Ray, You might want to ask Martha to print this one.
We were talking this morning and I mentioned doing things intentionally not just letting them slide by. I will not address personal prayer or even family prayer; it Is not anyone's concern other than the individual or family. But corporate prayer is everyone's concern. My experience has been, in Ohio, the only way you got off the prayer list was to die. That is similar to my experience so far in Pigeon Forge.
In our public assemblies we routinely have prayer to "open" the service. What do we pray about? Our prayers commonly include generalities about several things and a few particulars. We may cover the same points in the closing prayer that we did in the opening prayer---and maybe even at some prayer in between.
In the New Testament, prayers were focused on the work the Christians were doing. Wouldn't it be more meaningful for ours to be?
I have often advocated that we stop and think about what we are asking God to do and do we have Bible support for that expectation?
When we pray for God to touch the heart of an individual are we expecting Him to do something to that individual that he would not have otherwise done? Do we believe He would have let that person be lost if it were not for our request for him to touch their heart? Is that an additional way to be saved?
How about the general purpose prayer, that covers everything from the preacher's ready recollection up-to and including "if we have been found faithful allow us to enter Heaven when we die?
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." James 4:3. If we can pray wrongly we can pray rightly. How do we know? Lacking anyone being healed in response to our prayers are we sure we are asking "rightly?"
When Jesus prayed for others he never concluded by saying "If it be thy will" neither did the apostles or prophets when they were praying for others. When praying for others there is no room for indecisive, tentative, half-hoping, "If thy will" prayers.
On the other hand, when we are seeking guidance we must rely on "If it be the will or God."
When Rick Warren's wife developed cancer of some type he said they prayed for God to heal her. Rick Warren said in a short time it was evident God was not going to answer their prayer in the way they wanted so they asked him to help them deal with it. I do not know her status but their response is refreshing. We continue to claim we believe in prayer, we continue to see no positive responses and we do not question if there is something we should do differently. Karl Marx said religion is opiate of the people. We need to know our prayers are being prayed "rightly" with the correct purpose.
If we turn on our television set and it does not work, we do not declare that there are no such things as electronic frequencies in the air or on the cable. We assume something is wrong, something we can find and correct. We check the plug, switch, circuitry until we discover what is blocking the flow of this mysterious energy that transmits pictures. We know the problem has been found and fixed by seeing, whether or not the TV works. It is the same with prayer. We can determine if we are praying correctly if the requests come to pass. If not, we look for the "block"; perhaps we are praying wrongly, perhaps something within us needs changing, perhaps there are new principles of prayer to be learned, perhaps patience and persistence are needed. We listen, make the necessary adjustments, and try again. We can know that our prayers are being answered as surely as we can know the television set is working.
Frequently our lack is not of faith but maybe it's compassion. It seems that genuine empathy between the pray-er and the pray-ee often makes the difference. We are told that Jesus was "moved with compassion" for people. Compassion was an evident feature of every healing in the New Testament. We do not pray for people as "things" but as "persons" whom we love.
We have slipped into a bad habit of praying and expecting nothing. We continue to accept the lack as when the television does not work that obviously there is no electricity.
Thanks, John Jenkins
865-803-8179 cell
Gatlinburg, TN
Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com
Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/
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