The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Revelation 8:4
Prayer is more than just an exercise or a discipline. It is an act of love poured out to God. Prayer is the pouring forth of a believer's innermost desires, concerns, failures, fears, and thoughts to the one he loves the most. Prayer is the most intimate thing we can do. It is expressing our very soul to God.
There are different types of prayers. There is a place for public prayer. This is almost like a married couple holding hands in public. A couple may even sneak a kiss in public but most of their intimate times are behind closed doors. This does not only include physical intimacy but they save their most private thoughts for when they are alone. Prayer is much the same way. A believer who is madly in love with the Lord will have times when he wants to be completely alone with God to share his most intimate praise, worship, and request. This is what Jesus meant by the "prayer closet."
Prayer is holy. It means much more to God when the person doing the praying has kept himself clean from a sinful lifestyle and done his best to be faithful to God. No married woman would be comfortable with a spouse who flirts with other women all day and comes home to tell her how beautiful she is at night. The words would sound meaningless because he has said them to others. She will feel as if she is just someone else for him to flirt with. It is the same with God and prayer. He does not want our second best. If we participate in things that are clearly against his word our prayers will be lifeless at best and hypocritical at worst.
A husband and wife can each tell when the other is holding back something. My wife knows when I am talking to her but my mind or heart is elsewhere. Life is busy but I must always make time to give her my undivided attention. My prayer life with God should be no less important. When I am surrendered to God my prayers are more energetic and powerful; they have much more meaning.
Jesus Christ excelled in prayer because he was both Holy and completely surrendered to the Father. Full surrender opens the door to powerful prayer. God is only impressed when he knows we are holding nothing back from him. Anyone can memorize prayers and learn to pray beautiful orations in public. Only a person who is truly in love with God will pray prayers that shake the spiritual world and change heaven and earth. If I am tempted to participate in something I know is wrong I must remind myself of this. I can not afford to allow anything into my home or life that would make my prayer less powerful.
There are far too few believers who are praying and our world is depending on us. Won't you join me in making a commitment, not just to prayer, but to Holy prayer? It is worth the price!
Prayerfully Yours
Sullivan Jones
Prayer is more than just an exercise or a discipline. It is an act of love poured out to God. Prayer is the pouring forth of a believer's innermost desires, concerns, failures, fears, and thoughts to the one he loves the most. Prayer is the most intimate thing we can do. It is expressing our very soul to God.
There are different types of prayers. There is a place for public prayer. This is almost like a married couple holding hands in public. A couple may even sneak a kiss in public but most of their intimate times are behind closed doors. This does not only include physical intimacy but they save their most private thoughts for when they are alone. Prayer is much the same way. A believer who is madly in love with the Lord will have times when he wants to be completely alone with God to share his most intimate praise, worship, and request. This is what Jesus meant by the "prayer closet."
Prayer is holy. It means much more to God when the person doing the praying has kept himself clean from a sinful lifestyle and done his best to be faithful to God. No married woman would be comfortable with a spouse who flirts with other women all day and comes home to tell her how beautiful she is at night. The words would sound meaningless because he has said them to others. She will feel as if she is just someone else for him to flirt with. It is the same with God and prayer. He does not want our second best. If we participate in things that are clearly against his word our prayers will be lifeless at best and hypocritical at worst.
A husband and wife can each tell when the other is holding back something. My wife knows when I am talking to her but my mind or heart is elsewhere. Life is busy but I must always make time to give her my undivided attention. My prayer life with God should be no less important. When I am surrendered to God my prayers are more energetic and powerful; they have much more meaning.
Jesus Christ excelled in prayer because he was both Holy and completely surrendered to the Father. Full surrender opens the door to powerful prayer. God is only impressed when he knows we are holding nothing back from him. Anyone can memorize prayers and learn to pray beautiful orations in public. Only a person who is truly in love with God will pray prayers that shake the spiritual world and change heaven and earth. If I am tempted to participate in something I know is wrong I must remind myself of this. I can not afford to allow anything into my home or life that would make my prayer less powerful.
There are far too few believers who are praying and our world is depending on us. Won't you join me in making a commitment, not just to prayer, but to Holy prayer? It is worth the price!
Prayerfully Yours
Sullivan Jones
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