Prayer – a key for the day and a lock for the night
When Ed phoned yesterday, he asked me, “What are you doing?” In answer to his question, I said, “I’m finishing my daily prayers.” Ed said, “Glad I caught you when you aren’t doing anything important.”
My old neighbour does not have high regard for prayer. His view is that prayer doesn’t change anything. According to Ed, prayers prove God needs a hearing aid. Ed sees prayer as a waste of time because people pray but have no guarantee of getting what they ask for from God. Ed claims people have a better chance of getting what they want by ordering it from Amazon.ca.
Ed has a point. God never promises prayers to Him will be answered with low prices and fast shipping. However, some believe prayer does unlock our days to what God would have us consider before us, with faith and trust in His love and word for us.
We will have a mixture of work, responsibilities, personal and family needs, joys, sorrows, cares, anxiousness and stress on any given day. Prayer to God will not necessarily change what we face, but prayer will open us to God's perspective and peace about our day.
When we pray to God, we acknowledge that God is Spirit. (John 4:34) An eternal being, immortal, invisible, the only God. (1 Tim. 1:17)
God is also almighty or all-powerful. (Gen. 17:1) God is also all-knowing or omniscient. (John 21:17) God is present everywhere. (Jer. 23:24) Best of all, we pray to God because God is love. (1 John 4:8) Gracious showing undeserved kindness. (Exodus 34:6-7) Merciful. (Titus 3:5)
When among us on Earth in the flesh, Jesus, the very Son of God, often prayed to God His Father in heaven. He often withdrew into the wilderness to pray. (Luke 5:16) We are encouraged to continue earnestly in prayer, to be vigilant in it with thanksgiving because this is Jesus’s example in his life before us. (Colossians 4:2)
Not only did Jesus give us an earthly example in prayer, but Jesus lives forever; he has a permanent priesthood. As our high priest in heaven, He truly meets our need – as one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them. (Hebrews 7:24-26)
We have great encouragement to pray, knowing Jesus intercedes for us at the right hand of God. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin." (Hebrews 4:15) We can pray in the name of Jesus with confidence that we will receive mercy and find grace to help us.
When our children ask for things, we give them not simply what they ask for but what is safe, good and wise for them to have. If we know about what is good or unwise to give our children, so does God. He knows the best answer to our prayers. God knows what we need when he answers our prayers.
