by David Brenneman
"For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light." Colossians 1:9-12.
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’ For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." Matthew 6:9-15.
"And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘ Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ” Luke 11:2-4.
“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." Matthew 6:7-8.
In this season of my life I am certainly struggling. Both with the understanding of why as well as the additional physical challenges that are now here. Of this I might ask of you, my Dear Reader, to pray for me.
This prayer of Paul's for those in the Church at Colosse would well be a prayer for Believers to pray for one another.
We aren't to just go out into the world unarmed or without the understanding that there too the enemy of God awaits. He awaits us in our homes, our most private of places. He awaits every opportunity he is allowed to concerning the lives of every single Believer. He is opposed to everything that the Spirit teaches. He is committed, within himself, to fight the work of God to save people and to keep Believers from growing in Christ.
We can pray with Paul the words he used in this prayer or at the very least keep these priorities in mind.
My own struggles are confusing to me. I know not the why's behind the mental and physical situations that I find myself. I have cried and have prayed and cried and prayed.
I don't know what's to come or why my situation has to be this way. But I can pray. I can always pray.
The Bible says that I am not my own, that I was bought with a price, the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Whatever befalls me is because of what God allows for me. An old oak tree only gets to be old by the trials, the storms, it faces as well as the sunshine and the rain.
The Bible says that He sees every tear we cry. He knows all about every broken heart. He knows the truth behind every betrayal. He knows the hidden hurts we all are yet still afraid of turning over to Him.
We can see from this prayer, add to it the model of the prayer Jesus taught, what priorities should be included in our personal prayers.
Not just prayer, but personal prayer.
We have, after all, a personal Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our prayers ought to be personal as well.
What we should see springing up in us is the fruit of the Spirit of God.
We are going to be living transformed lives as it says as well that we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that we might walk in them. We are to make every effort to stand firm in the Lord. We are to be sure to set aside time to renew our minds in reading the Scriptures. Even if, as it is in my case, you can't remember what you read. Read it anyway. God's word says that His word never returns void. It always accomplishes what He said.
Memorization, in my opinion, is useless if the underlying understanding of what it is has no meaning to a person.
I say this from experience more than an exhaustive search into the subject. I have probably thousands of songs memorized that are useless to my growth in Christ. I have hundreds of books read that given enough of a subject I can tell you all about. But they are useless to my growing in Christ. I have lost track of how many times I have read through the Bible. There's still days I find something new. In extremely small ways I am finding, finally, some memorization happening. But not just that but the meaning behind it and am able to impart that to others.
It begins with prayer.
Personal prayer that is our praying for what Jesus, through His Spirit with the Father’s blessing, is wanting for us.
If you're literally, truthfully, mindlessly, praying words without thinking about what you are really asking for or maybe are doubtful that could come about, stop. Just stop.
We have a personal Lord and Savior. He personally thought about you on the cross as He paid for your sins. Pray personally to Him. King David was known as a man after God's own heart because his relationship with Jesus was personal!
So go back to the drawing board per-se and cease with talking mindlessly with Jesus and get personal. I certainly relate to where Paul points out that there are times when we pray that the Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words because we don't know what to pray. Right now is one of those times.
Yet also the Apostle Paul says to press on towards the upward call of God for us in Christ Jesus. Regardless of my physical well-being or my life's struggles, I need to keep at whatever God puts before me to be doing. Be it deeper times in prayer or work with my hands or head.
Make your own prayer life personal. He already knows your heart, yes, but He still wants to hear you say it. He wants to hear you say that you love Him and are thankful for His saving you. He still wants to know what is going on with you. He is, after all, not just your Savior, but your friend.
Look at this prayer again and look that the Lord’s Prayer. Get personal with Jesus.
You may understand what's going on in your life or you may not. That's still at His discretion. Job didn't know until after he died. Paul knew enough and kept on as He was told to do. Daniel was given information that he would never understand.
Make your life in Christ personal and start with your communication with your personal Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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