DAILY DEVOTIONAL – February 11, 2020
“Can You Hear Me Now?”
Prayer: Our God and Father, it is not often enough we stop to realize the miracle of prayer. You promise to always listen. You promise to always answer. Lord we ask for the eyes and ears of faith to hear You and the strength of faith to walk according to Your answers. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture: John 16:25-28
“The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
Devotional: A minister, a priest, and a rabbi sat discussing the ideal position for prayer while a telephone repairman worked nearby.
The minister said that, “Kneeling is definitely best…it keeps me humble.”
“No way,” the rabbi said: “I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to heaven.”
“You’re both wrong,” the priest insisted. “The most effective prayer position is lying prostrate, face down on the floor.”
Overhearing this conversation, the telephone repairman could no longer contain himself.
“Hey, fellas,” he interrupted: “Dunno what position you religious type would call it, but the best prayin’ I ever did was danglin’ upside down form a telephone pole!”
I’d be confident in wagering that most of us here have few times prayed more earnestly than when we find ourselves danglin’ upside down. What exactly is this thing we call prayer? Is it an emergency help line? Is it something God requires in order to help us? Is it a devotional exercise we do to fulfill our duty? Is prayer a habit, something we just do before eating or sleeping?
Charles Spurgeon, arguably one of the single most renowned preachers in history…was often called the preacher’s preacher. As with many of history’s most notable preachers, Spurgeon spoke truth…truth with love, but never in order to be loved…but to speak truth. Spurgeon said of prayer, “If any of you should ask me for an epitome of the Christian religion, I should say that it is in one word – prayer. Live and die without prayer, and you will pray long enough when you get to hell.”
I certainly don’t think Spurgeon was saying that prayer in and of itself is what saves us, or that a certain amount of prayer or type of prayer does either. Spurgeon’s point was that prayer is absolutely essential to the endurance of the Christian life and faith.
What did Spurgeon see in prayer that made it so essentially to the endurance of faith? He saw the very words you and I read this morning in John 16 when Jesus said,
“In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”
Jesus said, “in that day” – today, the days you and I live in – the days after Christ’s ascension to the right hand of the Father. In these days Jesus said we have the incredible privilege of speaking to God directly, to coming before the very throne of the Alpha and Omega, the eternal God Almighty, bowing before Him in the Name of Christ our Lord and having the Creator God bend His ear to hear the prayers of each one of His children.
The Father Himself loves you and I Jesus said. Christ made sure of that by dying and rising again to restore us to God. God went through all that so He could be our Heavenly Father. No wonder Spurgeon can say that the epitome of Christianity is a prayerful relationship with our loving God. Who of those that call the God of Eternity “Father” sees fit not to spend as much time as possible talking with their Abba Father? Their…daddy.
Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den for refusing to stop his dedicated prayer routine of no less than 3 times a day; sometimes for hours on end. Our Lord Jesus regularly traveled literally into the middle of nowhere to be alone with His Father in heaven. Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing” and Jesus taught in the Beatitudes, “when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
So is there a certain amount of time we have to pray? Is there a particular way to pray? Should we always be like the telephone repairman, dangling upside down, in order to earnestly pray our heart before God? Do we need to be prostrate like the priest, arms in the air like the rabbi or on our knees like the minister said? Simply put, the answer to any prescription on prayer is, no.
Far more important than length, is depth. More important than how long or wordy your prayer is, is how deep it is. Do we pray as if God knows what our minds and hearts really think and feel? He does. Do we pray what is really inside? Or what we think should be inside? As Jesus said in Matthew 7, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” After saying this Jesus then taught us to pray the words of the Lord’s Prayer. The depth of prayer, not the length is most important.
Prayer is not an exercise for God. He is not dependent upon our prayers to work in our life or perfectly and lovingly reign as the forgiving and generous Lord of our life. Prayer is something God has given to us as a gracious gift, because we are dependent on Him for everything. He gave His Son over to the sinfulness of humanity to be sacrificed so that by Christ’s dying for our sins and raising to new life for our salvation, He can now freely give us everything we need and the hope and strength our hearts desire.
Prayer is not a method or duty. Prayer in the Word of God is the Christian life.
Lutheran theologian Johan Gerhard, in perhaps my favorite quotation from him in his book on Daily Piety, says:
“None of us should take our prayers lightly. God, to whom we pray, does not take them lightly. Before they pass over our lips, He commands them to be written in His book. Furthermore, anyone with a sound mind and good judgment, anyone who considers the divine majesty of God and our weakness, understands how profitable and necessary it is to pray without ceasing and how difficult it is to do. When you stand before the Lord to pray, stand before Him with great fear and desire. Break the chains of earthly anxiety from your heart.”
We often hear it said when someone is waiting eagerly for important or exciting news, or just when they can’t wait to hear the latest gossip, “Hurry up and tell me, I am dying to hear.” Though that is just a figure of speech for us, the truth is my friends, someone did die to hear from you. Jesus Christ died in order that you may know Him and know God as we are loved by Him and live each day in the sure hope of His love, forgiveness and salvation. Won’t you talk to Him?
A blessed beginning to your week. Remember, that God has already forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
