I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT? (part-52)

I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT?

PRAYING (continued)
Some people have said that the most enjoyable time for them to pray
is when they are feeling good or when they have seen their prayers
answered. Our emotions and health can have a major impact on our
demeanor, but they should never have an impact on our times of prayer.

I have heard some people say that they are just too tired, or in too bad
of a mood to pray. Satan loves these times when he can manipulate and
distract or discourage us from praying. If we are tired or in a bad mood,
prayer is exactly the ‘therapy’ we need. Prayer changes lives and attitudes.

We maintain a relationship with the Lord and we fellowship with Him
through prayer. However, we interrupt this closeness with Him whenever
we allow anything to jeopardize or silence our prayer life.

Some have suggested using
the acronym of ACTS (outlined below) for structuring our prayers.

A is for adoration.
    They suggest that we should start our prayers by praising God
    for Who He is. In His example of how we should pray, Jesus
    started His prayer that way – “Our Father Who art in heaven,
    hallowed be Thy Name”.

C is for confession.
    We confess our sins and our acts of disobedience. It makes sense
    that this should be next, because it is important for us to realize
    that we cannot hide or ignore our sins.

    There are times when some barrier causes a strained relationship
    between you and someone else. Eventually the two of you come
    together and decide to ‘clear the air’. You have an open and honest
    conversation with no innuendos or hidden agendas. This is the kind
    of open conversation we should have with the Lord.

    You might think that when you confess to the Lord, you are confessing
    what He already knows, so what’s the point? The point is, confession is
    for our benefit. It can be considered as a type of self-cleansing that clears
    the way for the remainder of our prayer.

T is for thanksgiving.
    We should never allow ourselves to take for granted the blessings
    from the Lord. When we thank Him for our blessings, we are
    acknowledging that everything we own and everything we can do
    is a result of His blessings, and not anything that we have generated
    on our own.

    If we fail to pray and thank Him, Satan is waiting in the shadows to
    tempt us into believing that we accomplished everything on our own,
    and as a result, we are not dependent on the Lord. This is a dangerous
    thought pattern to develop. Why? Because the scriptures tell us multiple
    times that God not only dislikes selfish and arrogant pride, He hates it.
    Anything the Lord ‘hates’ should not be a part of our lives.

S is for supplication.
   As mentioned earlier when praying for others, it is difficult to have a
    selfish attitude. There are times when others are having such a struggle
    with what is going on in their lives that,
        (1) they are not in a very good frame of mind to pray
        (2) they feel they are too busy to pray
        (3) they may not know exactly how to pray

    This is why we all need to have prayer warrior friends we can call on.
    Standing at a distance gives us an opportunity to clear our head,
    organize our thoughts, and pray without the same distractions as
    the person we are praying for.

When we review the book of James, we see that prayer is an important
part of the believer’s life. When we pray, it strengthens our love for our
heavenly Father.

When we pray for others, we are fulfilling God’s command to love
others and we are creating a barrier against arrogant pride and
egotism. If we truly love others as Jesus does, then we will have a
desire to pray for them. We will pray for them when they are going
through a difficult time, when they are sick, when they are hurting,
when their faith is weak, and overall we pray for them because they
are our brothers or sisters in Christ. In addition, we pray for them
to discover their spiritual gift and that they will use it in serving the
Lord.

As believers, we should have a desire to pray for those we know who
are unsaved. We pray that their hearts will be softened, that the
Holy Spirit will convict them of their lost condition, that God will
place someone in their path at just the right time with the right things
to say, and that they will respond to God’s offer of salvation.

Unfortunately some become so offended (and possibly hurt) over the
actions of others that they either stop praying for them, or they refuse
to pray for them at all. Satan loves it when we choose to stop praying
for others because it gives him a foothold to impact our on attitude
and life in a negative way. The sad thing is, some give up and stop
praying for those in their own family.

One other consideration for prayer:
God may not have called us to serve in a capacity that impacts the
lives of many others, but we can participate in the service of others
by praying for them and encouraging them often. When God calls
someone to serve in a visible, shepherding way, Satan increases his
efforts to discourage them. Why? Because he knows that when he
can break the spirit of a shepherd, he can have a negative impact
on many others.

He tells us to pray, and with faith ask God for wisdom.
    If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,
    who gives generously to all without finding fault,
    and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you
    must believe and not doubt, because the one who
    doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed
    by the wind. (James 1:5-6)

He warns us of the sin of not praying.
    You desire but do not have, so you kill. You
    covet but you cannot get what you want, so
    you quarrel and fight. You do not have
    because you do not ask God. (James 4:2)

He talks about the sin of selfish praying.
    When you ask, you do not receive, because
    you ask with wrong motives, that you may
    spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3)

It is no surprise that he ends his letter talking about prayer.
James tells us that whenever we have times of trouble we
should always remember to pray.
    Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.
    Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
    (James 5:13)

Paul tells us that prayer should be continuous.
    And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all
    kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind,
    be alert and always keep on praying for all the
    Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:18)

Paul says we should have a ‘spirit of prayer’ at all times. What
does that mean? It means that we want to be in constant contact
with the Lord. Then whenever problems arise, He is the One we
automatically turn to for help.

I remember an incident a friend shared with me about what
happened one time in a deacon’s meeting at his church. There
was an issue that needed to be addressed as soon as possible.
At one point, a deacon spoke up and said, “Let’s pray about it”.
However, one of the other deacon’s responded with, “We don’t
have time for that right now; we need to get this issue resolved!”
It is safe to say that the second deacon did not have a prayerful
spirit.

James also tells us that we should pray during the good times;
those times when we are happy. He says to “sing songs of praise”.
One of the ways we sing praises is to pray to the Lord. As a
believer, we may recall how we have heard about Christian joy,
but what does that mean? Paul and Silas are good examples of
two people filled with the joy of the Lord.
    The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas,
    and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and
    beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged,
    they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was
    commanded to guard them carefully. When he received
    these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened
    their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas
    were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other
    prisoners were listening to them. (Acts 16:22-25)

Their example proves that true Christian joy does not depend
on our circumstances. As we know, our circumstances change
frequently so if our joy is controlled by them, then we will never
have a consistent attitude of prayer. Paul and Silas sang hymns
to God while in prison. Later in a letter to the Ephesians, Paul
encouraged other believers to do the same.
    Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what
    the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with
    wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the
    Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns
    and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in
    your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all
    things to God the Father in the name of our Lord
    Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear
    of God. (Ephesians 5:17-21)

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