May 26, 2011

Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught

Pray without ceasing . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:17

Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing . . .”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.

Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “. . . everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8). Yet we say, “But . . . , but . . . .” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?

The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.

5 comments:

  1. I love the first whole paragraph...that prayer should come as naturally and as consistantly as the breaths we take. Just a natural outflow of our faith, relationship with Him, and our hearts. Beautiful concept

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  2. Thank you so much! Lovely post with great word!

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  3. I like that illustration that prayer is like breathing...it never ceases (or should never cease). Oswald Chambers book is one of my favorite devotionals.

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  4. GREAT post! :)

    I'm a new follower from Super Stalker Sunday!

    http://thenaturalmommas.blogspot.com/

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  5. It's my favorite, too. I like it because it stretches you, spiritually, and draws you into a closer relationship with Him.

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