Prayer

[HAMel]

This post is not intended to be a statement nor to open the door for endless pages of argument. Rather, it's to seek your sincere input.

We are told of being likened to a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. If it wasn't for the Grace and Love of our Lord we all could be on Skid Row. In short..., we aren't much. Nothing to brag about anyway. Nothing to write home about.

The Lord knows what we need before we do. He provides what we need before we ask for it but He desires that we ask for it. At the same time the sun shines on the unjust as it does on the just. God blesses everyone.

Usually, we ask for what we want. For sure, we don't know how to pray. We don't really know what to say but should be saying, "...not my will Lord but thine will be done" but we most always get it all wrong.

Can we pray and ask for a revival in our churches? Of course. Then why don't see revival? We can pray for another but never see any change in their life? Why not? We prayed and we asked but received nothing. "...Oh, well, it just isn't God's will right now." ...give me a break. That's a cop out. Who do we think we are..., outside of a vapor that is. He knows what we need and want all the while waiting for us to ask for it. Me thinks we ask amiss? Then, when we do ask and see no results it all become frustrating.

It does appear to me that all answered prayer originates..., from Heaven. Our Lord impresses upon our hearts and minds what to pray for and then He provides. If He doesn't impress us we don't ask to begin with. We're reminded in church to pray for brother so and so, or for this situation or for that..., and usually we see no results. Did our Lord impress upon our hearts and minds to pray for so and so..., or did we come up with that idea to begin with?

Over the years great revivals have come and gone but not because a bunch of folks just one day decided to pray and ask for revival. No, the Lord impressed His own to ask for a revival and He provided..., but the revival was not from the prayers of man..., but was from Heaven first.

Psalms 28:1-5, in my opinion, refers to unanswered prayer and the frustration over such. Verse 6, it's indicated that finally the author's prayer was answered. Verse 7, details great rejoicing. Verse 8, reference is made to "their strength" and verse 9 apparently referring to the Nation.

The human race is in a cycle. A cycle that we cannot break out of or understand. We ask..., and get not. He impresses..., we ask..., we get. He knows before we do. We ask amiss. We motor on down the road considering ourselves smarter than Lassie when in fact..., we're but a vapor inside the realm of our Lord and if it wasn't for Him..., we would be lost without hope.

I often think we, as believers, assume too much credit. We have nothing to offer but praise. I consider praise as a prayer.

 

[PreachTony]

Can we pray and ask for a revival in our churches? Of course. Then why don't see revival? We can pray for another but never see any change in their life? Why not? We prayed and we asked but received nothing. "...Oh, well, it just isn't God's will right now." ...give me a break. That's a cop out. Who do we think we are..., outside of a vapor that is. He knows what we need and want all the while waiting us to ask for it. Me thinks we ask amiss? Then, we do ask and see no results. Frustrating.

It does appear to me that all answered prayer originates..., from Heaven. Our Lord impresses upon our hearts and minds what to pray for and then He provides. If He doesn't impress us we don't ask to begin with. We're reminded in church to pray for brother so and so, or for this situation or for that..., and usually we see no results.

I'm purposefully cutting out this section, because of your underlined sentence.

In my experience, HAMel, there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer. Typically, one of two things is going one. Either
1. God has not yet answered, but will answer in His time and according to His will
or
2. God's answer to us was "No."
Some people cannot accept that, as they've been conditioned to view God as this Heavenly ATM that dispenses blessings the moment they call on His name. That is nothing but man's twisted philosophy interfering with the Word of God. Nothing in scripture says we will always have a good life, or will always be happy.

 

[HAMel]

So may I ask then, PreachTony, where does the sincere inspiration come from to pray for anyone or anything if we're not impressed by our Lord to begin with. Simple compassion on our part? Perhaps. Or is it that when we're praying for a loved one that's dying from some disease it's just not to be? That loved one is going to die. If on the other hand our Lord impresses us to pray for that individual then we'll see positive results. It's happened many times both ways. Doctor's have given up on a patient only to witness complete recovery. On other occasions doctor's have given up and the patient dies.

If the impression to pray comes from Heaven then perhaps on occasion the Lord does resemble an ATM.

 

[PreachTony]

So may I ask then, PreachTony, where does the sincere inspiration come from to pray for anyone or anything if we're not impressed by our Lord to begin with. Simple compassion on our part? Perhaps.

I believe man has some capability for compassion. Otherwise, we're not much more than puppets being moved by God, with no ability on our own to do anything. Some people pray a lot. Others pray very little, if ever. Do you think those who pray less than others are somehow less inspired by God? That's not a leap I'm willing to make.

Or is it that when we're praying for a loved one that's dying from some disease it's just not to be? That loved one is going to die. If on the other hand our Lord impresses us to pray for that individual then we'll see positive results. It's happened many times both ways. Doctor's have given up on a patient only to witness complete recovery. On other occasions doctor's have given up and the patient dies.

I'll tell you as I answered this question a few days back in another thread. My grandfather told me when I first started in the ministry to never pray for someone to be healed, but instead to pray for God's will to be done. God might not intend to heal that person, yet if we gather together and pray for healing that never comes, then we risk opening a door in which a family member or the person being prayed for can blame God for not healing them. I've seen what you've seen, HAMel. I had a cousin who was given only a few weeks to live by the doctors in 1998. She passed away in 2009. Conversely, the same grandfather who told me to pray for God's will was given four months to live in late-September of 2012. He passed on October 23, 2012. Four weeks; not months. We do not know what God's plan holds for us. We can only pray to be found in His will, doing His will, and offering up our bodies a living sacrifice.

If the impression to pray comes from Heaven then perhaps on occasion the Lord does resemble an ATM.

I fear we're speaking crossways, HAMel. What I intended by that statement was the folks had been essentially brainwashed to believe that if they prayed for God to give them a million dollars, then they should have a million dollars. If they don't have it, then they obviously didn't pray with enough faith.

If the Lord impresses you to pray for a certain matter, then go for it. Do it with all your heart. If He doesn't impress you to pray for a certain matter, then pray anyway. Pray without ceasing.

 

[Baptist Believer]

This post is not intended to be a statement nor to open the door for endless pages of argument. Rather, it's to seek your sincere input.

I appreciate this post and want to provide my sincere input. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that this might unintentionally provoke those who hold to the status quo to turn this into a debate – with people vested in the idea that they are going to “win” or “lose” the debate. If this turns into a debate, then everyone loses.

Over the years great revivals have come and gone but not because a bunch of folks just one day decided to pray and ask for revival. No, the Lord impressed His own to ask for a revival and He provided..., but the revival was not from the prayers of man..., but was from Heaven first.

Revivals are a grace of God, but I don’t think we are instructed anywhere in the New Testament that the way revivals come about is through simply praying for them. The arrival of the Spirit at Pentecost was the beginning of a new era. The Old Testament idea of asking God to reveal His presence and power in periods of revival was replaced by the ever-present Spirit with us as we serve and are transformed in the Kingdom of God. “Revival” is constantly available to us, individually and corporately, as we participate in the Kingdom.

Unfortunately, because of theological and social reasons, not to mention ignorance of the teaching of Jesus because of an inordinate emphasis on the writings of Paul (actually misinterpretations of Paul) because of the false teaching that the Kingdom of God was delayed until the Second Coming. Jesus plainly teaches us how to enter the Kingdom and shows us how to commune with God through emulating his actions – many of the classic disciplines of Christian spiritual formation. But since this is rarely taught from pulpits in the Western world today, we do not participate in the work of the Kingdom.

I have been part of exactly one true revival, and the primary instigating factor was that the gospel was preached (rather poorly) to a church that was largely unconverted. The power was not in the preacher, the people who heard the message, or anything that was engineered – there were no plans for a “revival” – but in the good news that Jesus was Lord and He is trustworthy. Hundreds, even thousands of lives were radically changed over the course of two years. The revival began to lose power when the pastor of the church began to make what happened about him and tried to build an empire. Also, some huge theological gaps in the gospel message presented by the pastor created difficulties where people didn’t know what to do once they had come into faith. They intuitively knew there was more (they wanted growth and transformation in the Kingdom of God), but the pastor did not have any understanding of it.

Praying for God to do something is great! But it is more important to learn what Jesus taught and then learn how to do it. That is the key to revival.

 

[Zaac]

Jesus Christ is love.The key to prayer is love.

If people in the church of God could just unpack what it is to truly love Christ and to love others as ourselves, the world would be different and we would be in a constant state of prayer.