Saturday, May 1, 2010

More Info On PRAYER

In the book of James, chapter five, verse sixteen, we find these interesting words.

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
ヤコブの手紙 / 5章 16節
だから、主にいやしていただくために、罪を告白し合い、
互いのために祈りなさい。正しい人の祈りは、
大きな力があり、効果をもたらします。

Are your prayers powerful and effective? Does it have to do with HOW we pray or WHAT we pray or even in WHICH WAY we pray?

If you are lead to pray for something, anything, know that 'God would not burden your heart, God would not make you hungry, lead you out, lead you to wrestle, to agonize, to fast and pray UNLESS He meant to answer.' W.J. Harney said that in the early 20th century. I would agree 100%.

But it is hard.

Hard because prayer takes time and it takes faith and it just takes a lot out of us. Those of us to pray often, I would wager, have asked God for a number of 'things' and on the behalf of certain friends and family members, it takes sticking to the prayers. And nothing might happened.

So what! We were lead to pray for them and that burden was given to us by the Father Himself. Why? So that the situation would bring glory to His Name. Not so that we would need to see the answer.

That might sound harsh but I believe it with all my heart. There are people I have been praying for (that has been on my prayer list) for a LONG long time. Up to about 25 years or longer. I may never see the answer but I will keep on praying for them. Because I pray for them, the Lord is able to work in their lives. Not because of my prayers but because I am obedient to His calling me to pray for them.

Here is something to think about: If you are in a hurry to pray, better postpone your prayer time. You can not get the mind of God when you are constantly looking at the clock or checking email. Believe me. It does take time to pray. Take the time.

Oswald J. Smith, a Canadian pastor, who served in the famous People's Church in Toronto (he died in 1986) wrote the following:
Oh, how few find time for prayer! There is time for everything else--time to sleep and time to eat, time to read the newspaper and the novel, time to visit friends, time for everything else under the sun, but no time for prayer, the most important of all things, the one great essential.

So, take time to pray today.