A Study in Prayer, Part #5 of 6

How Prayer Is Used

Prayer is often used for the enhancement of one’s standing in the church and community.  Prayer Warriors represent a class of people that have a close relationship with God. The use of flowery words and much speaking that bring on a state of euphoria that is often mistaken for the Spirit of God.  Matthew 6:5-8  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. 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. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.  Based upon these words of Jesus there is no need to go to God with a shopping list begging for fulfillment.  

In the times of disasters, man-made or natural there is an outpouring of prayers and even requests for prayers from dignitaries on the behalf of those affected.    It has now become a part of the Christian indoctrinated experience to openly pray in times of every disaster.   We pray for those in the path of a bad storm, and we pray for those who survived the storm.   We pray for those who are sick  and we pray for those who have passed on.  We pray for the athletes when they are about to play a game.  We even pray for them when they are about to receive their worldy reward.  Today, prayer is being offered up for nations in the Middle East and other nations that destruction has already been prophesied.   Prayer, our most valuable Christian commodity is being used to support those who run roughshod over our Christian values.  Prayer is being used to draw people to Christ and the trivialization of prayer is being used to turn people away from God. 

Prayer is the source of power for many Christians and through prayer many find peace in time of storms.  There are those who have claimed the ability to control the storms, while others speak  of great healing power if a seed of faith is planted.   Some speak of the power to dance with snakes or drink deadly poison. Prayer is freely given in the workplace, supermarkets and in the churches.  Public praying has taken on a whole new vernacular of its own, and it now a sellable asset of the Christian experience.   With all of this praying going on it seems we would have Heaven here on earth.  "Christians should be rich and Sinners ought to be poor."  What are we praying for? We pray for sunshine and we pray for rain.  We pray for warm weather and we pray for cool weather. 

Daniel prophesied of what was referred to as the abomination of desolation.  The abomination of desolation can be interpreted as the devil using a holy entity  (The Temple of God) to destroy the influence of God.  Matthew 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)  2 Thessalonians 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.  This is a common practice of the devil, he uses the words of God to confuse and destroy the influence of the spirit of God.

As the prophecies and revelations of the Bible unfold all around us  we must be careful not to put ourselves in a position of praying against the will of God.   1 Corinthians 14:15  What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.  Colossians 1:9  For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;  The key  words in these verses is,  praying with and understanding.   Understanding the scripture requires that we understand that the Bible is composed of God message to the Jews,  his message to the Gentiles and his message to the Church.

The indoctrinated confusion that has been perpetrated by many of our leaders has allowed Christianity to digress into a pit of trivialization and contradictions.   Many are being led down a path of glory, prosperity and favors.  The belief in God suffers today  and in each generation that precedes us, they walk farther and farther from God.  Mark 13:19-23  For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, (with glory, prosperity and favors) if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.  What should you pray for?

A young energetic preacher standing on the street corner preaching to an advancing group of angry young men tried to use the fear of God to control them.   His claimed to have the "Word of God in his mouth" and the "Fire of God in his fingertips" failed to bring the group under control.  The young man was forced to flee the area.  Years later he attributed his failure to a lack of faith. ( A confusing answer) His search was for that power that was spoken of  in Matthew 7:7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  Often this is the desire of our prayer without understanding the contextual nature of Jesus speech that can easily be understood in Matthew 7:4  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?  In one verse we spiritualize the context and in the next verse we naturalize it. (Confusion?) Ask yourself the question, when did Jesus preach a message on the natural entitlements on humanity?  What should we pray for?

Many times we find ourself praying for God deliverances from evil the evil one, yet in Matthew 13:30  Jesus said, “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”  For some reason because the Children of Isreal were delivered from the Egyptians, we want God to deliver us, (the Church) from the evil one.   Revelation 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten ( a given or predetermined amount of time) days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.  It is the death part of life that is hard to accept, even though we are taught in 2 Timothy 2:11  It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:  Who then should fear death?  A poem attributed to Chief Tecumseh, a great Indian chief ends with these words.  When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.  I pray for peace, not for the world but for myself.

What should we pray for?  Do we pray for God to circumvent his plan?  Do we pray for piles of cash? Matthew 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  The Kingdom of God is a spiritual entitlement, therefore it seems right that we should pray for spiritual gifts.  Galatians 5:22-26  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, Faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Ephesians 5:6-10  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.  Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. Praying for that which is acceptable unto the Lord is a condition of effective prayer.  When I pray for the fruit of the spirit the response is instant.  When I pray as Solomon did for, "Widsom and Understanding" God speak to me.

The educational institutes prepare us to survive and compete in the natural world and they are doing a fine job, the church should prepare us to meet our spiritual God.  

Next: A Study in Prayer, Part #6 of 6

"My Prayer is My Testimony"

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