IS PRAYER REALLY IMPORTANT TODAY?
Jesus Christ while on earth prayed often. His example is a reliable illustration of how important prayer is to us. Question: "If Jesus was God, and He was, why did He have to pray?"
We understand that the soul of Jesus was God, the flesh was human flesh, that could grow, hurt and die like any other human flesh. That flesh made Him a man. Inside of that flesh all of God resided, as was typed in the Old Testament Tabernacle (tent) and later the Jewish Temple.
Jesus prayed to the Deity that dwelt within Him, which made Him who He was. It was a constant communion in order to be completely led by the God that was in Him.
Christian friends, we have that same God in us, and that is what makes you what you are. You do not have the same measure, but what you have by the Holy Spirit is enough? Therefore, by prayer today, stay in fellowship with the God that is in you so as to perfectly walk His will. It will work!
TEARS IN PRAYER
We are told, Jesus Christ was a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedic (Hebrews 5:6-7). In the Old Testament the priest offered incense before the altar of God, which is a type of the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8). Also, we see this clearly in Psalms 141:2, "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."
The book of Hebrews goes on to say that Jesus Christ in the days of his flesh offered up prayers and supplication with strong crying and TEARS unto God. This speaks of His humanity in prayer - a humanity that is subject to suffering as in us all. Christ offered prayer with strong crying and TEARS before the throne of God.
There is nothing dishonorable in tears that a man or woman should be ashamed to cry before God in our sufferings. The Son of God wept and if he poured out tears it cannot be wrong for us to d the same. A man must have a hard heart who has never had an emotion of tears and crying to offer at the throne of God. It has been said, "He wept that we might weep."
The song writer caught the inspiration when he wrote, "Tears are a language God understands!" Tears are not bad, when presented to God in prayer.
HOW LONG SHOULD I PRAY?
Jesus would spend all night in prayer. Especially at intersections in His life and ministry, at times when great decisions had to be made concerning the will of God. For example, in the garden He prayed all night, and His great request was, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done."
Early in His ministry, many were called to follow Him, but He chose twelve to be apostles after praying all night.
Luke 6:12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles.
This has always been a great example for me, in my greatest challengers and decisions in life.
It is important to spend much time in prayer in order to know the perfect will of God. There would be a lot less blunders in life it we followed Christ' example in prayer. There is no better way!
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE PRAY CLOSET
Jesus Christ PRAYED at times alone. He separated Himself from everything, his disciples, the people he loved, and even His ministry. Jesus prayed also publicly, and with the disciples, but I believe when he prayed alone, it was time He did not want any distraction. Just Him and the God that was in Him!
Public pray together with your family or the saints at church is very important. However, the PRAYER CLOSET cannot be neglected, it can be such a wonderful time for just you and God alone. Matt 6:6 "...when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
William Branham (1909-1965) referenced this PRAYER CLOSET in relating to a vision and the third pull of his ministry, which we know was the greatest part of his ministry. "I'm expecting something to happen in a prayer meeting. And many of you remember the vision of the last Pull, that Third Pull, rather. You remember, there was something happened just before that: I seen that Light come and go down into that place, and said, 'I'll meet you there.' Now I'm looking for something to happen."
Why not find your PRAYER CLOSET, not a literal room, but a time and a place that "He (Jesus Christ) will meet you there!" It is a late hour of the day!
PRAYING WITH A PASSION
Jesus Christ prayed with passion! Hebrews 5:7 said, He offered up prayers with "strong crying." In Luke's Gospel it records the following account of Christ in the garden; "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
He is our example, should not our prayers be more than a little saying we memorize or something we read from a book?
Another example is found in James 5:17-18, this was concerning the mighty prophet, Elijah. It was said of Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1, "As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." Even though it was THUS SAITH THE LORD, he still had to earnestly pray for it to rain and he kept praying until he saw the least little bit of evidence and believed it!
The Bible says that he was a MAN subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly, how much more should we pray more earnestly.
These are evil days, and I believe it calls for earnest, passionate prayer - even though we know that our God has everything under control according to His purpose! Remember, a evidence of the Holy Ghost is found in those that sigh and cry... (Ezekiel 9:4).
What are we interested in?
William Branham said the following: "We make so much emotion over our religious ideas, but who is it in the city tonight in Jeffersonville, that's so concerned about the lost world in this last day, that even spends thirty minutes a night praying for the sins of the city? But according to the Scriptures, the Angel of God was only to seal those who sighed and cried for the abominations. We're not interested no more. We just want to know that we can have a good time. We want to know that we can have a little society in our church. We want to know that we've got a vote coming when it comes time to elect the next pastor. We want our church to look a little better than the next fellow's church. That's the idea of this world today."
Unquote: Lord Jesus help me to be more passionate in prayer?