Wednesday February 12
Prayer, A Sense of Helplessness
1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." 2 So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one."
Right after Jesus commends Mary for choosing to sit at His feet to worship in Luke 10, in Luke 11:1-14 He teaches His disciples about prayer. God created us to worship Him and commune with Him. Worship is recognizing Who God is and ascribing to Him His worth! It is acknowledging our need for Him as the only One Who can meet every need we have in our life! And God has given us the avenue of prayer to enter into His presence and ask Him to meet those needs.
The first mention that I can find in the Bible about prayer is in Genesis 4:25-26; “And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed." And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.”
“Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.” When is then? It is right after the first murder in the human race took place. Cain killed his brother Abel and shortly afterwards God gave Adam and Eve another son, named Seth, who also has a son named Enosh. “Then”, immediately “men” began to pray and call on the name of the LORD for mercy and help! The world was already in a mess!
Years ago, I’ll never forget reading a book on prayer by an author named Ole Hallesby. He wrote that: "Prayer is not using God for our own means but rather prayer is dependence, openness, trust, and listening." Basically, what I remember best, is his simple statement about prayer: “True prayer is a sense of helplessness”.
If you asked me why people or Christians don’t pray like they should, I would answer that it is because they don’t think they need to pray. We are getting along just fine without praying, and we make excuses by saying we don’t have time to pray because we are so busy. But when we are overwhelmed with a tragedy or a problem beyond our ability to deal with, we pray, or we ask others to pray for us. I’ve often said that there are no atheists in fox holes!
The real truth is that we desperately need God, His mercy, His grace, His love, His protection, His provision and His help every moment of our lives! If only we really realize this!
Over the years, one of the things I have done to remind me of this is to memorize verses on prayer like:
2 Chronicles 7:14-15: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.”
Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
Matthew 7:7-8: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
Ephesians 3:20: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”.
The Bible is full of prayer promises! Read and memorize them!
I also regularly read good books and devotionals on prayer by praying people like:
Dr. Elmer Towns: “Praying the Lord’s Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough”
Andrew Murray: “With Christ in the School of Prayer” – Also: “Intercessory Prayer” and “God’s Best Secrets”
Every morning for the past four years I have been using a one-minute devotional by E.M. Bounds called: “The Power of Prayer” –published by Christian Art Publishers.
Reading these verses and books is like “priming the pump” for my prayer life! The Holy Spirit and God’s Word comes alive, and I love the time in prayer with the Lord!
Do you sense your helplessness and your need for the Lord today?
God bless!
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