Prayer or Lip Service?

Prayer is not the instrument of our regeneration. Prayer is the means by which we can obtain both temporal and spiritual blessings. God requires us to pray in order to receive His blessings. He said if my people inquire of me,

Ezekiel 36:37, “I will increase them with men like a flock.”

Hebrews 11:6, “He that cometh to God must believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

James 1:5-7, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not = (without reproach): and it shall be given. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth = (doubts) is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.”

Prayer without desire does not work. Our sense of need raises our desires and these desires are the essence of prayer. Christians must live by prayer. The things revealed in Scripture concerning Jesus goodness and glory, lay the foundation for our asking of these blessings.

Psalms 65:2, “O thou = (God) that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.”

Because prayer is a spiritual exercise, it can only be done acceptably with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:26, “The Spirit = (Holy Spirit) also helpeth our infirmities = (weaknesses): for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

Proverbs 21:27, “The prayer of the upright is His delight.”

The Holy Spirit is Jesus agent in the world of grace. Without the influence of the Holy Spirit, there is no acceptable prayer.

Zechariah 12:10, “I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace = (Holy Spirit) and of supplications (prayers:) and they = (the people) shall look upon me whom they have pierced.”

Christians must pray for these things only which are agreeable to the will of both the Father, and Son.

1 John 5:14-15, “This is the confidence that we = (Christians) have in Him = (Jesus), that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.”

Prayer Must fall within the compass or scope of the promises of God and is regulated by the revealed will of God. Therefore all prayer is to be offered for things agreeable to the will of God.

These are to be the substance and the grounds for our requests. If we make a request of God and it is not a particular promise made in Scripture, we may or may not receive it, this being relative to what God desires for us.

What God has promised, He will deliver. For all time, the promises made by God have come and will come to pass; none have ever failing.

Our confession of sin and our acknowledgment of God’s mercies are the catalyst needed for acceptable prayer.

Daniel 9:4, “I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession.”

Sin burdens us as a heavy load upon our shoulders; but confession of sin, unloads the soul. The returning prodigal son said, “Father I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight.”

When sin overtakes you, do you feel shame? When you pray, do you give glory to God for His mercy? By feeling shame for sin, the flesh is cast down. When giving glory to God, we exalt our Creator. When confession of sin is made, we admit being sinners. In petitioning for God’s kindness, support and aid, we act like dependent creatures. In thanksgiving, we act like sons and daughters.

Both Father and Son have appointed prayer and our prayers has been directed by them to be done with urgency and in faith.

Ephesians 6:18, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in Spirit,”

Our faith is to be in the belief that Jesus finished work atoned for our sins and is the cause for all blessings and gifts, and the things that satisfy our needs.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are the only agency that men must seek. This in order to receive the changes needed in our character and in the way we walk in the flesh.

So what is it that fits man for forgiveness? It is repentance and the direct influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives? This is the gift of Messiah to us.

Only through faith in the Lord Jesus, repentance, spiritual baptism and prayer, can we obtain the blessing that come from God. We cannot be independent of God and be saved. Belief on our Savior plus nothing saves. False religions teach otherwise.

Nowhere in Scripture is it stated that prayer will improve our moral state. But prayer does bring to us new supplies of spiritual life, light, and strength. Sincere prayer depends upon the grace given by the Holy Spirit.

No man seeks after God, for this reason we must first be drawn to the Son, by the Father. From this first drawing of saving grace and from this alone, the prevailing spirit and the power to pray begins.

Acts 9:11, After Saul = (Paul) was struck blind by the Lord, the Lord spoke to a man named Ananias and said, “Go into the street –for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth.”

Paul prayed, his sins being made clear to him. Made aware of his sins, Paul was made him aware of the spiritual danger awaiting him. This was accomplished through a miracle on the way to Damascus. The grace of God followed.

First God fastens the conviction of spiritual danger upon a sinners mind, as He did Paul.
That first conviction of spiritual danger is influenced by the Father’s grace. In turn, this renders the desired effect of confession, faith, and finally birth to prayer. The conviction produces the prayer.

God is the offended party: Confession of sin brings God’s grace and His gift of pardon. Our prayer’s does NOT bring about the pardon of sin, but confession of sin does. Our sense of spiritual needs is produced by a previous agency of grace, or we in our sinful condition would never pray for further spiritual needs.

The Word of God is the instrument used by God. The Scriptures contain the doctrines which the Holy Spirit first explains, then applies, this motivating us to faith and obedience and then enforces upon our desires and our conscience. Prayer brings forth these truths to us.

That which is brought by prayer to bear upon our situation is the Gospel message. When the word of God is introduced into our prayers, it now casts off the insufficient to a sufficient God.

What’s the reason for the appointment of prayer? Prayer is for the preservation of our souls. It gives to us a sincere, religiously serious and impressive sense of God’s intervention, intercession, work and dependence upon Him.

Man in his fallen state is prone to forget God. He then becomes dependent on second causes = (luck, opportunity, work,) building for themselves dependency, material goods and power.

This is a denial of the Almighty God and of the glory which He rightly claims. Denial is a destructive delusion to man. Dissent is to trust in broken straws, and attempt to drink from, “broken cisterns which hold no water.” Jer. 2:13.

Prayer would not be needed if men were pure and glorified beings and never exposed to temptation. But we are not pure and glorified, we do not pray as God would have us pray. Lip service without works; praying only for the flesh; selfish, self-centered, self-righteous prayer; never giving thanks to Him for the things He has blessed us with. Do you question why God has suspended many of His blessings upon us and this nation?

Because man is a free agent, God has absolutely predetermined some things and will never change certain principles of His administration. Yet in other areas, with respect to the government of this world, there are things that remain free and open to change. There are conditions and situations which God has hypothetically predetermined.

Prayer according to Scripture is one of these conditions. Because God has established and accepts prayer as one of the principles of His moral government, prayer will be answered in every case in which He has given us authority to ask.

Because God is wise and good, His wisdom and justice lead Him to grant unto us only that which is good for us, this without our praying. Now because Scripture encourages us to pray, God may sometimes withhold certain gifts until we ask.

This tends to encourage prayer, enhancing the knowledge and sense of our dependency upon him. But God will always do what is most consistent with his own wisdom, goodness and glory.

Those who honor the authority of Scriptures will see that praying for others rests upon the same decrees as praying for themselves. When we pray for others, our prayer may benefit them. Why?

God’s predetermined council or appointment show that one person is made dependent upon another. We have been interwoven with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We are one body in Christ. Because we believe Scripture, Christians can be encouraged by the declaration that,

James 5:16, “The effectual = (effective) fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

There are great benefits to mutual prayer. Prayer for others is based upon a lesser knowledge of what is right for them, than we have for ourselves. Therefore our petition for them must be more conditional and subjected to the principles of a God’s general administration which we do not fully understand.

Our prayer must act in harmony with the person we are praying for. The influence upon other, when they are the subject of our prayers must act in harmony with that person’s own free will, condition and capacity, for they also have a free will and their prayer may in some ways conflict with ours, or God’s plan for them.

Prayer is part of the Divine plan of God, revealed in His word. It will bring many benefits to those who pray in earnest. Prayer is given in honor of the intercession of Christ Jesus, man’s great “Advocate.” When a few, or many pray, it becomes a powerful instrument.

One of the great mysteries of prayer can be seen in the success or failure of a individual, community or nation. A nation’s blessings, and joy; or their heartaches and distress can be greatly affected by the wisdom or the errors, skill or incompetence of, or the good or bad conduct of a few. In some instances, the prayers of one person may pour out blessings from heaven upon a whole nation.

Phillip Laspino www.seekfirstwisdom.com