DIVINE APPOINTMENTS: Praying accurately, finishing in Jesus

03 Apr, 2016 - 00:04 0 Views
DIVINE APPOINTMENTS: Praying accurately, finishing in Jesus Sunday Mail

The Sunday Mail

WE resume interviews for various ministries next Sunday, after this two-week break.

But, it is our sincere hope that you all had a blessed Easter. What, with the much-needed rain falling in most parts of the country during the celebrations, raising people’s hopes and trust in the Lord! We also hope that you are looking forward to Pentecost on May 15.

This Easter season was celebrated during the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:10, Luke 4:18-21), which according to the Jewish calendar runs from September 23, 2015 to October 11, 2016.

It was a beautiful Easter for this writer. The brief meeting with Apostle Barbara Clarke, the visionary and leader of Throne of Grace and Holiness Ministry in Gaborone, Botswana on Easter Monday at a conference was quite memorable.

Last July, the writer interviewed Apostle Barbara when she was in Zimbabwe for a conference, and her stance on the word of God is profound. It was unfortunate that I was unable to attend the launch of her books in Gaborone on September 14 last year, and the All Believer’s Convention at the beginning of March this year.

I managed to get the publications on Easter Monday, which she dedicated to: “my precious Holy Spirit, you are dependable. You have been my source of strength, joy and peace”; and, “to my heavenly Father, you are the source of my existence, without you, I cease to be,” respectively.

However, I could not ignore the messages that Apostle Barbara autographed in the books. In Finish Well: Jesus Your Inheritance, she wrote: “Finish in Jesus.”

And in Battle at Midnight she wrote: “Pray accurately.”

All I could say to her was, “I wonder what the Lord is saying about my prayer life,” for prayer is crucial in anyone’s Christian walk.

As I continue to meditate on the autographed message, I see the triangular images with the statement: CAUTION! It is not a negative message, but it is a message saying something much more than the two words she inscribed on that title page. They make you introspect on your prayer walk. And, this is why men and women of God are there — to speak into our lives. But the message also led me to Pastor Alan Carr’s sermon (abridged): ‘Praying without pretense’ where he says:

“Of all the privileges the saints of God enjoy, perhaps the greatest is the privilege of prayer. To be able to go directly into the presence of the Lord is an honour beyond description.” (Hebrews. 4:16)

He adds: “When you consider the fact that the real prayer is not just our sending words out into thin air, but that real praying is used by God to accomplish His purposes on the earth, it boggles the mind! What a gift we have been given! What a privilege is ours, to be able to speak to God; knowing He will hear and He will answer; knowing that He has invited us to be involved with Him in the work He is doing!

“But, like anything else in life, we humans can even mess up something as profound and beautiful as prayer… Many have prayed properly and have seen God move in tremendous power as He heard and answered those prayers. Others have prayed out of wrong motives and have received nothing in answer to their requests.”

Pastor Carr says, in Matthew 6:5-8, “Jesus exposes some of the problems in prayer that were rampant in His day. He condemns the pretentious praying of the ‘hypocrites’, or the religious elite of that day.

“Jesus tells us that their praying will amount to nothing! Then, He tells us how men should approach God – praying without pretense (‘something done or a way of behaving that is not genuine but is meant to deceive other people.’)

(“But), it is a blessing to hear some people pray. They pray in such a way that you realise they don’t care if you are there or not. They aren’t talking to you, they are talking to God.”

He also says, “Even in an activity like prayer there is still the danger that the flesh will get involved, or that we will be led astray by Satan.

“Two of Satan’s strongest attacks against Jesus came during times of intimate communion with His Father, Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 22:39-46. If Jesus was attacked by the devil, then you and I can expect the same treatment. Satan will try anything he can to hinder your prayer life. He will try to get your flesh involved if he can. He will turn your prayer time into a time of self-promotion and self-centeredness.

“Since we are told to pray, we must make prayer a priority. If prayer is not made a priority in your life, then you will never pray! … Communion with God should be the highest priority of each day. You will never grow in the Lord beyond the depth of your prayer life!

“Jesus tells us that when we enter into genuine prayer before the Lord, that we are able to enter the ‘secret place’ with Him. Literally, we are allowed access into the ‘Holy of Holies’ in Heaven.”

So, what should believers do and what happens? Pastor Carr advises, “When we pray, and pray properly, we are allowed access into the throne room of grace. (Hebrews 4:16) We do not have to have some human priest to stand in for us, but through Jesus Christ, we have access to the very throne of our Father in heaven.

“Jesus is telling us that when prayer ceases to be about us and our being seen by others, and it becomes all about Him, then we can expect Him to move in response to our prayers. Prayer gives God the opportunity to hear His children express their love for Him, their dependence upon Him and their faith in Him. Prayer affords God the opportunity to demonstrate His love, power, glory, providence, sovereignty and provision for His children. Besides, prayers not prayed will be prayers not answered.” (James 4:2)

Finally, Apostle Clarke led to these questions as posed by Pastor Carr: Is my prayer life all it should be, or has the Lord touched a sore spot or two through His Word? If the Lord is calling me to a more powerful, more effective life of prayer, then why not just mind Him and come before Him this that very moment? Everything in our walk with Him begins and ends with the quality of our prayer life – that is praying accurately and finishing in Jesus!

Feedback: [email protected]

 

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