Mentoring Men for the Master

WHAT MOVES US TO MAKE PRAYER THE PRIORITY OF OUR LIVES

Prayer should be the #1 priority of every Christian, but it is not with most Christians.  What, then, moves a Christian to make prayer the priority of his or her life?  I believe there are seven compelling  movers to pray:

  1. The Realization of the Greatness of God – His total sufficiency to meet every human need.
  2. W. Tozer said, “What we believe about God is the most important thing about us.” Certainly when it comes to prayer, the concept we have of God determines our praying. Our belief or lack of it translates into our attitudes and actions concerning prayer.  Corrie Ten Boom said, “The size of our prayers is determined by the size of our God.”  If our God is big, our prayers will be big, but if our God is little, our prayers will be little and anemic.  Illus:  Rabbi Kushner wrote a best seller, Why Bad Things Happen to Good People, in which he says God wants to answer all our prayers and meet every need, but He is not able to do so under many circumstances.  How much praying do you think people will do who believe in such a limited God?
  • Illus: Many times as I have struggled in prayer I have found it very helpful to review in my mind the greatness of God (His total sufficiency under all circumstances) by recalling His Names in the Old Testament:
  1. Jehovah Roi– “The God who sees” (Gen 16:13)
  2. Jehovah Ropha – “The God who heals” (Exodus 15:26)
  3. El Elyon – “The most high”  (Gen. 14:22).  Notice its use in connection with  Lucifer’s desire to be like the Most High (Is. 14:14)
  1. El Olam – “The everlasting God” (Gen. 21:33). Notice this use in connection  with God’s inexhaustible strength (Is. 40:28).
  1. El Shaddai – “The Almighty God”  (Gen 17:1).  This probably derives from a  related word which means “mountain” and pictures God as the overpowering   almighty one standing on a mountain.  The name is often used in connection   with the chastening of God’s people, as in Ruth 1:20-21 and the thirty-one       times it is used in the book of Job.
  1. Jehovah Jireh – The Lord provides (Gen 22:14). This is the only occurence.  After the angel of the Lord pointed to a ram as a substitute for Isaac, Abraham named the place, “the Lord provides.”
  1. Jehovah Nissi– The Lord is my Banner (Ex. 17:15). Similarly, after the defeat of the Amalekites, Moses erected an altar and called it Yahweh Nissi.  Actually this and the other compounds are not really names of God, but designations that grew out of commemorative events.
  2. Jehovah Shalom – The Lord is peace (Judges 6:24).
  3. Jehovah Sabbaoth – “The Lord of hosts” (I Sam 1:3) The hosts are the angels of heaven which are ready to obey the Lord’s commands.  This title was often used by the prophets (Isaiah and Jeremiah) during times of national distress to remind the people that Yahweh was still their Protector.
  4. Jehovah Maccaddeshcem – The Lord thy Sanctifier (Ex. 31:13).
  5. Jehovah Raah – “The Lord….my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1).
  6. Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord our Righteousness (Jer. 23:6). This title was a direct thrust against King Zedekiah (which means Yahweh is righteousness) who was a completely unrighteous king (2 Ch. 36:12-13).
  7. Jehovah Shammah – “The Lord is there” (Eze. 48:35).
  8. Jehovah Elohim Israel – “The Lord God of Israel” (Judges 5:3). This is a designation frequently used by the prophets (Is. 17:6), similar to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
  9. Qadosh Israel – “The Holy One of Israel” (Is. 1:4).

 

  • The “Great I Am’s” Concerning Jesus in the Gospel of John:

 

(a)   John 6:35 – I am the bread of life

(b)   John 8:12 – I am the light of the world

(c)   John 10:9 – I am the door

(d)  John 10:11 – I am the good shepherd

(e)   John 11:25 – I am the resurrection and the life

(f)   John 14:6 – I am the way, the truth, and the life

(g)  John 15:1 – I am the vine

 

Prayer hinges on the confidence we have to whom we are praying, and that confidence is directly proportional to the greatness of God spelled out in His name.

 

  1. The Recognition of the Greatness of our Needs – Our  total insufficiency in  meeting them.  Most people recognize at least some of their needs, and they think they have the ability to meet them, or some other human being can meet them.  This explains why very few people, including most professing Christians, make prayer the number 1 priority in their lives.  Thus the problem is pride (hubris), which Augustine called “the mother of all sins.”  The constitution of the Kingdom of God is the beatitudes, and the first beatitude states that entrance into the Kingdom of God is only for “the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3).  The Greek had two words for “poor.”  One was penes, which means “needy.”  The other was ptochos, which meant “total bankruptcy.” Such poverty is the door way into the Kingdom or salvation, and it is also the key to effective prayer.  That is why “humility” must precede prayer if we expect our prayers to be effective.  “If my people…will humble themselves first and then pray…then will I hear from heaven…” (2 Chron. 7:14).

 

  1. The Experience of Answered Prayer. If one has experienced answered prayer, he will be moved to keep on praying because he knows prayer works.  Statistics reveal that many who people once prayed quit because they said their prayers were not answered.  Most of the latter were unbelievers, prayed unanswerable prayers, the timing was wrong, or they just quit praying before God chose to answer.  The word of Jesus to Jarius and others was “Keep on Believing.”  I prayed for 33 years before my father-in-law was saved.  Don’t quit praying if your prayers have not been answered.  Find out why, make corrections, and see your prayers answered.  Answered prayers of the past will move your heart to pray in the present.
  2. The sheer joy of communicating with the Heavenly Father or coming into His presence.

“The joy of the Lord is our strength” (Neh. 8:10).  There is no greater joy than being in the presence of God through prayer.  “In thy presence is fullness of joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).  Those who experience this joy, even once, will be moved to experience it often.  Such was David’s highest desire. “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple” Psalm 27:4).  .

  1. The Compelling Example of God’s Love Demonstrated at Calvary. “What shall we then       say to these things.  He who spared not His Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He  not  by Him give us all things” (Romans 8:31-32).  The logic of those verses is irresistible:    An all   loving God, who has already given His very best, will not refuse to give us lesser  things, provided we  ask in prayer.

 

  1. The Intercession of the Holy Spirit to make up for our ignorance of God’s perfect will when we pray (Romans 8:26).  This shows how very important it is for us to be surrendered (filled  or controlled) to the Holy Spirit.  Thus God commands every believer not to grieve the Holy Spirit  by sinning (Ephesians 4:30) nor quench (1 Thess. 5:19) Him (refuse to obey His  leading, lest He become somewhat “dysfunctional” and cease His intercession for us.  One could meet all six requirements discussed above, but to make prayer a priority he would    need one more thing:
  1. Faith Strong Enough to Trust God to Meet Our Needs. How do we get such faith?  The Bible says real faith comes from hearing the Word of God.  What does it mean to hear?  To hear not just with our ears but to hear in our heart and souls with a desire to obey what we hear.  Samuel cried out to God, “Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth.”  Samuel was not just pledging to God that he would hear sounds and words but that he would hear God’s message so he would know and obey that message.  Millions sit in churches every Sunday and hear good messages and are never changed.  Some hear and are radically changed.  PTL. 

But how can we hear the Word so that it will produce a trusting or surrendering faith?  By just  reading the Word?  No.  By just studying the Word? No. By hearing the Word taught or preached? No.  By teaching and preaching ourselves?  No.

  1. We must know the Word in our head by diligent study.
  2. We must stow the Word in our heart by memorization and meditation.
  3. We must show the Word of God by obeying its teaching.
  4. We must sow the Word of God by our witnesses.

This is what we call “Internalizing the Word of God.”

So let us now “Internalize” some key verses on prayer:

  1. Hebrews 11:6
  2. Mark 11:24
  3. Jeremiah 33:3
  4. Matthew 21:22

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