Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Hi all,
Today’s meditation touches on prayer. I trust you are
one of the three per cent minority who not only believes in prayer but also
actually prays. If so, you have my admiration. From personal experience, the
statistic that only three per cent of the Christians ever turn up for prayer
meetings seems to be about correct. The statistics will only change when we do!
Blessings,
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
|
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 13 November 2012
|
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
||||
|
©
|
These
devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright
protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it
is for non-commercial Christian purposes
|
©
|
||||
|
INTRODUCTION
|
DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
|
IN
JESUS’ NAME
|
||||
|
I’ve
heard it said that for some considerable time, theologians argued about how
many angels could stand on the head of a pin. All these years later I can
give the answer. “All of them, one at a time”. It’s this type of frivolous discussion
that have caused us to overlook the obvious. As one man said, “we have
majored on minors and minored on majors for so long, we no longer know what
is major and what is minor”. Of course theology lends itself to such
discussions. We tend to love circular arguments. A bit like a merry-go-round,
there is no starting or stopping point. Everything is random. Get on and get
off where you can.
Sadly,
prayer appears to have taken on a frivolity that is difficult to understand.
Perhaps it is because prayer has become the “lost art” of Christianity, it is
regarded by many as being frivolous. Many years ago I was informed that only
3% of Christians ever pray; other than at the specified points in the prayer
book. I can’t confirm this to be the case. What I can say is that if
attendance at church prayer meetings is anything to go by, the statistic is
not far from being accurate. Why is this? God’s Word encourages all of us to
pray. Why don’t we do so? I rather suspect that it is brought about by our
own experience of lack of answers to prayer.
Now
if you are one of those blessed Christians who spends hours in prayer and is
familiar with regular and appropriate answers, these comments are not
intended or directed at you in any way. But if you are among those lesser
mortals who finds prayer is like trying to swim in treacle, these words are
primarily for you. I won’t tell you my exact position other than hinting that
I’m a bit weary of the taste of treacle! Yuk!
One
thing I must state immediately is that a lack of answers to prayer cannot be
laid at the door of the Lord. It’s never Him. It’s invariably me – or you if
the cap fits. In this regard, Jesus has given us promises that are
overwhelmingly encouraging. In John 14 is recorded 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13 ESV Looking at this quote,
it occurs to me we do lots of asking in His Name, but not so that God will be
glorified. For most it’s to impress others with our “spirituality”. If I’ve
touched a nerve, sorry. Remember that every word I write is directed at me as
much as anyone.
President
Harry S Truman had a sign on his desk saying, “The
buck stops here”. As far as America was concerned, during his
presidency, it was true. Where should we place that sign? Not at Jesus door.
With unanswered prayer, the truth is “the buck stops with me”. If it doesn’t
happen, blame your friend you see every time you look in the mirror. One day
we’ll pray in Jesus Name for the right reasons, What then?
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
|
18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to
the Father.
Ephesians 2:18 ESV
23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly
one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even
as you loved me.
John 17:23 ESV
13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he
dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14:13-17 ESV
4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have
been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and
living through all.
Ephesians 4:4-6 NLT
2 And
He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father,
who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as in Heaven, so also on the earth.
Luke 11:2 MKJV
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter
the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us
through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we
have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:19-22 ESV
|
Whatever I ask in Your Name, You’ve
said that You will do.
But from my observation, it seems to
be untrue.
It’s not an accusation. I know there’s
something wrong.
It’s not the sort of thing You’d say,
to any who belong,
To those whom You have rescued. So
what is it I’ve missed?
I can’t demand an answer. And I cannot
insist,
The One who made creation, would give
the reason why,
Our prayers remain unanswered no
matter how we try?
But if there’s no objection, You won’t
mind if I guess,
And try and find the reasons why You
do not answer “Yes”?
I think part of the problem is I
concentrate on me.
Prayer for other people is a vast
minority.
We are not important to anyone but
You,
And since our prayers for others are
very, very few,
I think they’ve been discarded or put
in file thirteen,
Which then is only opened for the annual
spring clean.
Perhaps there is a special bin for all
of the junk mail.
The prayers which are so selfish, they
surely have to fail.
Others so religious, that they do not
arrive.
Instead, they are diverted to some
heavenly archive.
Perhaps those You will answer are
placed into a queue
Marked, “When I get around to it; for
anytime will do”.
And Lord could there be something
about us trapped in time?
Because You are eternal and totally
Divine,
What we prayed for yesterday, will
take a thousand years,
Before it ever gets to You or falls
upon Your ears.
Then there is the motive hidden deep
inside our hearts.
Is there an agenda which wants us to
look smart;
Impressing all the people with a
clever turn of phrase,
Belying how You see us and our
disgusting ways?
O Lord, all this is frivolous. I know
the problem’s me.
It isn’t up in heaven. The truth is
that You see
Everything I’m doing and hear my every
word.
To think You are delaying it is
totally absurd.
So let us concentrate upon the idols
in our heart.
Only when we deal with them, will all
Your blessings start,
To come upon the people, who pray in
Jesus Name.
Because, without sincerity, all prayer
is just a game.
Jim Strickland
Written
13th November 2012
|
||||
