Prayer, Our Spiritual Connection

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. (Mat 6:7)

Firstly, Jesus told us ‘when ye pray’, meaning that He expects us to pray. Prayer is the breathing out and breathing in for every child of God. Prayer keeps us from falling prey to temptation (Matt 26:41, Mark 14:38). We shouldn't be presumptuous to think that we will pray at the time of greatest need. It is a practice and way of life, ‘pray without ceasing’ is a realm that a child of God need to constantly remain (1 Th 5:17). This active spirit removes shallowness and builds depth into us and out of our depths we are able to connect with God’s depth (Psa 42:7). Too much knowledge no matter how pure and good, without praying truths into formation in us will remain at the mind to puff us up.

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; (Psa 63:1)

Even if we do pray, Jesus tells us that we can also take the same pathway as the heathen. Prayer is both seeking from God and seeking for God, sadly the latter is lacking in many Christians. The flesh and soul need to brought under the subjection and authority of the spirit in order to pray, it is an attitude that is humble enough to recognize that we do not know how to pray (Rom 8:26). The journey of prayer cannot be taught, but layered by experience. It is a relationship and spiritual connection with the Father. God is spirit; any relating to the Father in prayer has zero elements of flesh and soul. It is not about our concern, it is about His will. The Father has sovereignly given us the privilege to pray His will to be accomplished on earth as it is in Heaven.

What if we say ‘God already knows, why pray?’ Nobody will and can thwart His plans, it is in prayer that we are included into that which He has purposed. If we don’t pray, He will raise others and we can be forfeited of the joy of that inclusion.

How to Forgive

Corrie Ten Boom

Hating Evil

The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. (Pro 8:13)

There are people who do not like the ‘fear of the LORD’ which can have narrow and negative view. It has sometimes been equated to a God full of wrath and looking for every opportunity to cause hurt.  Yet the Word is full of examples of God’s wrath only after He has sent prophets, multiple warnings and with long enduring patience and mercy. The fear of the LORD is not a ‘distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc’, but it calls for moral reverence of He Who upholds morality and is holy, separated or none in close comparison to.  The truth is the fear of the LORD tends to life and those who have this live lives that are fulfilled and contented (Pro 19:23).

Without the fear of the LORD we can end up with an attitude of constantly doing what is right in our own eyes, in the process condemning others. The person can end up going around with a judgmental spirit and passing personal judgment on others, picking the speck out of people’s eyes. The saddest part is that that person will not be able to see their own true inward condition. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Proud and arrogant people rebel against the yoke or cross of Jesus and failed to learn of Christ meekness and humility.

When confronted with the issue of fearing God, our heart will be brought to light. What spews out of our mouths will reflect the heart. It is not a wonder that the proud and arrogant is connected to a forward mouth. Fearing God is not a bad thing, it keeps us in check by what proceeds from our speech shows our heart. ‘…..That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment’ (Matt 12:36). The Proverb has provided the definition of the evil the Lord hates; it is Godly wisdom to take heed.

Death Blow to Personal Depravity

He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. (Mic 7:19)

Jesus told the parable of wedding feast and the end was a startling remark, ‘For many are called, but few are chosen’ (Matt 22:14). The grace of God extents to all and sundry, the first respond is faith to believe that the Father has sent the Son to save us from sin. The second respond is our responsibility to deal with sin (2 Cor 7:1), as much as faith without actions is dead.

Iniquity is the depravity of human rebellion against God, rejecting His will and living for our own desire. It is only God Who can put the death blow to our personal depravity and cast it into the sea, never to surface again. Faith is not trying not to sin, but believing that we have been endowed with Christ’s life that we don’t have to sin. It is also to believe that sin no longer has dominion over us (Rom 6:14). He will indeed again have compassion on us; it is whether we are willing to let Him do His sovereign work. When Jesus told the woman taken in adultery to ‘go, and sin no more’, it is not a futile suggestion but a command. The same authoritative speaking that commanded ‘Let there be light: and there was light’ (Gen 1:3).