Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Prayer is the Key


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. 

©Joyce Powell

2 comments:

  1. Thanks, Joyce, for this blessed reminder to pray, pray, pray! I'll highlight your post on the Christian Poets & Writers blog - http://www.christianpoetsandwriters.com. God bless.

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  2. Thank you, Mary. I appreciate your kind words and support.

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