Thursday,
May 2nd, is this year’s National Day of Prayer, but that word “prayer”
sometimes makes us feel awkward. I like
how prayer is described by N. T. Wright in Youth With a Mission’s 2019 “Personal
Prayer Diary”:
“How
do you set about praying? From our point
of view, there is a fairly obvious order of priorities. We’re usually in some sort of mess, and we
want God to get us out of it. Then we’ve
usually got some fairly pressing needs, and we want God to supply them. It may strike us at that point that there’s a
larger world out there. Again, we
probably move from mess to wants: please
sort out the Middle East, please feed the hungry, please house the homeless.
But
then, once more, it may dawn on us that there’s not just a larger world out
there; there’s a larger God out
there. He’s not just a celestial
cleaner-up and sorter-out of our messes and wants. He is God.
He is the living God. And He is
our Father.”
We
should never be afraid of prayer or worry that we are not doing it right. For that matter, what IS the right way to
pray? It is conversation with God. It is that simple, period. I speak to our Father the same way and with
much of the same words I write to you. I
like how Pat Boone expresses it in his book, “Pray to Win”:
“It’s
important to recognize that God wants
to communicate with you as much as with anyone else – no matter how bad a
person you may think you are. And no prior knowledge of theological
training is required…just be honest!
God knows what you’re thinking, so there’s no sense in beating around
the bush with Him. Tell Him exactly what
you’re thinking, and believe me, He’ll honor your candor.”
So,
do not let man’s ideas of how you should pray or your worry of praying the
right way stop you this Thursday. Take
time to pray. What should we pray
about? Pray about our nation, the United
States, for surely we need prayer. This
year’s theme is “Love One Another”. How suitable
for these days of hate, fear, and terrorism.
Imagine what would happen if every believer in the United States we were
to pray for God to take the hate away from every believer’s heart and replace
it with Christ’s perfect love? How about
we do not stop there, but also ask Him to do so with the hearts of
unbelievers? If this does not take your
fancy there are many resources that can be found online. Find what is best for you, but pray!
About
prayer: Rev. Leonard Ravenhill said in
his book, “Why Revival Tarries”:
“No
man is greater than his prayer life. The
pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are
straying…we have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers,
few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many
fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few
intercessors; many writers, but few fighters.
Failing here, we fail everywhere.”
Brothers
and Sisters in Christ, it is time to pray.
What better time to start a strong prayer life than to pray for our
nation on this upcoming National Day of Prayer.
“So I tell you to
ask for what you want in prayer. And if you believe that you have received
those things, then they will be yours.” (Mark 11:24 ERV)
“My
soul, ask what thou wilt,
Thou canst not be too bold;
Since
His own blood for thee He spilt,
What else can He withhold?” -Unknown
