May 16, 2016 - "Prayer"

Chaplain’s Corner

May 16, 2016

Prayer

Good Morning Patriots!

I wanted to speak with you about prayer. As most of you here are Christian, I am sure that most of you, at one point or another, have asked friends, neighbors, and relatives to pray for you. I get a fair amount of correspondence from others asking me to pray for them, too. I wanted to talk about that for a moment. Let's look at Philippians 4: 6, 7: "6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - NIV

In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus taught us how to pray, in verses 9 - 13:

"9 This, then, is how you should pray:

"'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 Forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'" - NIV

Did you notice that Jesus did not say, "These are the words you are supposed to say when you pray." No, He said that this is "how" we should pray. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with reciting the Lord's Prayer. The point I want to make is that Jesus was actually showing us HOW to pray, not WHAT to say.

The first thing we should acknowledge is the Holiness and Sovereignty of God and His Holy name. To "hallow" something is to set it apart and make it holy, or sanctified. So, our first thought should be acknowledging the holiness of our great God.

Next, we ask Him for His kingdom to come, and His will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven. We are living in a world right now that is being ruled by "the evil one" as he is called here. In God's own due time, He will step in using Jesus to bind the devil and cast him into the abyss and usher in His Kingdom.

Next, we humbly ask for our needs to be met. We ask for our daily bread. Notice that we aren't asking for a million dollars, or a jet boat, or a summer home? Our desires should be simply to have our needs met, each and every day.

Next we ask forgiveness for our debts, or transgressions, or sins. The thing is, we are asking Him to be generous with us even when we may not deserve it, just as we are taught to do the same with our fellow man, even when we may feel that they do not deserve it.

Next we ask Him to keep us pure and separate from the world that belongs to the wicked one. We ask Him to protect our minds and our hearts, and to deliver us from our own vices and temptations that may come along our path daily that would hinder our prayers and relationship with a pure and Holy God.

So, we need to be ever mindful of our relationship with Him, and never forget Who and What he is to us. He is the great Creator of the universe, yet He is also our "Abba" or Daddy, or Father in the heavens. We are His beloved children, His progeny, His masterpiece of creation. He wants us to be happy. In order to do that, we must grow in Him, through daily interchange by reading His word, prayer, meditation, and seeking to be sensitive to His Holy Spirit.

It is an awesome privilege to be able to walk right into the throne room of Almighty God Himself and petition him in prayer and thanksgiving. We should never take that privilege for granted. In our imperfect flesh, the Pure and Righteous Almighty cannot look upon us and our imperfection and hear our supplications. In our own right we are not worthy to approach Him. However, due to the Righteous blood spilled on the Cross as a ransom payment for the lives of all mankind, we are in a unique position to approach Him through the covering of the blood sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Do you want your own children to cherish you? To seek comfort in you? To rejoice in your presence? How do you like it when the only time you hear from your children is when they want something? You still love them, but it hinders the close relationship, doesn't it? Though we are always encouraged to pray when we need Him, we should not make prayer a last resort. It should already be a daily habit, and everything we do daily should be lifted to Him for His approval and guidance. When hard times strike, as they always do in everyone's life, we can kick our prayer life into overdrive. But not just for our problems, but also for the problems of others. Praying for a friend or loved one carries weight and merit, and God can and does honor our prayers in behalf of others.

Remember, though, that He answers all prayers, but He does so in His own time, in His own way. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways are higher than our ways. He knows the end from the beginning, and so He knows what is best for us. Sometimes the answer is just, "No." There is a country song where the singer is thanking God for "unanswered prayers." The reality of it is that, what he was praying for when he was a young man was not what was going to be best for him, and so God actually said, "No" to that request, but ended up giving him the woman he needed in the long run. That can be the same way God answers our prayers. We should be specific about our wants and needs, but we need to be open to His giving us what we actually need, rather than what we have asked for.

Whatever we pray for, remember that the very first thing of importance is to acknowledge His great Holiness. Whatever we pray for, it should be with the caveat that we want to see His name Sanctified, made Holy, and honored. Sometimes God will use trying circumstances in our lives to show His power and love in our lives and those who seek Him.

So, in conclusion, we need to be patient, and wait on God. Take advantage of our special status as being washed clean in the blood of the Lamb and go boldly forth into the throne room right into His very presence. Humbly, and with great love and appreciation, we need to be in a constant prayerful state of consciousness. By being vigilant, and keeping our eyes of faith on Him, he will bless us and give us more than we could ever dream.

I pray for my brothers and sisters in the III%UPI daily, and I ask that you pray for me. Seek His guidance and His will, and as we turn our attention to Him in our daily lives, He will bless us all beyond measure...

God Bless You, every one, and:
God Bless America!
Stephen King
Chaplain@3upi.com