Yesterday, we talked about how God accomplishes His goal of conforming our hearts to His by saying no to our prayers at times. Today, let’s talk about why at times God’s answer to our prayers is to wait. The simple answer, as many of you know already, is for God’s perfect timing. But a perfect timing for what? First and foremost, it is for the optimal manifestation of God’s glory. Let’s consider two examples.
Read MoreIn speaking of the necessity of prayer, we talked about how God uses our prayer to accomplish His will. One of the things He wants to accomplish is conforming our hearts to His. He does this through the way God responds to our prayer—yes, or no, or wait—and the way we interpret it in light of Scripture. Today, let’s talk about how God conforms our hearts to His by saying no. This question may sound ridiculous but how do we know when God’s answer is no? In some cases, it is obvious. When we pray for something specific—such as getting into a certain school or getting a certain job or promotion or getting a certain test/surgery result, etc.—and it doesn’t happen as we prayed. But many of our petitions are more general without a specific deadline—such as praying for a new job or healing from a sickness or improvement of our family/marriage relationship or someone’s salvation, etc. Discerning whether God’s answer is no or not in these cases is trickier. After praying for a long time, we may get discouraged and think that God’s answer is no. It may very well be but God’s answer may be, wait, instead.
Read MoreWe are talking about the necessity of prayer, particularly in relation to God’s sovereign, eternal, predestined will. Yesterday, we saw a dramatic example of this in Daniel’s prayer in Dan. 9. Today, let’s talk about what God wants to accomplish in us through our prayer. We said that our prayer is a means by which God achieves His purpose. But, obviously, not all of our petitions are answered the way we think or hope. In fact, there are many, to which God’s answer is no. This should not surprise us. The Bible says clearly, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us” (1 John 5:14).
Read MoreWe are talking about the necessity of prayer as a divinely ordained means by which God accomplishes His purpose. This is to show that our prayer matters in the divine, predestined scheme of things. One of the clearest and most dramatic examples of this is Daniel’s prayer in Dan. 9. There, Daniel prayed with fasting and sackcloth and ashes, confessing his sins and the sins of his people, Israel. Then, we read in v. 21, “...while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.” What did the angel Gabriel say to Daniel? “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you...” (vs. 22-23). Talk about an immediate answer from God. While Daniel was praying—that is, even before Daniel finished his prayer—in fact, at the beginning of his prayer, “a word went out” in answer to his prayer. What was that about?
Read MoreYesterday, as we continue to think about the necessity of prayer, we started to talk about the relationship between God’s predestination and our prayer. The two are not incompatible or mutually exclusive because God predestined everything—not just the result but also the process and the means, including our prayer. Why did God decide to use prayer as a means of accomplishing His purpose?
Read MoreAs we continue to think about the necessity of prayer, I’d like to introduce another reason. For those of you in our church, this may be a familiar concept but something worth reviewing: prayer is necessary for the fulfillment of God’s eternal, unchangeable, predestined plan. Many are puzzled by that statement. They wonder why they should pray if God predestined everything. What kind of thinking is behind that kind of question? Prayer is all about exerting my will on the world and even on God rather than seeking God’s will. If God predestined everything, is there any place for my will, for what I want?
Read MoreWe have been speaking of the necessity of prayer. Let me introduce another reason today. I’m sure we all want to have a “better” prayer life. We don’t want prayer to feel burdensome to us; we want to look forward to praying. We don’t want to close our eyes to pray and have nothing really to say; we want words to flow out of our hearts and minds. We don’t want to struggle through all our prayer time, fighting off distractions and racing thoughts; we want to be able to focus and go into fellowshipping with God right away. When we are done praying, we don’t want to feel glad that it’s over; we want to reluctantly tear ourselves away from praying because God is calling us to do other things for Him. But when we stop praying, we want to know that we have been changed by that time with God, not feel more depressed because we feel like we haven’t been heard.
Read MoreWe have been talking about why we need to pray. For the last two days, we talked about our need for a God-centered, biblical perspective. Today, we will talk about another important reason:those who depend on us to pray for them. One of the important aspects of our Christian fellowship is intercessory prayer—prayer for one another. Of course, there are many things we can, and ought to, do for one another, using our God-given resources and talents. And when they are done in a timely and wise fashion, God can use them to bring much comfort and encouragement to others, to effect a profound change in their lives, and even to lead them to salvation. But we are very much limited in our abilities and sphere of influence. There are many times when we feel utterly incompetent and helpless against the enormity of the problems our loved ones face, when we don’t know what to say or what to do, except to cry out to God.
Read MoreYesterday, in reflecting on prayer as a means of regaining a God-centered perspective, we talked about pleasure as our greatest motivator and our need to have it reoriented and reordered from the worldly perspective. Let’s stay on that topic one more day. Yesterday, I briefly mentioned the importance of Scripture reading for our prayer life. The ultimate and final prayer of ours should be, “Not my will, but yours, be done” (Matt. 26:39). “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us” (1 John 5:14). Where do we learn of God’s will? Isn’t it in the Scripture that we find the clearest expression of His will? But of course, we need the Holy Spirit, who inspired the words of the Bible, to help us understand them. So, we should pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit before we read the Bible. Then, we should read it prayerfully with careful attention and reverence. Then, we should pray for the proper application of the Word as well as according to the Bible.
Read MoreWe are talking about the necessity of prayer. Yesterday, we spoke of our need for a God-centered perspective, especially in the morning as we feel the burdens of the day. Today, let’s talk about another aspect of the God-centered perspective we need. They say that pleasure is the most powerful motivator in all that we do. This is not necessarily bad, of course. In fact, we can say that this is how God wired us when He created us. This shows how good God is: He made us to be drawn to pleasure rather than pain because pleasure is what He wants us to experience and enjoy, not pain. It is not wrong to seek pleasure.
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