EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!
SATURDAY AUGUST 14, 2021.
SUBJECT: GOD DEMANDS A LIFE OF PRAYER FROM US!
Memory verse: "Pray without ceasing,” (First Thessalonians 5 vs 18).
READ: Luke 18 vs 1 - 8:
18:1: Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,
18:2: saying, “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
18:3: Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’
18:4: And he would not for a while; but afterword he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,
18:5: yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”
18:6: Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.
18:7: And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?
18:8: I tell you that He will avenge them speedily, Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
INTIMATION:
Prayer is to make supplication or petition to God. Prayer is a call to the Father to visit with Him. It is the call of love to the Father to come and fellowship with Him. Prayer is our need crying out for help. It is the voice of faith to the Father. Prayer therefore, is born out of the sense of need, and the assurance that the need will be met. It is facing God with man's needs, with His promise to meet those needs. He taught us to pray, He is one with us in this prayer life, and hence it is part of His program for us.
Most Christians have realized the fact that the Father's heart is hungry for the companionship of His children. His heart hunger is the reason for man and his redemption. God wants a constant fellowship with His children. It was His plan from the beginning hence He visited Adam everyday in the Garden. He loves us and that love impels Him to call us to prayer.
It is God's Will that His children will come to His Throne Room, to stand in His presence without reproof or condemnation. It is for this reason that Jesus Christ, while teaching His disciples how to pray, said, "When you pray" (Matthew 6 vs 5), and not "if you pray." It is God's intention that His sons will visit their Father, the children coming joyously into the presence of their Loving Parent, and are welcome.
In the passage we read today, Jesus said, "Men ought always to pray and not faint."
To persist in prayer and not give up or “praying without ceasing,” does not mean endless repetition or painfully long prayer sessions. Always praying means keeping our requests constantly before God as we live for Him day by day, believing He will answer. When we live by faith, we are not to give up. God may delay answering, but His delays have good reasons. As we persist in prayer we grow in character, faith, and hope.
In prayer we are brought near enough to breathe in the Father’s very presence, coming boldly into the throne room and are standing in His presence. It is going into the presence of the Father and Jesus who seats at the right hand of the Father, engaging the ‘Father and the Son’ in an executive meeting, laying our needs before them and making our requisitions for ability, for grace, to meet our needs. Whatever the needs may be, we are making a demand upon Them.
When we pray always, we are in constant communication with the Father and it enriches us spiritually. We touch the Father through our prayers, and there cannot be any touching of the Master without the Master knowing it. When our need touches Him, it makes a demand upon his ability to meet that need. For instance, one day when the crowd was pressing around the Master, Jesus said, "Who touched Me?" And they said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, "Who touched Me?" But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me." (Luke 8 vs 45 - 47.)
Touching the Master is making a demand from Him. The woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, touched Him, making a demand upon His ability to meet her need, and the Master knew it, and she got her need met; she was healed of the disease (See Luke 8 vs 40 - 48).
Prayer: Abba Father, You are my Loving and Caring Father, always available to hear my prayer, and attend to my needs. I will ever put my complete trust in You, for I know that with You nothing is impossible, and there is nothing too hard for You. Engrace me to ceaselessly commune with You in prayer, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.
PRAISE THE LORD.
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