This seaon of my life is a huge period of growth for my relationship with Jesus Christ. As a church, we are studying the book of James. It is a very hard, challenging, and excellent book. This study, lead by our pastor, has been truly life-changing for me. I am being discipled by the pastor's wife. I had never heard this term before I went to college -- discipleship groups. And even then, it was just a committed Bible study. This is so much more. This is about me looking to my elders for guidance and wisdom and accountability. Our group is very small (myself and one other lady), which is perfect for me because if there are many more people, I won't do a whole lot of talking. And I really want to engage in these conversations! I'm so thankful for this opportunity. So I wanted to share what we studied this past week about prayer. Our church recently started having a prayer service every Sunday morning. Every service is different, led by an elder, just 40 minutes of led prayer time (usually involving music, scripture reading, etc.). As a church body, we've been called to pray more. So our question for discipleship this week was Why Pray?
Why Pray?
My first answer was because Jesus modeled prayer and taught His disciples how to pray Matthew 6:5-14. I did a little online searching, coming up with a few websites that offered good reasons to pray. I didn't dig into most of the websites, just took a few scriptures and went off on my own with them. The first that struck me was 1 Corinthians 1:9. "We are called into fellowship with Jesus Christ." He simply wants us to spend time with Him. I am always looking for playdates and opportunities to spend time with friends and their kids because I enjoy the conversation and the company. I need to do the same with Christ.
The next place I went was Luke 11. The story Jesus shares tells of a man who will give his friend whatever he needs because his friend comes desperately to him and is very persistent. Jesus has called me his friend. If I am desperate in the sense that only God can give what I ask, and persistent about asking, God will provide for all my needs. A similar story is told in Luke 18:1-8.
I found this scripture after my studying -- Matthew 9:35-38. Jesus instructed his disciples to pray for "laborers for the harvest." He told them to pray for servants who would be willing to do His will. The needs of this fallen world are great. There is so much work to be done that we need many workers. We need to pray for people who will be willing to labor for God's harvest.
The next thing I just had to do was find out what John Piper had to say about prayer. Andrew and I have been reading a good bit of his work the last couple of months and he just blows me away. The amazing thing is, I actually have the ability to understand what he says (although, his works can be incredibly lengthy!). We have delved into the deep thinking about God's sovereignty and, let me say, I will never understand it in this body. But it is incredible to think about! With that in mind, I read this blog post by John Piper called Praying From the Fullness of the Word. His answer to why we should pray, especially if God is sovereign in all things, is a quote from Charles Spurgeon. Summary & quote: If we believe that God has ordained all things, then our prayers are part of that. If all of our steps are laid out, so are all of our prayers and the answers to those prayers. "When we pray, we are producing links in the chain of ordained facts."
Two last thoughts that tie it all together for me are 1 John 5:14 & James 4:2-3. We need only to ask in Jesus name and He will give to us according to His will. If we ask according to His will, He hears our prayers. That is Mighty Power in our corner.
So why pray?
We pray to commune with God and to align our hearts and our wills with His. We desire what God desires for us because we trust Him to "work all things together for our good" - Romans 8:28 - that we will get everything we want, but that He knows what we need and what is best for us and we believe that God only gives good gifts and "every good gift is from God" - James 1:16-17.
I am learning to bend my knees and my will to God's will.
Jesus did.
I want to be like Jesus.
So I'm learning to pray.
No comments:
Post a Comment