John 14:12-14 (NIV) 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will
do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than
these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And
I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything
in my name, and I will do it
.
Prayer is conversation with God. Through our thoughts and
words we can make contact with God, the Being who exists beyond our world
outside of time and space as we know it. Prayer is one of the most daring and
important activities of our life. But it is not the words we say or the way we
pray that guarantees God will hear and answer our prayer. Jesus tells us to
pray in His name, to acknowledge that we live in Christ. To pray in Jesus’ name
is to acknowledge that it is only through Christ and because of Christ that we
have a right relationship to God. God has promised to hear and answer the
prayers of those who live in a right relationship to Him, and we enter that
relationship only through Jesus Christ. When we live in this new relationship
to God, established for us by Jesus, we pray to our Father, a Father who is
good and generous beyond all our deserving. We do not have to beg or bargain.
God not only answers our prayers, but wants to say yes to
our requests. God cannot always say yes, but that is what God wants to do. This
means we should never accept silence as an answer to prayer, certainly not as
God’s way of saying no. If we ask and receive no answer, it means just that God
has not answered our prayer … yet. This also means that we should never accept
“no” as God’s final answer to prayer. God may sometimes say “no” to our request
but always wants to say more. Sometimes our prayers are limited by our own mind
and knowledge, but the larger prayer of the heart will be granted. God hears
and answers the prayers of those who live in a right relationship to Him, those
who dwell in Christ.
But what if we have accepted Christ and live in Him and He
lives in us as far as we know, and yet sometimes we feel that our prayers get
no higher than the ceiling? And if we feel that our prayers are not getting any
higher than the ceiling it is probably true. Something has happened to disturb
our relationship to God, to block our prayers. Something stands as a barrier
between ourselves and God, frustrating our conversation with Him. It may be
some guilt over some wrong, hostility, or resentment toward another person. In
any case the barrier has to be dealt with if we are to truly communicate with
God in prayer. Jesus said that when we pray and ask for something, we must
believe that we have received it and everything will be given us. And when we
stand praying, forgive whatever we have against anyone so that our Father in
heaven will forgive our sins. Sometimes we will not be aware of what is
blocking our prayer and that is when we need to ask where we have gone wrong,
what is keeping us from close conversation with God that is promised us. And
that prayer will be answered.
From as sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope August 4, 1975
Copyright Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
No comments:
Post a Comment