Lessons in
Praying
In last week¡¦s Pastor¡¦s Message, I shared with
everyone the concept of a people of prayer building a temple of prayer. Seeking
God in prayer and communicating with Him is an indispensable component of the
lives of God¡¦s children. We do not pray just because of the needs of our church
construction, or petition ardently due just to the insufficiency of funding,
although these matters are certainly of concern to us. More importantly, we
learn to worship and glorify our Heavenly Father through prayers, interceding
petitions and thanksgiving, and to magnify His Kingdom and convey His will on
earth through them. Prayers can also shorten the distance between the Lord and
us and make our relationship with Him more intimate. If the whole church prays
in harmony and concordance, it is a service that can most glorify God.
Just from the history of the Jews in exile and
captivity after the fall of their nation, we can see how prayers bring out the
wonderful work of God. Especially when men seek Him in earnest, God will
perform great works for them. When Ezra was leading the second group of exiled
Jews back to Jerusalem, they stopped on the way for 3 days next to the Ahava
Canal. Ezra proclaimed a time of fasting and prayers. Before God they joined in
humbling themselves and seeking Him. So the Lord kept them safe throughout the
journey and free from their enemies¡¦ attacks. He also moved a group of Levites
and temple servants to offer themselves willingly for God¡¦s temple, and return
with them to Jerusalem. (Ezra 8:15-23)
Nehemiah was a man diligent in his prayers.
When he reached Jerusalem, he lived there for 3 days without immediately
announcing to the people the decree of the king to repair the wall. He only
inspected the city walls secretly at night with a few compatriots. He did not
disclose to anyone what he wanted in his heart to do for Jerusalem. He just
prayed ceaselessly while formulating the plans for the repair of the walls.
Consequently when he called upon the people to rise up and build, God moved
each family and household to participate together in the repair work. (Nehemiah
2:11-18) The book of Nehemiah starts with a prayer, and ends with a prayer.
Many times it recorded the personal prayers of Nehemiah.
When Esther found out that the Jews faced the
threat of genocide, she asked Mordecai to instruct all of the Jews in the city
of Susa to fast and pray for her. She and her palace maids also prayed
insistently. Then against the rules, she went to the king to plead for her
countrymen. In the end God worked miraculously to change a crisis into a
turning point, transforming a huge catastrophe into a major blessing. These
came about because people belonging to God were able to pray zealously with one
mind when faced with conflict. So God in accordance with His faithfulness
bestowed His blessing to people, and granted His surpassing peace and grace.
After the fall of Israel and the Jews¡¦
capture, God did not refuse to listen to the people¡¦s prayers in spite of their
sins and their continuing state of discipline and punishment. Coincidentally,
because Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther all prayed and sought ardently for 3 days,
God did accede to the plea of the people to work on their behalf and manifest
His glory. Starting from April 1, the church will have a 30-day plan of prayers
and interceding petitions. The aim of this ¡§Prayer Month¡¨ is to encourage
brothers and sisters to methodically and purposefully pray to God together,
nurturing our desire to depend on the Lord, and ensuring that the foci of all our
petitions and thanksgiving converge each day. Although the church has not
arranged for everyone to come back every night to pray together, I hope that
brothers and sisters will follow the ¡§Prayer Diary¡¨ and allot at least 15
minutes per day to give thanks and pray specifically for these items. If
everyone is united in following the plan and pray without interruption, I
believe that God will work expansively to accomplish things greater than we can
envision and ask for.
We
are a royal priesthood maintaining a heavenly mission. Our job is to be an
interceding supplicant between men and God. Therefore, be faithful!
By: Daniel To