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Praise
waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the
vow be performed. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee
shall all flesh come. (Psalm 65:1-2).
For since the
beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by
the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what
he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him [ The
Septuagint version says, "thy works which thou will perform
to them that wait for mercy." ]. (Isaiah 64:4).
But without
faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6).
Our Greatest Weapon
In general terms,
there is a great lack of real praying today; I say that
because we fail to see the fruits (the results) of it in
individual lives, and then collectively as the church.
References to prayer are found in the Word of God hundreds
of times, and I believe God has something to say about
prayer. It is instilled throughout the Word of God, from one
end of the Book to the other.
Prayer is certainly a
great necessity; it is our greatest weapon, and the enemy
does not want us to use it. The older brethren used to say,
"Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his
knees." and it is still true. We can put forth great efforts
(and certainly the enemy is working a work by moving on the
minds of God's people to promote greater programs), but if
we fail to pray, it all amounts to nothing.
Nowhere in the Bible
did Jesus ever teach anybody to preach, but He did teach us
to pray. Without real prayer, there cannot be any real
preaching, and through real prayer, somebody who cannot
preach, can preach when God deems it that way.
I am trusting that as
we study God's Word, the Holy Spirit will stir us. One of
the ways of getting our spirit stirred, is through the
teaching of God's Word. If we look into it honestly, really
seeking, our spirit will be stirred, and it will do
something for us.
The verses of
Scripture that we read in the book of Psalms and also in
Paul's writings to the Hebrews let us know that God hears
and answers prayer.
I believe there are
greater things in store than our eyes have ever beheld. I
believe that with just a little greater waiting before God
in prayer, we can see God work the works that need to be
worked, and greater works. Jesus promised before He went
away that when the Holy Spirit came into our lives, we would
work greater works than He worked.
The Scriptures plainly
teach us that the greater works are the spiritual works that
He could not do. He preached and gained one hundred twenty
disciples; but when the Holy Spirit came and fell on all
flesh, a greater work was done, and has been done, than
Jesus Himself could do when He walked here on the earth.
Friend, I am not talking about fantasies *S*, I am talking
about realities.
Diligent Seeking
Paul said that God is
a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. The enemy is
working as never before through the very power of unbelief.
If he can get us to doubt one part of God's Word as being
true, he has done a terrible work on us. It is a fact that
God is a rewarder of everyone that diligently seeks Him.
Nevertheless, we have to go to God, who sees in secret, and
pray in secret, and He will reward you openly.
If there is anything
we need as the church, it is some more open rewards. Thank
God for everything that has happened and is happening, and
for every bit of reward; God has rewarded us in a great way,
but there can be greater open rewards. When God openly
rewards you, you will begin to lift Him up, and the world
will begin to see that God is blessing you as an individual;
then the church will be lifted to the place of being a city
set on a hill which cannot be hid.
The truth that shines
forth in Hebrews 11:6 is that reward comes to diligent
seekers. That Scripture is very plain, but sad to say, the
unbelieveing world believes it more than most Christians do.
Look at the very scheme of the universe: diligent seeking is
the thing that has caused us to make such progress in
scientific field and other lines in the last fifty years.
Scientist believe that
if they search, they will be rewarded; so there are
scientists who are searching round the clock, and they are
being rewarded every day. If we could get the Church seeking
on spiritual lines as diligent as scientists do in nature,
we could be much further up the road as the church. While
science has taken us way ahead the last fifty years, the
church has gone in reverse the last fifty years.
Why are we not getting
more from God? Why is there not greater reward? There is not
enough diligent seeking. What if every scientist would quit
studying and researching, and would just sit around and take
the attitude that many Christians take, such as, "If God
wants us to have it, He will send it." That is not the law:
you only get rewarded if you diligently seek. The scientists
have learned that, and even men who do not believe in God
put this principle into practice. They dig into what they
term "the laws of nature." Many of them do not want to
acknowledge that it is God; but they can call it whatever
they want, it is still God.
Oh, how scientists
search and search, and the first thing you know, they find
something. How did they find it? They were rewarded for
diligently seeking. Brother, there is a God who is a just
God that rules this whole world. It makes no difference
whether you are delving into natural or spiritual things, if
you are diligent in your seeking, you will be rewarded.
God Is True to His
Word
It is God's desire
that you and I dig. When Israel was in bad shape and the
prophet did not know what was going on. God took him in a
vision to the house and a hole in the wall. Then God said,
"Son of man, dig;" when he dug, a door opened up and he
opened the door and went in. It was a vision of God opening
up to him and showing him what was going on in the hearts of
His people; but the prophet had to dig.
There are too many
lazy preachers today who are not willing to dig into the
Word of God and seek dilignetly. Also, it come right down to
the laity who are not diligent enough seeking God in prayer.
God can show us things that eyes have never seen and ears
have never heard. We are dealing with a limitless God. He is
unlimited; He can do anything, and He will do anything to
awaken a lost would before the end, but His instruments
through which He works are you and me.
Men in science are in
daily pursuit of abstract knowledge through constant
seeking. They find something every little bit, and you read
about it: they were rewarded for their diligent efforts.
Just as God rewards
the diligent seeker in one are of life, He rewards us in the
other. How much more can we find in the realms of prayer if
God will reward men who do not even have respect for Him and
who do not eve believe He exists, yet He is true to His
Word! When they diligently seek, He rewards them. He will
reward us much more when we believe that God is real, and if
we pray and really seek Him in a diligent manner.
In the day and time in
which we live, prayer has become an unreasonable thing in
too many cases, but I want you to see that it is very
reasonable to pray. We are in a day when so many people are
struggling with the thought of finding time to pray and
really praying.
Throughout the Bible
and through all ages, prayer has recommended itself to the
human mind. As an illustration, when an individual's car
rolls ove and ignites, he may never have gone to church in
his life, but he will start praying then.
The Word of God, as
well as history, bears this to be true even in religion wuch
as Buddhism. The Buddhists deny the existence of a true God
distinct from nature; but even though they do not believe
there is a true God distinct from nature, in the last few
years, prayer has forced itself into Buddhism and Buddhists
pray. They do not pray to a living God, but they pray. I
want you to see that it is a human instinct right within man
that he should pray.
Our Scripture text
says, "Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion..." (Psalm
65:1). Sion is the church, and if we rightly divide this
Word of truth, in reading the other Psalms surrounding this
on, we find that God has been telling them how He was going
to deliver Jerusalem once and for all. He was going to send
a deliverer, Jesus Christ, and He would deliver them from
sin.
In essence, the
Psalmist was saying, "Praise is waiting on you. We believe
that you are going to do it, and we are waiting to praise
you for it." This is real faith; those words were spoken
hundreds of years before it happened. God prophesied that He
was going to deliver His people from their sins, and the
Psalmist said, "Praise waiteth for thee." Then he said,
"...unto thee shall the vow be performed. O thou that
hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come" (verses
1-2).
Partakers of God's
Divine Nature
When a situation
really gets troubled enough, it is a natural instinct for
men to pray. However, beyond the natural instinct, there is
a supernatural instince put in every born again person which
causes a deep-burning desire to pray. It is a work of the
Holy Spirit within. A child of God prays because he wants to
pray.
Old things have passed
away, and one of the old thing that passed away was the
prayerlessness and unconcern for God that you used to have.
Brother, when you are born again, you are a new creature and
you get a great concern for God. You did not use to be a
praying individual, but now you become a praying man or
woman. You can become careless in your prayer life, but if
the word comes that your child, father, mother, or husband
or wife has cancer, you will begin to vow your prayer more
than you had before.
Let us read Romans
8:15, to see how this supernatural instinct comes into us.
Paul said, "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage
again to fear; but yehave received the Spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Abba is the Chaldee for
Father, So when you receive the Spirit of adoption, you just
begin crying, "Father, Father."
For the benefit of
those who may not understand this Scripture, I will clarify
it. Paul said that you receive the Spirit of adoption. When
you adopt somebody else's child, you go through legal
procedures and officially file the proper papers, and then
the child legally belongs to you; but no matter how much he
belongs to you legally, he will still have the attributes,
actions, and looks of his natural parents.
By contrast, when God
takes us into His family, thank God, He does not make out
papers and bring us in legally and ceremonially, but He
actually give us the Spirit of adoption. When we receive the
Spirit of adoption, we look like our Gathe, and we become
partakers of God's divine nature. We act like our Father,
and we know who He is. As soon as we become filled with His
Spirit, we begin crying, "Abba, Father."
Verses 16-17 read,
"The Spirit [the Holy Spirit] itself beareth witness with
our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with
Christ..." When we are made to realize that we are truly
sons of God and joint heirs withChrist, the very Spirit of
God will bear witness with our spirit.
Perhaps Paul made that
plainer in Galatians 4:6, when he said, "And because ye are
sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hears [and that Spirit is], crying, Abba, Father." Here, my
friend, we are changed idividuals, and God has sent the
Spirit of His Son. What does the Spirit of His Son do? It
will cause us to pray just like Jesus prayed.
God's Storehouses
God has given us
exceedingly great and precious promises. NOne of those
promises were ours. We were all Gentiles without promise and
withou hoe, but thank God, through the Spirit of adoption we
have been made children of God. As a result, all these
precious promises, and everything God has (and who knows how
much God has), are ours. We are heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ.
God said to Abraham,
"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" When God wanted the
world, He just made one; when God wanted a man, He just made
one; when God wanted a fruit tree, He just made one! God is
glorified in blessing His children. He wants us to be as
rich as He is. All Heaven's riches are our, and every
storehouse God has, He has given to you and me. What it the
combination that will ipen up God's storhouses to us? --
crying , "Abba, Father."
Let us read Mark
14:34-36, where it speaks of Jesus in Gethsemane: "And saith
unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry
ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell
on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the
hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all
things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from
me:nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt."
My friend, crying,
"Abba, Father definitely has to do with prayer. We are
brought into an experience where a supernatural work is
working within us and the Holy Spirit bears witness with our
spitit that we are the children of God. When we are children
of God, how doew the Holy Spirit bear witness with our
spirit? When you are born again, your spirit will cry,
"Abba, Father;" that is that adopted Spirit.
Paul said that God
sent the Spirit of His Son (the Holy Spirit) into your
heart, and the Holy Spirit crys,"Abba, Father;" both of them
bear witness, opening up the great inheritance tha God has
ordained you and me to enjoy. The devil would like to make
you fill, "God has stores running over, but you just try to
get anything."
God still has a
storehous that is branded "divine healing," and every kind
of healing imaginable is there for us. Jesus paid the price,
whereby every one of us could have that precious privilege;
in spite of that fact, the enemy is working through
unbelief. There are people who do not even pray about
things. They do not know if God would answer or not because
they do not pray. The devil has them sold on the idea that i
will not do any good, so they do not try.
There are preachers of
every kind trying to prove that the anointing with oil meant
giving people every bit of medicine that could be given, and
then pray. This is just the enemy working through various
avenues to sew thoughts within your mind that will kell the
effectiveness of God's Word that He has given us to enjoy.
Someone may say, "I
didn't know that crying, "Abba, Father" has to do with
prayer." Even before conversion, when the the Holy Spirit
moves on a heart, it is just a natural thing for someone to
go to an altar of prayer and get down and start praying.
When a person seeks God with his whole heart, which is a
diligent way, God rewards him.
There has not been one
person who has sought God in a diligent manner that did not
get rewarded. I am in no way saying that God will reward you
the very moment you seek Him. Paul did not say that in that
verse of Scripture, but he did say that you will be
rewarded. If you hold right in that promise and seek God in
a diligent manner, you will be rewarded.
The Sprit of Grace and
Supplications
In Zechariah, the
twelfth chapter, the prophet was speaking about Jerusalem
being delivered and how God was going to send a deliver. He
begins to talk about physical, natural things down through
the chapter, then in the tenth verse, he switched over to
spiritual things. He said, "And I will pour upon the house
of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit
of grace and of supplicatrions..." In other words, God is
able to bring you to a place of praying.
In Chapter 13, verse
1, he said, "In that day there shall be a fountain
opened..." That fountain was opened when Christ's side was
pierced. God was furnisheing real deliverance for Jerusalem,
a deliverance they never had before. They had physical
deliverance of all kinds ever since they had left Egypt, but
He was talking about a deliverance that would deliver them
from sin.
He said that at that
time, He would pour out the spirit of grace and
supplications. Then going back to Chapter 12, verse 10, he
said, "...and they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for
his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one
that is in bitterness for hi firstborn."
In essence, the
prophet was merely saying that God would pour out the spirit
of grace and supplications to the place that you would get
down and mourn over your condition and pray and seek God as
never before. All you have to do is read the New Testament
and you will know that very thing occurred. I want you to
look at eht Apostle Paul's conversion, and you can see just
exactly how this happened.
In Acts, the ninth
chapter, Paul was breathing out threatenings against the
church; he was persecuting and wasting the Church of God. As
He was gong down the road to Damascus with papers in his
pocket to put the saints in jail, a great light shined down
upon him and he fell to the earth. Jesus, the resurrected
Jesus who had gone back to Heaven, appeared to him and
talked to him. He said, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me?" (verse 4).
Then in verses 8-11 we
read: "And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were
opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and
brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without
sight, and neither did ear nor drink. And there was a
certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said
the Lord in a vision, Ananias.. And he said, Behold, I am
here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into
the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the
house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold,
he prayeth."
God Exalts Real Prayer
Somebody may say,
"Saul was a Pharisee. He prayed three times a day and he
prayed long prayers." He was not truly praying. You see,
Jesus know when you are really praying. Let us get the point
here: ther are a lot of people just like the Pharisees; they
go through the form. HOwever, it is an outstanding thing
when a man really prays. Jesus said, "Behold, he prayeth."
It is a beholding thing when a man really prays. Jesus
already knew what Ananias would say, so Jesus just said, "he
prayeth."
You do not have to
worry about a man hurting you when he is praying. There are
a lot of troubles that people are fussing over, fussing back
and forth, but if the parties involved would pray, the
problems would be dissolved.
Jesus had won a great
battle: Saul was willing and submissive. He said, "Lord,
what will thou have me to do?" So the Lord told him to go
into the city to a street called Straight and wait there.
For three days, Paul did not ear, but he prayed, and it was
not a Pharisaical prayer. He was speaking with a new tongue.
Mark 16:17 says,
"...they shall speak with new tongues." The word new there
is a different Greek word altogether from the word used in
Acts, the second chapter, where they spake in another
tongue. The word new in Mark 16:17 means "a refreshed
tongue." When you become a Christian, the very tongue that
used to cuss, lie, and swear will start saying, "Abba,
Father. Praise God!" It has nothing to do with another
language. Paul had a new tongue.
Jesus was talking to
one disciple about another disciple. In other words, Jesus
was saying, "Ananias, you are my disciple, and you are not
going over to see Saul of Tarsus because Saul is praying."
Ananias lost all his fear and went his way and when he went
through the door, he said, "Brother Saul," Do not tell me
that prayer will not do away with a lot of differences when
prople really pray.
There is so much more
to praying than what people are seemingly getting hold of
today. When someone is truly praying, it is a sight that the
resurrected, glorified Christ notices above everything else.
You may be able to sing like a bird or preach like an
orator, but you will not excite Jesus. When somebody gets
down in real prayer, it is a sight worthy to be observed.
To many, this sight
would be very ordinary. This attitude toward prayer shows
the difference in value that earth puts on things and Heaven
puts on things. God exalts praying. He would rather see you
and me on our knees really praying, and I am not talking
about merely saying prayers.
A New State Toward God
Saul excelled beyond
any of his equals: he outprayed them and outworked them. He
was the strictest of the Pharisees. When they believed that
they had to pray three hours, he did not pray two hours and
forty-five minutes. Even so, all the praying that he had
done through that form of religion, never excited God one
bit. However, when he got down to business diligently
seeking God, Got took notice.
Paul was praying,
"Lord, I can see the very Christ that I had been against and
the very church that I had persecuted. I see it is the
church. I know you are the Messiah," and Jesus said,
"Behold, he prayeth." Jesus points to the sight of a man on
his knees as something worthy to behold. Why is this such a
sight to behold? First of all, it is the first sign that a
great change is coming. Mark it down, my friend, when you
get down and diligently pray, it portend that there is much
to come and something is going to happen.
Nobody can diligently
seek God without moving God on His throne. Paul was wasting
his life, but brother, when he preally prayed, God heard his
prayer and lifted him to the place that he was one of the
most outstanding Apostles; he wrote the rest of the Bible.
Where did it start? He prayed! I cannot put too much
emphasis on this.
The man who prays has
come into a new state toward God. You cannot really pray
without changing your state toward Him. Oh, you can get down
and say a few words before you go to bed, say a few when you
get up tomarrow, and say a few over you food, but I am
talking about getting into a place where Jesus looks down
and says, "He is really praying."
Real prayer changed
Paul's state toward God. Brother , after he was filled with
the Holy Ghost and was baptized, he went out on the street
and preached the doctrines of the church, and the people
said, "Isn't that the man who used to persecute the church?
Wasn't he against it? What happened to him?" Peter said, "He
prayed!"
Real prayer will
change the church's state toward God, and when our state
toward God is changed, our state toward one another will be
changed. The man who prays desires to come into a very new
attitude toward God. He has discovered a need, a need with
real depth.
Being Awakened to Your
Need
I do not know how many
of those three days it took Saul to come to the realization
that he had a deep need. He thought he was on the
mountaintop, but when he got straightened out, he saw that
in terms of real salvation he had nothing. We will never get
to the place of really praying until we are somehow awakened
to the depth of our need of praying and calling on God.
The reason you do not
pray is because you do not think you need to pray; the flesh
has raised up. You rest on the length of time that you have
been saved, but it does not amount to anything if you have
not prayed through today. You are not in a bit better shape
just because you have been saved for years. The devil will
try to switch you over to the externals and you will fall
into Pharisaism.
Jesus is looking down
to see if we are really praying. His eye is on His children
and His ear is open to their cry. This is sad to say, but it
is true: some people cannot get diligent until catastrophe
comes; it should not be that way, but it is in too many
cases. You cannot really pray until you become diligent.
As Jesus looks down
upon us as individuals, I wonder if He is saying "Behold, he
prayeth," or is He saying, "Behold he does not pray." In
either case, it is amazing to Christ. It is an amazing thing
to Christ when people have been so blessed and then do not
pray. Friend, when we get down to business praying, it is a
state in which we have discovered a great need with great
depth.
When we really pray,
pride is gone. Second Chronicles 7:14 says, "If my people,
which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin,
and will heal their land." You cannot pray until pride is
gone.
Paul's pride was gone.
He no doubt dressed well and was well respected; he was a
man who got things done. Other Pharisees just sat and said,
"That church is terrible. They are turning the world upside
down and putting the doctrine of Christ in every town; yet
they never did anything about it. Paul was a doer. He got
the papers and went to work. He was prod that he was wasting
the church; he was doing it ignorantly, but he was proud of
what he was doing. He caused many saints to recant and back
off by causing them to fear.
Once Paul got down to
business praying, all pride was gone. He who had been the
strictest of the Pharisees then called himself the chief of
sinners. Now that is getting down to the bottom. Instead of
being proud, he was saying, "No one is as bad as I am,
Lord." See, when you are a Pharisee, you are glad that you
are not like other men; but when you get down to business
praying, you are chief of sinners, and ugliest and the
worst.
Do you know one reason
that your prayers have not been going through? You hold
yourself in too much of an elevated position. You have not
gotten down to business telling God who you are as He sees
you. I an trying to help you diligently pray. There is too
much praying without reward. I still believe that Jesus gets
excited when a man or woman really prays.
A Greater Work to Be
Done
When Jesus said,
"Behold, he prayeth" (speaking of Saul), He was getting the
attention of not only Ananias, but the angels and the
Father. Jesus said, in so many words, "If he will just pray,
I will do the rest," and brother, He did do the rest.
Oh what a man Paul
turned out to be. Aren't you anxious to talk with him
someday? The historian, Josephus, tells us that he was just
a short man and baldheaded, but what a great man of God he
was. He prayed, and Jesus did the rest. He started revival
fires everywhere his feet trod, and he plainly told people,
"It is not me; it is Christ that liveth in me."
Paul gave the same
testimony everywhere he went. When they brought him before
the captain and let him speak, in so many words, he said,
"Well, I was going down the road to Damascus, I had papers
to persecute the Christians, but a light brighter than the
noonday sun shone down, and Jesus said, 'Saul, why
persecutest thou me?' and I fell under the light. He told me
to go into the city, and there I prayed three days. Ananias
came and laid hands on me, and I received my sight and was
filled with the Holy Ghost."
He was brought before
Agrippa, and he said, "I was going down the road to
Damascus..." He stuck right with it. Men trembled when he
told them about it. A man of great authority was almost
persuaded to be a Christian when he heard him tell how he
prayed that day and how God moved on his heart and life.
God is no respecter of
persons. We are not going to do the work that Paul did
because the Bible is already written; but, brothers and
sisters, God has a greater wirk for every one of us to do
than that which is being done. The starting place is right
where Paul started: He really prayed until he moved Jesus.
The name Saul(his name before he was converted) means
"destroyer;" the name Paul means "worker." He went around
building up the very thing he had been tearing down.
When men truly pray,
self-satisfaction and trust in the world's resources are
gone. Although there is every reason and encouragement to
pray, many fail to pray. Men seeking salvation are praying
men. Jesus told us to ask for ou daily bread. How are you
going live tomorrow without praying? The Bible tells us that
without Him we can do nothing.
Keep Asking
Jesus gives us the law
of prayer to govern our everyday living. Matthew 7:7-8 says:
seek, and ya shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you; For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that
seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be
opened."
Seeking is more
diligent than asking; too many just ask. The Greek
translation for the word ask there actually means "keep
asking." It does not mean to just ask one time and go your
way nonchalantly like people are today, I hear people say,
"If the Lord wants me to have it, He will give it to me."
Not if you do not ask, seek and knock. There is not a place
in the Bible where He told you to just mention it to God,
and go on your way and He will give it to you if you are
supposed to have it. He has ordained that we pray.
Paul said, "I will
therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands,
without wrath and doubting" (1 Timothy 2:8). Prayer is a
great privilege. I thank God for the privilege of prayer.
Is Jesus moved when a
man prays? He watched Stephen get stoned until they stoned
the very life out of him, and he prayed. Did he pray, "My
God, I can't hardly wait until you put vengeance on this
bunch?" No; there is too much of that kind of praying today.
Here is Stephen"s prayer: "Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge." Jesus no doubt stood up and looked over the
banister of Heaven as Stephen prayed, saying, "Come home,
son, you have finished your work."
The reason some people
do not get salvation when they dawn an altar of prayer is
because they do not come seeking sholeheartedly. The word
supplication means "to ask humbly and earnestly." In other
words, one really gets down to business in prayer, with his
whole being, diligently praying. Our praying has to be much
more diligent to move God to the place that He answers
prayer.
In Son of Solomon
2:14, Jesus said to the church, "O my dove, that art in the
clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let
me see they countenance, let me hear thy voice..,." That is
Jesus' attitude toward the church.
Cry Unto Him
In Hosea, Chapter 5,
it talks about the priests who wer leading God's people
astray, and the people were not paying much attention to
God. In the fifteenth verse it says, "I will go and return
to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek
my face: in their affliction they will seek me early."
This verse of
Scripture lets us know that God will even send affliction to
cause you to turn and cry unto Him. God said that He would
go His way and leave them alone until they got to the place
that they would acknowledge their offence and seek His face,
and He said that when affliction comes they would seek Him
early. Then James said, "Is any among you afflicted? let him
pray" (James 5:13a).
God lets things happen
because He wants you to pray. I have seen cases of serious
diseases of every kind where the doctors finally had to say
that as far as they were concerned the case was hopeless,
and God was standing right there waiting for somebody to
turn to Him and really pray.
We are living in an
age where we are blessed, but where the blessings can become
a curse and a hindrance to us. I am thankful for every bit
of help that medical science can give, but it has worked
wrong when it has hindered you in your praying. Whenever
thse things hinder real praying, then they have not been a
blessing to us.
In all honesty, has
God shown you that you have not really been diligent in your
prayer life, and because of it you have not reaped the
rewards? If the devil can keep you praying without getting
any reward or answer, all it will take is time until you
quit praying. As I mentioned earlier, nowhere in the Bible
does it say that you will get an answer the second you ask;
but God is a rewarder of everyone who asks. Whether you get
it now or later, you will receive if you ask in faith
without doubting.
Friend, if you do not
pray diligently and do not get anything, the devil will just
keep pecking at you, saying, "What are you praying for?" God
does not answer prayer," and you will become weary in well
doing. Then you will do just what many other people are
doing now: they are trying to plot their own course, and
when sickness comes, their firat thought is never prayer. I
ask you again, in closing, how is your prayer
life?