4
Ingredients of Effective Prayer (Part4)
‘For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning’ Isaiah 62:1 (NASB)
I want you to put yourself in Abraham’s shoes as you read the following verses:
‘Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.’
There he stood watching the smoke rise over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah after earnestly interceding for their salvation. If it had been you who had watched and prayed against what was happening, what would be going through your mind? I can guess: ‘God has not answered my prayer!’The disappointment of unanswered prayer is one thing that makes many of us give up on praying, or at least give up on prayer with expectancy. I have experienced unanswered prayer many times in my life, and know the disappointment and questions it can bring. This is especially so when you are certain that you have prayed in the will of God and in his way, just like Abraham did.
But I want you to learn from Abraham. His experience of what looks like clear unanswered prayer did not stop him from continuing to pray and to expect great things from God. Recall that he did not know at the time that in spite of what looked like unanswered prayer, God had in fact remembered his prayer and delivered his nephew, Lot. Nevertheless he continued to walk with God in dependence and expectation of good. He did not allow what he did not understand to distract him from what he understood – ‘that (God) exists, and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.’
We must never let any experience distract us from the truth that God is faithful and that he answers prayer. Sometimes, as in Abraham’s case, we say it is unanswered prayer only because we know in part. From the scriptures and from my experience I have discovered that God answers prayer, and that we can trust him to do what he says he will do. Just like Hannah we can testify of specific answers to prayer as a continuing experience. She testified: ‘I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him’ (1 Samuel 1:27 NIV). Prayer is a definite transaction with God. The Psalmist says ‘O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come’ (Psalm 65:2 NIV).
When we are faced with unanswered prayer let us not run away from God, but run to him. Let us ask God what he is saying. Perhaps we have prayed in a wrong way, or maybe it is not yet over and we ought to continue praying, or maybe there is work in progress that we are not seeing. God will give us wisdom if we ask him.
By all means let us not pray the wrong way but learn to apply all the ingredients of effective prayer. But above all let us continue to pray even when it seems like nothing is changing. I believe that many of the things we call unanswered prayers are actually unfinished prayers – prayers on which we have given up too soon before the answer came. The bible says:
‘For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning’ Isaiah 62:1 (NASB)
This man is declaring his commitment not to keep silent, but to continue to pray until God’s will is done. The emphasis is on ‘until’. We must pray until we see what God has promised.
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Comments? Questions? etc. If these messages have been helpful or unclear it would encourage us to hear from you, please write to chim_ibidun@hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PLEASE are you born again? It is not enough to believe in the existence of God, to go to church, or be interested in spiritual things. Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus died to deliver you from sin so that you can come to God. (John 3:16) If you ask him to forgive you and give you a new heart he will. (Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-11).Try it. I’d love to hear from you @ chim_ibidun@hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chim’sWRITE are regular articles on Christian living and cross-cultural missions from Chimezie Onyebilanma a cross-cultural missionary with Calvary Ministries (CAPRO). CAPRO is an indigenous African non-denominational cross-cultural mission agency involved in reaching the remaining unreached peoples in 22 countries of Africa and the Middle East as of present. CAPRO is involved in missions mobilization, training, and research as well as church-planting and mercy ministries (literacy, rural development, primary health-care, relief and rehabilitation). CAPRO is a faith mission, both the ministry and its missionaries depend on God’s provision through the giving of his people. None of its missionaries are salaried. All gifts are used as designated.
Surface Address: CAPRO MISSIONS SA, Durban, 47 Sutherland Rd, Waterfall, 3610, Durban, P.O.Box 207, Hillcrest, 3650, South Africa.Tel: +2731 766 2336; +27 794737208 (cell)
To learn more about the ministry of Chimezie Onyebilanma and how you can partner with us please email chim_ibidun@hotmail.com
To learn more about the cross-cultural missionary work of CAPRO visit www.capromissions.org.za
Do you know that your monthly gifts to support a missionary can make a big difference? To learn more about supporting missionaries please visit www.adopt-a-missionary.org or enquire at chim_ibidun@hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To subscribe to Chim’sWRITE please send a blank email to
ChimWRITE-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe to Chim’sWRITE please send a blank email to
ChimWRITE-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
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COPYRIGHT — It is required that permission be obtained from chim_ibidun@hotmail.com before these materials can be re-published on a website or in hard copy. However permission is granted to freely redistribute these materials via email, provided that such redistribution acknowledges the source and includes this phrase: “For a free subscription to Chimezie Onyebilanma’s weekly Chim’sWRITE, send a blank email to ChimWRITE-subscribe@yahoogroups.com “
16
Ingredients of Effective Prayer (Part2)
‘O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come’ – Psalm 65:2
It’s instructive to me that in Genesis 18:16-33 when Abraham learnt of the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the thrust of his prayer was not just the salvation of his nephew, Lot, but rather the salvation of the entire population.
There is a way in which a ‘me-centredness’ can rob our prayer of power. There needs to be something of a pursuit of, ‘Thy kingdom come’ in our prayers for them to have the backing of heaven. Prayer is not a means by which man pushes his agenda on God but a means by which man partners with God to see God’s will done on earth. And his will includes our well-being, but it is counter-productive to think it is as narrow as that. No, the chief purpose of prayer is not to secure our well-being, but God’s will and his glory. This is why effective prayer starts by answering the question ‘What is God saying about this situation? What does God want?’ Whether it be our personal need or situations concerning others, we must seek to pray God’s will and God’s heart. It takes knowing the Word of God to know his will. It takes a walk with God to develop in us a heart that shares God’s heart, so that we are not just wanting to use God to meet our needs, but rather standing in the gap to see God’s will done. Abraham walked with God and so shared God’s heart for the lost. He knew that God’s heart was not to destroy Sodom if it could be avoided.
Then we see in Abraham’s statement in Genesis 18:27 the two seemingly paradoxical ingredients of effective prayer.
‘Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes”’
Firstly, we see boldness as he says, ‘I have been so bold as to speak to the LORD’. I mentioned this ingredient last week but let me deal with it again so as to explain this paradox. Our prayer must be bold and expectant. We need to have the audacity to ask God to do something specific and to expect him to do it. The Bible tells us to ‘…approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive’. (Hebrews 4:16, NIV). Abraham had that audacity – that boldness in his prayer. We can come boldly because it is the Lord who has given us access. He himself has said, ‘Ask of me’. We do not honour him if we are timid before him, acting as if we have no access – as if he cannot be taken at his word. Prayer is not trying to overthrow God’s reluctance but rather the making of a way for God’s willingness. God takes us seriously when we pray. He hears and he answers. ‘This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him’ (1 John 5:14,15, NIV)
But along with this boldness, we see here another element. Abraham says, ‘though I am nothing but dust and ashes’. Here is the paradox – we are to approach with boldness, and humility, at the same time. We are to approach with confidence in God’s ability and willingness, and at the same time approach with no confidence in our worthiness to deserve to be answered. We need to recognise that there is nothing of ourselves that qualifies us to stand before him. There is nothing we have given him that entitles us to a reward. It is his graciousness that gives us access not our worthiness.
It is possible to approach God with some sense of entitlement. We think of all we have given to him and we feel that somehow he owes us something. Listen, God does not owe any man anything! There is nothing we have that we have not first received. So, how dare we approach with a feeling of entitlement? It’s like my little son who sometimes asks me for money to buy me a birthday present, and it makes me think, ‘Who is giving a gift to whom here?’ Yet like me, our Heavenly Father sees, applauds and appreciates all of our giving to him, and out of his graciousness he rewards our giving. But we have not really given him anything! That’s why the Lord says, ‘So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ” (Luke 17:10 NIV).
We must be free of this sense of entitlement that is rampant among believers today. Often my wife and I are shocked to hear a believer say that they are upset with God because he didn’t come through for them. We don’t deserve the least of his mercies!
These two ingredients may look like a paradox, but every Spirit-born person will have no problem in understanding this. We see it so clearly over and over again in the great pray-ers of the Bible: on one hand a bold confidence that God will answer, and on the other hand a lack of confidence in any personal merit. David’s prayer in 2 Sam 7:18-29 has these two elements. First he says ‘Who am I?’ – (v.18) – he considers that he does not deserve the thing God has promised to do for him. He is grateful. There is no sense of entitlement. He understands that God acts ‘for the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing’ (v.21). But he goes on to say; ‘And now, Lord God…Do as you have promised’ – He is boldly requesting God to act. He is saying, ‘I expect you to do what you said’. We must learn to come in the same way – with boldness and humility.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comments? Questions? etc. If these messages have been helpful or unclear it would encourage us to hear from you, please write to chim_ibidun@hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PLEASE are you born again? It is not enough to believe in the existence of God, to go to church, or be interested in spiritual things. Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus died to deliver you from sin so that you can come to God. (John 3:16) If you ask him to forgive you and give you a new heart he will. (Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-11).Try it. I’d love to hear from you @ chim_ibidun@hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chim’sWRITE are regular articles on Christian living and cross-cultural missions from Chimezie Onyebilanma a cross-cultural missionary with Calvary Ministries (CAPRO). CAPRO is an indigenous African non-denominational cross-cultural mission agency involved in reaching the remaining unreached peoples in 22 countries of Africa and the Middle East as of present. CAPRO is involved in missions mobilization, training, and research as well as church-planting and mercy ministries (literacy, rural development, primary health-care, relief and rehabilitation). CAPRO is a faith mission, both the ministry and its missionaries depend on God’s provision through the giving of his people. None of its missionaries are salaried. All gifts are used as designated.
Surface Address: CAPRO MISSIONS SA, Durban, 47 Sutherland Rd, Waterfall, 3610, Durban, P.O.Box 207, Hillcrest, 3650, South Africa.Tel: +2731 766 2336; +27 794737208 (cell)
To learn more about the ministry of Chimezie Onyebilanma and how you can partner with us please email chim_ibidun@hotmail.com
To learn more about the cross-cultural missionary work of CAPRO visit www.capromissions.org.za
Do you know that your monthly gifts to support a missionary can make a big difference? To learn more about supporting missionaries please visit www.adopt-a-missionary.org or enquire at chim_ibidun@hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To subscribe to Chim’sWRITE please send a blank email to
ChimWRITE-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe to Chim’sWRITE please send a blank email to
ChimWRITE-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COPYRIGHT — It is required that permission be obtained from chim_ibidun@hotmail.com before these materials can be re-published on a website or in hard copy. However permission is granted to freely redistribute these materials via email, provided that such redistribution acknowledges the source and includes this phrase: “For a free subscription to Chimezie Onyebilanma’s weekly Chim’sWRITE, send a blank email to ChimWRITE-subscribe@yahoogroups.com “