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Act of Prayer

Moderator
Staff Member
"Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens."—Lamentations 3:41.

The act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness, which is a very salutary lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us favours without constraining us to pray for them we should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities, a revelation of hidden poverty. While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness.

The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God, it lays the creature where it should be, in the very dust.

Prayer is in itself, apart from the answer which it brings, a great benefit to the Christian. As the runner gains strength for the race by daily exercise, so for the great race of life we acquire energy by the hallowed labour of prayer. Prayer plumes the wings of God's young eaglets, that they may learn to mount above the clouds. Prayer girds the loins of God's warriors, and sends them forth to combat with their sinews braced and their muscles firm. An earnest pleader cometh out of his closet, even as the sun ariseth from the chambers of the east, rejoicing like a strong man to run his race.

Prayer is that uplifted hand of Moses which routs the Amalekites more than the sword of Joshua; it is the arrow shot from the chamber of the prophet foreboding defeat to the Syrians. Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not what prayer cannot do! We thank thee, great God, for the mercy-seat, a choice proof of thy marvellous lovingkindness. Help us to use it aright throughout this day!

Charles Spurgeon
 
Loyal
Could you explain the principles to which prayer initiates cause and effect, and the mechanism(s) thereof.

Thank you.
Remember that people here are not necessarily psychologists or scientists or historians. All we claim to be is believers as you are a believer in God and His Son, Jesus.

Your question is not a simple one, but one answer to it might be simple while another answer might be very complex... if someone were able to write them out. Any believer can pray simply by talking to God. How effective the prayer is in accomplishes a person's goal depends on the person's heart and the direction the person wishes to go.

One verse reads:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:" Matt 7:7

But another reads:

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." James 4:3

I will leave this now to @Christ4Ever since it is his thread.
 
Moderator
Staff Member
Hello @jellypath
Might as well welcome you to Talk Jesus here.
Be welcomed! :)

May I assume that you are not a Christian? Possibly a seeker of truth?

Hummm.....Now on prayer.....Many people pray. They pray to many objects or deities. Whether in thought or through verbal communication. The belief is that it reaches an intended recipient who can be motivated to act upon said communication.

The mechanics as such vary. As a Christian an example would be the following prayer that pretty much speaks for itself:

"Pray, then, in this way:'Our Father who is in heaven,Hallowed be Your name. 10 'Your kingdom come.Your will be done,On earth as it is in heaven. 11 'Give us this day our daily bread. 12 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.'] Matthew 6:9

Of cause all this is predicated upon the faith and belief of the individual. Faith that God exists and belief that He is able to act upon what we're praying about.

As my dear brother said. Not a simple question. What I've written so far is but the tip of the iceberg on the subject of prayer!

With the Love of Christ Jesus.
Nick
<><
 
Moderator
Staff Member
@amadeus2 :)
Dear Brother,
I would not consider myself a prayer warrior, so your knowledge in this area would be most welcome! Rarely has it been that you have shared some insight which has not provided me much food for thought and/or growth! In this case the priority is not the author of this devotional since he has long since gone home, and as far as this being my thread....I have little pride left that would affect me negatively when it comes to helping one who is seeking. Such as jellypath, who we have here. So, as the Holy Spirit moves you my brother and as always. Let it be to the Glory of God.

With the Love of Christ Jesus.
YBIC
Nick
<><
 
Loyal
Does prayer change things? One writing of Oswald Chambers says that prayer changes us and then we change things.

And then there is this:

"... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" James 5:16

Who is a righteous man? When a righteous man prays it "availeth much", but what is that?

Can our prayers not save anyone? Our prayers do not directly save anyone, but if we are righteous, as God is righteous, in our prayers then our prayers will make a difference. They will open up doors that were closed [read 'hearts that were closed'] so that the Word of God can speak to those whose doors were closed. Still, that is not salvation. Salvation comes when something in a person blocking the way of God is overcome... when someone has repented.

In other words, the fervent righteous prayer may cause an unbeliever to hear, but it does not cause him to take the right action. The person hearing then must make up his own mind. Lots of people have heard the truth, but have been too deeply immersed in things of this world to take the next step toward God. Yes, God would help them, but we cannot force feed them and neither will God. They must ask Him for help. Our prayers may indeed cause a closed door to be opened, but the person must invite God to come in...
 
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