Men must always pray.
Lu 18: 1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
If God is omniscient, He knows everything why pray?
If God is omnipotent, he can do whatever He wants, I do not need to tell Him what to do!
Good is in control of everything, what is the need of me praying?
God has determined everything; He will go only according to His pre determined force, according to His thoughts, plans and will and is going to do what He wants anyway! If He does not change,
Why pray?
1. Without amanasking God does not do anything on this earth:
God has set this law in operation on earth!
“It seems God is limited by our prayer life – that He can do nothing for humanity unless someone asks Him.” – John Wesley
God has delegated this whole earth in the hands of man.
Why does not God do anything to undo what man may do (foolishly)?
In raising a child, there is a fear that the child may hurt himself if freedom is given to it. We may fear that the child would get spoilt in this bad world. What is the child going to do when he goes out, or when you give him money, or when you trust her! Or send them out of town! There is a big risk involved in raising children!
However tying up a child in a room in order to save it would produce the opposite effect! You would have a son for sure, but you would not have someone who can function! In order to let the son grow you have to let him go! There is great risk involved in it: we allow them and pray for them, cover them with prayer: and look forward for it to turn out well and it does! If you lock them up: they will never trust you! There will never be an exchange of love, or fellowship, or intimacy! If the world was not given into man’s hands, man would not have received such an honour the psalmist talks about:
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Ps 8:4 AV)
God trusted man by giving him the earth and believing that man would carry out His purposes on earth. God bestowed on him so much and you cannot ask Him why; he is an all-wise God! Even after the fall, God never intended to take it back! And He came in flesh, won it back from the devil- and gave it right back to us.
From now on, if anything has to be done on earth it will happen because a man asks for it!
This is the privilege of man- God will never take it away- that would change the very nature of man! HE has bestowed on man!
2. Prayer is working with God to fulfill His purposes.
We must pray because we are in partnership with God over rulership over this earth!
Consider the seeming contradictions: If God knows everything, has predetermined, is unchanging… why pray? Since we are in partnership with Him, God deems that whatever happens on earth would be as an outcome of that partnership with you! That partnership is exercised in prayer!
It is not about working for God but working with God! You are a partner. This may sound unbelievable since this is not man talking but it is God talking!
Prayer may be explain as a series of logical statements:
(a) God made man for himself because God wants to fellowship with man! Gen 1: 26
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Look at the words repeated above: that man is made in the image of God- like God. Before he made man, God had function in his mind about man- in designing man; the vital statistics were frozen by Him beginning with the purpose He had for Him! He made man in His image and likeness for the primary purpose for man is for him to be in fellowship with God!
Man is a spirit just as God is a spirit! God does not have a body but man has a body! I am a spirit living inside a body and though the window called the eye, I look at others!
Man also has a mind; able to think, determine, have a will and able to execute. He is able to think intelligently since God is able to to do it too! God is able to determine and do what he has determined! They could have fellowship and relationship only if there was parity! God would think and communicate to man and man would understand! God made man like himself- for communication on a level beyond! Man can decide and do what he wants.
(b) God created man to carry out His purposes on the earth. God’s purposes are going to be carried out by them having dominion. By man being able to exercise dominion on earth. Man has been given that ability. The mandate to exercise authority has been coupled with the endowment of ability. Man was going to exercise dominion- and one of the ways was thorough prayer.
Ps 8: 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
They were placed beneath him in pecking order. Are you plagued with feelings of inadequacy, failure, can’t-do or weak mindset? It is wrong to think that you are a worm or dust or ant! Every little and big thing is under your feet: God has made you ruler over all creation! You have to get that mindset!
Ps 115: 16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
Are you contented and looking for 3 cents of land? No! The whole earth has been given to you! God ahs decide to take care of the heavens; but the earth he has given over to you! God not only made man like himself, in the spirit and mind faculty- He gave him a body.
We grew up being taught to hate our bodies- dust to dust… the body of sin… we did not care what we ate , how much we ate… and the body responded in like fashion!
However God gave you this body! Therefore we have to treat it right! Cannot become so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good! Wanting to go to heaven! God gave you a body so you can stay on earth as long as possible and fulfil God’s purposes on this earth! You are not made for heaven but for earth! God gave you something He does not have- he is a spirit. Though you are spirit, you have a body to live on earth, instead of merely floating around! A body with the express purpose to rule over the earthly realm. A material realm for a material body. When you die you can go to heaven; you no longer need a body for heaven! In the meantime do not be in a hurry to escape! Be a godly minded person willing to do God’s purposes on God’s earth!
From Genesis to revelation there is not one indication that God wanted to rule this earth directly: He gave it to man in the beginning; man messed it up, God regained it and gave it back to man! Man to keep it and exercised dominion over it!
God made the Garden of Eden as the prototype of how He wanted things to be on earth: he wanted man to think like God and replicate it over all the earth! Expand and treat the whole earth like God would: love the earth like God. Environmental concerns are a new area of study: tracing how we could take care of this beautiful earth! If Adam would have loved the earth with the heart and mind of God, how much better this earth would have been! Maybe a 1000 times better than it is today. Man’s rulership ought to infect the earth in such a way that the whole earth would be filled with the knowledge of God! As the waters cover the sea. Man should reflect God’s character and the whole earth would be filled with the knowledge of God!
(c) That you would not be servants of God but be sons of God!
God is a father- He had a Son, who delighted in the Father and the father in the Son. God so decided to have more sons like Him; so He created Adam and mankind. The earth is a family business, run by sons and daughters. Not working for but with Him.
(d) Work with God to exercise dominion on earth!
Therefore prayer was not invent after the fall! Since man lost fellowship with God, some feel that he had to come begging and yearning for God in prayer. That is not true since prayer’s two elements are
(i) Loving fellowship and
(ii) Participate in the business of carrying our God’s purposes.
Prayer is not merely about establishing connection with God. Prayer was essentially Edenic business- where God shared His intents and desires and man went about doing them! It is a time of alignment where God’s desires motives and dreams become internalised as your own.
Prayer is not about changing God! God says- I am God and I change not!
Real Prayer if learnt, will change you! You will hear Him and learn his thoughts- your desires, motives, opinions will feelings, and love, plans and goals will become yours! When you pray you become a changed person! We ought to pray since it changes and transforms us from eng self seeking to caring about what God wants! As Adam spent time with God, God shared his thought d mind with him; the more Adam loved God the more he wanted to spend time with Him!
God called Adam over to the garden to spend time with Him!
Gen 2: 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
God started sharing with man His thoughts, his plans purposes etc Gen 3:8
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
It was God, the One who always walked in the cool of the day in order to fellowship with Adam! He wanted to be there! He is there to restore normalcy and order in our lives. Oftentimes we wonder what could be the source of the disorder and confusion in our lives and we fancy it must be God (because He is there!).However Chaos came your way because you were the policeman on the beat yet have not exercised your dominion and authority and done what you should have.
Like traffic lights operated by the traffic policeman, you have to turn on the red light and say stop! You have to turn on the amber and say get ready to go! And the green light and command the charge to move forward.
God always chose a man through history in spite of his fallen-ness, his inferiority, failure and tendency to mess things up. While they were still in their sins.
Abraham prays to God about Sodom; God also wanted to tell Abraham before doing something to Sodom.
e. The purpose and the will of God give us confidence and boldness in our prayers.
If you know exactly what God wants to be done on earth, that gives you confidence in prayer! The will of God is the centre and heart of prayer. A lot do not understand it well and mistake length of time spent is the game changer. It is good to spend a lot of time, (Jesus did). Yet it is praying what you ought to is the strength of prayer. The will of God is the focus of prayer! “My prayer- I spend four hours a day” a lot of people want to get her knees calloused- “show me your knees and I will tell you whether you are a praying man!” Football knees or praying knees? I fast many times a week!
It is knowing the will of God that is most important; fasting, prayer and long periods of time in prayer thereafter is meaningful. Premium on Your efforts is meaningless.
Some com to a meeting like this so someone could pray for them and they could get free form their labours and loads. They are busy bearing such burdensome responsibilities, ride themselves in being self made. But sweat and toil is a sign of the curse! But spending time with God and knowing God’s business and devoting oneself to it will bring success without the toil.
Are you in God’s business? If not why not? Find God’s business for you and life will become easy, exciting. Instead of trying so hard and being so busy, stop for a minute and pray! The time spent in prayer is so valuable since it demands you come in alignment with God’s purposes and plans. Away from ‘busy’ness and frenetic activity prayer plugs you into God’s way of doing things! Work becomes enjoyable, pleasure, adventure, journey, day by day engaging become you are paying attention to God’s plan for your life.
Joshua was told that this book of the law shall not depart from his mouth. This ‘success manual’! Prosperity and success is my will and desire for you. Anything prayed in prayer must be on the grounds of God’s will!
Deut 1:10 The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
11 (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!)
They were already expanded like the stars; god wanted them to make them a 1000 times more. You may want double, but He wants you to rise from your smallness and inability and become a different kind of person so you can fulfil God’s purpose on earth. So you cannot be satisfied with double because it would be enough! God wants you to expand a 1000 times so you can be a blessing to the whole earth. It is not about me! It is not about our five rupees and ten rupees or hundred rupees and doing the work of God! Even if you wrote out all that you have and out it all together, it would still not be enough for doing the will of god! That is why God wants to make you a 1000 times more! Then you will have enough!
But God was happy with the widow’s two mites? Yes God wants you to give out of your shortages so He can get His abundance into your life, so you may not die in your poverty. You may break the cycle of need and want.
But real giving is when you are bringing in so much there is no room to keep it. The people of Israel brought in gold and silver for the tabernacle in abundance, so much that that Moses had to tell them to stop!
Ex 36: 4b came every man from his work which they made;
5 And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make.
6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.
7 For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.
Today’s churches take the offertory money to the bank and they check whether it is counterfeit!
Why is it not happening in our churches today like in the OT? Because no one is preaching prosperity! When 50 lakhs of people came out of Egypt God made them rich with arrears, gratuity… these people who were slaves suddenly found themselves rich! They would call their children and let them wear a necklace or bangles or rings… what was God doing? He was letting them reprogram their minds- they were children of the most High God!
God told them to bring in gold and silver… why? Because He gave them gold and silver! Thinking God’s thoughts is not being reconciled to double or triple! It is about a thousand times! And when you reach a thousand times, it is starting from there and going another 1000 times!
It is not our needs- it s what God wants! He wants increase for you!
Ex 36 37 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
God wants the people of Israel to ask me to do this for them: what? To be increased like a flock! God wants to be asked; and He will not do it for them until they ask!
Where is it what God promised? Come on, God increase me like a flock!
But you may feel, that is wrong, how can we ask God to do it? God must just do it, why should I ask?
No! God is interested in you being the person He made you out to be: He wants you to partner with Him; that is more important to Him! Until you set your mind, you set your vision, until you make it your purpose and goal God will not do it! God has already decided: to multiply you, but it is not going to happen until I ask!
Blessing is waiting! So many people’s blessings are waiting! And super spiritual Christians say: I do not want nothing form you Lord! I just want to retire have my pension and die and go to heaven! God says: it’s all about you! But I am all about the whole earth and mankind! Think my thoughts!
Take hold of His truth, meditate on it, ask Him and then he would do it for you! Instead people cry out; lord why you don’t listen to me Lord, I m crying out, I m fasting and praying…
God waits till you wash your mouth of uncleanness, and from your mouth you say, Lord you have said this and I want this! When you talk the right words, it produces the right results!
1 kings 8: 24 Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.
25 Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.
26 And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
Solomon was in essence saying, what you told my daddy, please do it! Because god ahs exalted His word over and above everything else even His name.
John 17: 4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Jesus said to His father. I have completed all you told me, now glorify me!
Jn 4: 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
My meat is doing the will of the father! He wanted to delighted in to do what His father wanted! The food that satisfies Me. Jesus said at another place, Lord I know that you hear me every time I pray…
Many Christians pray, Lord how many times have I prayed you do not hear! Every time you pray God hears!
I jn 5: 14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
This is the confidence we have, not in our works but asking according to this will! It is whether you knew Is will and you prayed according to it! Prayer is a wonderful time of ruling and reigning with God!
God’s will is eternal; God’s purposes are eternal, they are revealed in His word! God will always do what he has said He would do! My prayer is God must do what He said he would do! I will fill my heart and my mind with what He has said with His will, His purposes with His thoughts with his feelings, his intentions, be filled with Him
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