The
prayer of a righteous man is
powerful
and effective.
James 5:16:b
A.W. Tozer wrote “When Tennyson wrote More
things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of he probably uttered a
truth of vaster significance than even he understood.”
In Romans 8
we read that when we pray, the Holy Spirit himself intercedes for us in
accordance with God’s will. Hebrews 11:1 explains that faith “is the assurance
of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
When we
combine our faith—our belief, assurance, conviction of God’s omnipotent power
and boundless love for His children—with our prayers, we are stepping into the throne
room of the Almighty! For it is only by faith that we understand “that the
universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out
of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)
It is only
by faith that we believe God saved Noah and his family from a flood that
destroyed every living thing that remained upon the earth. It is only by faith
that we believe Moses led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt and across
the Red Sea on dry ground. And it is only by faith that we believe Jesus Christ
was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died to redeem us from our sins and
rose that we might live with Him eternally.
And it is
only because of our faith in a loving, merciful, wise, just, eternal Creator
and our belief in His Son that we dare believe our prayers are heard and
answered according to God’s will. If we have no faith, we have no reason to
pray.
So the next
time you kneel, take a moment to think about this God to whom you pray. See God
seated on His throne appearing like jasper with an emerald rainbow encircling
His throne. See the flashes of
lightening and hear the rumblings of thunder and see the seven torches of fire
and the sea so clear it appears like crystal. See the four living creatures
that never cease to say; “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was
and is and is to come!” (Rev 4:8) And see the twenty-four elders as they cast
their crowns before the throne of God and praise Him:
“Worthy are
you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created
all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Rev 4:11)
This is our
God to whom we pray-in whom we believe! Are you hurting? Pray! Are you ill?
Pray! Are you lonely? Pray! Do you lack faith? Pray for faith to believe.
Prayer is the key that opens the doors of heaven. If we belong to Christ, we
cannot lose the key, we can only refuse to pick up and use the key! The choice
is ours.
©JP 2013
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