Prayer

Scripture

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

~I John 5:14, NASB20

Quote

We can do nothing without prayer. All things can be done by importunate {persistent} prayer. It surmounts or removes all obstacles, overcomes every resisting force and gains its ends in the face of invincible hindrances.

~ E.M. Bounds

When I think about the laws of prayer, I picture a baseball diamond…

The intercessor is standing on home plate. There are two foul lines, one going left and one going right. The two foul lines in prayer are PRAY IN HIS WILL…PRAY IN FAITH… So the two foul lines are Mark 11:24, I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours,” and I John 5:14, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” Any petition outside those two lines are foul. I think we all struggle with the issue of unanswered prayer. We asks God for something specific and He gives us the opposite. It reminds me of the prayer of the unknown solider…

Prayer of the Unknown Soldier: I asked God for strength that I might achieve. I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

When our prayers go unanswered, we begin to doubt. As soon as we doubt, the devil begins to pile on and he bombards us with one lie after the other…I told you God would not answer your prayers…you are wasting valuable time praying…it is ineffective and worthless…you have far better things to do than pray…you have been asking for the same thing for five years and it has not happened, so why don’t you throw in the towel…etc. He comes up with a new line everyday. So what are we to do? We keep praying. The law of prayer is to ask so we keep on asking. Are my personal request selfish? As far as I can tell, every single thing I am asking for benefits me one way or the other. What about praying for Missionaries and the Military? Let me ask you a question: where would we be without the military and where would our world be without missionaries. If God blesses them, He blesses me. Hey, I will be honest, I don’t always know my motives and I am sure that I pray amidst {foul} at times. James said, And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. But what if God’s pleasure is my pleasure? Does getting the gospel to the world please the Father; it sure thrills me.

So the devil can question my motives all he wants–I will keep praying. My part is to ask–God’s part is to answer. When He doesn’t answer, I assume He has something better in mind or that what I ask for is not in the best interest of His kingdom or others.

Extra

My two computer system may not be working as well as I thought: I posted in the house this morning at 5:45 but when I got the office, the Apple indicated that I had not posted so here goes…you may get this one twice.

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