American Reformation Church Prayer Journal 58
ARC Prayer Meeting:
Last Sunday at the American Reformation Church we covered the topic “Love is not boastful.” This week, God willing, we will tackle “Love is not rude.” As we are going through this series, it has not only been edifying, but convicting. Comments like, “This is convicting” or “I need to get my act together” or “I need to be discipled” are the Kingdom fruits being produced. In this, we rejoice, as God’s Word is performing God’s work in the souls of men, women, and children.
Obviously, when the light of God penetrates darkness and the Holy Spirit convicts us, the need for genuine soul searching prayer emerges. The call to pray in this case and our response to it may vary. Some Christians view prayer as an obligation and a box to be checked off as if prayer was just one of our many Christian duties. Some use prayer to worship, praise, seek guidance, meet needs, or ask for comfort in our harsh world. Some care enough to intercede for others.
No doubt people pray for a variety of reasons. May I suggest like the catechism question “What is the chief end of man” and the answer is to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever,” so this should be our resolve when it comes to the practice of prayer. Like Jesus, our ultimate purpose should be to glorify our Father in heaven. We do this by finishing well the divine work He has called us to do in our brief time spent in our poor-fallen world (John 17:4).
If we are honest, most of our prayers revolve around personal issues rather than glorifying the Lord. We seek to pray away our problems, which can be shortsighted in the grand scheme of God’s will and plan working in and through our lives. Sometimes, we need not to just try and pray away our problems, but pray through the challenges of life. In other words, the primary purpose of prayer is not necessarily to change circumstances; its divine purpose is to change us!
Prayers for God’s protection, provision, healing, and deliverance are valid Biblical prayer targets. God’s Word is filled with these kinds of prayer needs. The book of Psalms alone provides great examples of these truths. Yet, we must not diminish the importance of prevailing prayer that seeks the Lord to bring greater sanctification in our vain, fleeting lives.
Seeking to be more like Jesus and less like us can go a long way to understanding that our human nature that tends towards being proud, rude, and selfish. It is these realities that should lead us to pray that God would shed abroad His love by the power of His Spirit in our souls and we put on this love, which is the bond of perfection (Colossians 3:14).
Praying to be more like Jesus, more loving, and growing in our sanctification truly glorifies God in our prayer life. It needs to be one of the major tools in our prayer tool box. This is what we intend to accomplish tomorrow evening, Wednesday, 2/26/25 at 7 pm for our weekly prayer gathering.
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