians ignore them out of traditions of men and wrong thinking from a performance based denominational religion. In Matthew we read the words of Jesus, "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." (Matthew 6:5-8) Prayer is one of the most mysterious functions and operations of the LORD. Our walk with the LORD is a huge mystery now I really like this. Who wants to serve a God you have figured out? We see this mystery when we read, "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:" (Colossians 1:25-26) and "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." (1 Timothy 3:16) I learned this (and seem too often relearn it) the second time I went to India. After 10 days of a very busy schedule, sickness, and diarrhea I was at the end of my strength and self. It was late in the evening and my host pastor asked me to pray for a little boy who had not walked in 6 months. I said yes. The father brought the little boy over to me and I grabbed his little feet and I prayed this great prayer, "LORD please heal this little boy." No lightning bolts, no fancy words, God did not speak from heaven that was it. As I was reaching for my supper of chicken, curry, and rice (what I was fed to help my stomach) out of the corner of my eye I saw the father put the little boy down and as his little feet touched the ground the boy was off and running. The little boy is probably is still running. Well I never got to my supper that night a line quickly formed. But how did God do this? How did God heal this little boy? It was not me I had no strength so it had to be God. You know I find it amazing nowhere in the Bible did Jesus pray (like we do) for someone. Jesus just healed them He did not pray for them. You know if I cannot get to the Father on my behalf for healing I would not want someone to only pray for me. I think I would want someone who has a walk with the LORD who could touch Him on my behalf. Yes prayer is mysterious it reveals God's nature to us. His concern, heart, and love. How does He do this? Did you know prayer is translated six different ways in the Bible? The top three are beseeching, comforter, but the most common is "direct address to the Father." Not in communication, but communion. At first the disciples had it wrong when they prayed around through the Father. Many Christians sing the song, "Ave Maria" or around to the Father though Maria (Jesus' mother) , but in the LORD's prayer (beginning in Matthew 6:9) Jesus said to pray "abba Father." The word "abba" is a term of endearment, literally "daddy" in the Greek, an intimate word of the heart. Funny it is interesting to know John the Baptist disciples knew how to pray before Jesus' disciples. "And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1) There are seven points on prayer I would like for us to look at. John Wright Follette (my teacher's teacher) said, "we learn to pray by praying." Prayer is a work of the Spirit of God. Unless we have allowed God to work in our lives through His dealings and judgments we will NEVER enter into the "true" realm of prayer. Many Christians are begging God to bless the works of their hands and God is saying do something! As we pray we learn how to touch the heart of God. The second point is we cannot change God's sovereign will by praying. Jesus tried this in the Garden of Gethsemane, but in the end Jesus said, "not my will, but thy will be done." God has a plan and purpose for each and every life he created and praying will not change it. God is God and we are not no matter how hard we try to twist God's arm in prayer. The third point is prayer helps us adjust our heart and thinking with God's will. In the Psalms we read, "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." (Psalm 37:4) Oh how we like to delight ourselves in the LORD: standing in services, raising our hands, shaking our fist, and bobbing our head as the preacher rolls while all the while our heart has not been touched by the Spirit. My friend if we do not receive the word of God by our spirit we will never receive it by our flesh. The word "delight" here means pliable, bendable,, moldable. If we cannot be the clay and if the LORD cannot be the potter then He can never give us the desires of our heart, but sadly most Christians in prayer care little what God wants. And remember clay does not talk back. Prayer is not the time to receive something from God. We are to use our faith for someone else. Does God know what we need? When is the last time you have heard this message? The next point is the Holy Spirit always prays according to His will. In Romans we read, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27) So if we have the Holy Spirit operating in our lives then why are all of our prayers not answered? Please consider we are not praying according to God's will. God does NOT have to answer any of our prayers, but He wants to show us His love and concern (His character and nature) so He answers some. And if not we get angry at God and threaten to leave Him or get a big boo boo face or twist His arm. We must pray according to what and how God tells us to pray and not what we want to see happen in the lives of our family, friends, even the world. The next point is ALL things work together for good as long as we are called according to God's purpose and I would add if we learn the lesson God is teaching. Still in Romans, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) God already knows what we are going to pray before we pray so why pray? To align our thinking up with God's thinking. The LORD's purpose in our lives, friends, family, and the world is to share this wondrous Gospel message. He wishes none to be lost no not one. We need no other purpose or calling, but if God asks us to do specific things for Him say in ministry then we are to answer the call and fulfill the LORD's purpose in our lives. We really have this verse down. "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." (Philippians 4:6) Now this is okay, but God is doing more than giving us things or healing our bodies in our prayers. He is teaching us a lesson of His character and nature in prayer. He is teaching us how He functions and operates so we will be useful now (somewhat), but more in our next life. God will not have to train us when we get to our next life we will already know how to move and respond with and like Him. The second to the last point is obedience to God is never substituted by prayer. Most Christians would rather pray for hours than be obedient. My teacher Charles Haun tells the story of a lady who God would wake up at night to pray for people. Well one night God roused her and she got up and went to her chair where she prays and prayed for about one hour for a missionary and then went back to bed. About 15 minutes later God roused her again and this time she got out of her bed , knelt by her bed, prayed about 30 minutes, and headed back to bed. About 15 minutes later God roused her again and this time she just laid in bed and started to pray, but drifted off to sleep. God never bothered her again that night. About three months later the lady heard in church the missionary was killed the night the LORD woke her up. There is always a cost for our disobedience and usually others pay the price. The last point is Jesus always prayed because He wanted to maintain contact with His Father not to do or get things from His Father. From this contact or communion God's goal in prayer is manifested, "righteous living" where we just live right before God and man. Just like we do not have to think to breathe, we just live right. It becomes automatic. For this to happen God must be able to get us over this "give me give me things" thinking, so He can take us deeper into the mystery of prayer. Jesus said, "of myself I have no power" and "I can do nothing except what I see the Father do." Jesus was so dependent on the Father for everything which came out of His relationship with the His Father. Prayer teaches us how to be dependent and how to have a relationship with our heavenly Father. In prayer it is not God needs to know, but it is we need to tell Him. There is a need in man to talk with God He put it in us. And in His response we learn His will and how He thinks and functions what He wants in every given situation. Prayer is amazing mystery of God.