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Saturday, October 3, 2015

For What Can I Pray?

Prayer is a vital part of the Christian faith.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to "pray continually."  And the Bible is full of people praying to God.  Even Jesus himself, who was the Lord on earth, prayed to His Heavenly Father on multiple occasions (Matthew 14:23, Luke 6:12-3, John 11:41-2).  Or just look at the Book of Psalms to find different types of petitions and prayers (Psalms 3, 30, 32...).  Considering this, can we not assume that God is approachable with any need that we may have?

Absolutely.  The Bible does not only give examples of other people praying, but it also has prayer advice for us personally.  Let me list a few things about which we can pray to God.  All Bible quotations are from the New International Version.

Thanksgiving.  It is good to thank God when something good has happened.  You have just grasped an important but difficult concept in your Mathematics class.  Your mom has recovered from a bad illness.  Or the Vancouver Canucks, uh... the Edmonton Oilers... have won the Stanley Cup.  The Lord's blessings to us are great.  While I believe that hard work and perseverance are necessary to achieve success, I also think that our opportunities, joys, and possessions are gifts from God:

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." (1 Timothy 6:17)

As the Apostle Paul says in this passage, it is important that we do not let these gifts become our sole focus.  But it is still important to be thankful to God for them.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-8) [emphasis mine]
 
Paul reminds us of this in another Bible passage, which is one of my favorite verses:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving [e.m.], present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6)

Anxiety.  This last verse brings me to another point.  Note how in the first part, Paul tells us to "not be anxious about anything."  Anxiety is an awful thing, no matter its severity.  I am sure that every single one of us has experienced the overactive heart, headaches, and the inner turmoil that come with worry.  We may have been wrongly accused of something.  Or you may be coming up to a difficult test.  Even the Lord Jesus prayed in anxiety, just before He went to the Cross to die a painful death to save us from our sins:

"He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.'  An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.  And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." (Luke 22:41-44)

It is good to express our anxieties to family and friends.  Oftentimes they will help us and offer words of comfort in times of need.  But it is also excellent to know that God is also there to be a "Listening Ear" and help us when we are worried.  "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

Strength.  Despite Jesus' prayers in Luke 22, He did end up going to the Cross.  But see how an angel came to strengthen Him.  Life demands much of us.  We have to work hard and be competent in our jobs.  Throw classes, family life, leisure, and sleep into the mix, and it can all add up to an overwhelming mess!

The Christian life is also not easy.  Please do not get me wrong here, for I personally think the Christian lifestyle is the best one.  But through it we are faced with temptations while doubt and trials beset us.  Sometimes these things occur simultaneously!

This is where God's strength comes in.  Let me return to 1 Thessalonians 5, where we are told to cling to righteousness and reject evil.  We are also to be sanctified (made holy) "through and through," and we are to be blameless.  This sounds like tough stuff!  We as fallen human beings will always fall short of God's standards put forth in the Bible.  Can we do this on our own?  Absolutely not.  But God can help.  Please, never doubt that "The one who calls you [God] is faithful, and he will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:24)  God can help us walk the Christian walk, despite its many difficulties.

Doubt.  Life is not only hard, but it is also confusing.  It throws us curveballs (I know, this is a cliched term) all the time.  We do not always know what to do.  Things are not always obvious.  Even some passages and Biblical concepts are difficult to understand and reconcile with our current mindsets.  What can we do about this?  Of course, we can pray.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." (James 1:5-8)

If we are unsure about something, let us also remember God's call in Isaiah 1:18: "Come now, let us settle the matter."  Other Bible translations have this verse as "Come now, let us reason together."  Does this sound like the words of a God that is unwilling to help those struggling with uncertainty?  Personally, I do not think so.

Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, was familiar with doubt.  After Jesus spent some time alone praying one night, He saw a boat going through stormy weather.  Peter was among those on the boat, and Jesus began to walk upon the water towards it.  At one point, Jesus asked Peter to come out onto the water.  Amazingly, Peter was then walking on water towards Jesus.  But something went wrong: "But when he [Peter] saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!'"  Note what Jesus does next: "Immediately [e.m.] Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?'"  You may read this entire story in Matthew 14:22-33.  Note how Jesus did not just let Peter sink.  He helped Peter.

Forgiveness. When we have put on Christ (Romans 6), we have access to His salvation.  Psalm 32 is all about the Old Testament King David confessing his sin to the Lord and asking for mercy.  In the New Testament, John writes the following: 

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

"And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors." (Matthew 6:12)

If we admit that we have committed sins, God is always there to forgive us when we have repentant hearts. 

We can also pray for God to forgive others.  All have sinned, and all need God's mercy (Romans 3:23).  Sometimes people hurt or disagree with us, and this can cause us to become bitter.  It can be very hard to forgive others when they do wrong, even if we are not their victims.  What is one good way to overcome this?  We can sincerely ask God to forgive them.  Jesus prayed this for His killers while He was dying on the Cross:

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

Anything at all.  It is time to wrap up this blog post.  Prayer is such a big topic!  Remember Philippians 4:6, which I quoted above?  I'll copy it again here, but with different emphasis, in order to stress the idea that we can bring anything to God in prayer.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6) [e.m.]

Now, I do not want to encourage you to pray for evil purposes.  "But Christian, you said I could pray for anything, right?"  Well, no.  God wants us to flee from evil, not be active in it.  (See Romans 6:1-2 and 1 Thessalonians 5:22)  But if you are tempted to do something wrong, you can ask God to help you choose the right path (1 Corinthians 10:13).

If you pray to God with His will in mind, I believe that He cares for you.  Do you want to pray for a new car or a good grade in school?  I think you should ask God for the wisdom, funds, or whatever else you need to make these things happen.  If God decides it is a good thing for you, I am confident He will help you with it.

But keep in mind that while God's answer may be "Yes," sometimes it is "No."  Or it may be "Not yet.  But be patient, and I will always be with you."  I believe that I have personally been given all three answers in my prayer life.  As Jesus said, "...yet not my will, but yours [God the Father] be done." (Luke 22:42)

Either way, I am thankful to have access to God's help anytime I need it.  If I am feeling lonely, stressed, or happy, I am glad that God is there to listen.  He can also be there for you, if you ask.

I'll leave you with this one last thought:

"For we do not have a High Priest [the risen Lord Jesus Christ] who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin.  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:15-6)

Christian Basar

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