A Moment With Your Minister...
“Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray” are words from a familiar hymn. I really hope that you did, since we are studying the subject of prayer during the month of June. Prayer is so important to our spiritual well-being that we dare not neglect this sacred privilege. Another hymn speaks of this saying, “The world has lost the right of prayer and saints have failed to pray; What loss sustained beyond repair! How blind of heart are they!”
If your prayer life isn’t what you know the Lord wants it to be, let me encourage you to attend our Sunday morning bible class. Tim Campbell is doing an excellent job teaching on this subject.
To further whet your appetite, I am reprinting an article on the subject of prayer. It was published in the weekly bul-letin of the Chestnut Drive Church of Christ, Doraville, GA a few years ago.
Carl
JESUS & PRAYER
The importance and significance of prayer is best ex-emplified in the life of Jesus, our perfect example. It was the spiritual environment in which He lived, moved and had His being. Someone has written, “Like the diver who goes down to the bottom of the sea, he kept his communion unbroken with the top, and was thereby enabled to live unharmed in the poisonous air of this lower sphere.” There was never a moment of His earthly ministry that Jesus was not in the spirit of prayer. Consider the following examples:
1) Prayer at His baptism (Lk. 3:21-22).
2) Prayer in solitude (Lk. 5:15-16).
3) Prayer before choosing the twelve (Lk. 6:12).
4) Prayer on the Mt. of Transfiguration (Lk. 9:28-29).
5) Prayer of praise and thanksgiving (Lk. 10:21).
6) Prayer for Peter (Lk. 22:31-32).
7) Prayer of anguish (Jn. 12:27-28).
8) Prayer for His disciples (Jn. 17).
9) Prayer in Gethsemane (Mt. 26:36-46).
10) Prayer on the cross (Lk. 23:34; Mt. 27:46; Lk. 23:46).
Obviously, the Lord not only preached prayer, He practiced it. Shockingly, He actually neglected the needy populace for a while in order to retreat in prayer. Prayer seemed to have been with Him always. Just think of it: He was without sin; the only begotten Son of God; clothed with power from on high; the only representative of perfect manhood; possessed with miraculous power; and yet He prayed constantly. If Jesus sensed the need for communion with God through prayer, certainly we sense this need. As Jesus said, “Men ought always to pray.”
May God help us to be more effective prayer warriors. Remember Matthew 21:22; “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Author Unnamed
“Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray” are words from a familiar hymn. I really hope that you did, since we are studying the subject of prayer during the month of June. Prayer is so important to our spiritual well-being that we dare not neglect this sacred privilege. Another hymn speaks of this saying, “The world has lost the right of prayer and saints have failed to pray; What loss sustained beyond repair! How blind of heart are they!”
If your prayer life isn’t what you know the Lord wants it to be, let me encourage you to attend our Sunday morning bible class. Tim Campbell is doing an excellent job teaching on this subject.
To further whet your appetite, I am reprinting an article on the subject of prayer. It was published in the weekly bul-letin of the Chestnut Drive Church of Christ, Doraville, GA a few years ago.
Carl
JESUS & PRAYER
The importance and significance of prayer is best ex-emplified in the life of Jesus, our perfect example. It was the spiritual environment in which He lived, moved and had His being. Someone has written, “Like the diver who goes down to the bottom of the sea, he kept his communion unbroken with the top, and was thereby enabled to live unharmed in the poisonous air of this lower sphere.” There was never a moment of His earthly ministry that Jesus was not in the spirit of prayer. Consider the following examples:
1) Prayer at His baptism (Lk. 3:21-22).
2) Prayer in solitude (Lk. 5:15-16).
3) Prayer before choosing the twelve (Lk. 6:12).
4) Prayer on the Mt. of Transfiguration (Lk. 9:28-29).
5) Prayer of praise and thanksgiving (Lk. 10:21).
6) Prayer for Peter (Lk. 22:31-32).
7) Prayer of anguish (Jn. 12:27-28).
8) Prayer for His disciples (Jn. 17).
9) Prayer in Gethsemane (Mt. 26:36-46).
10) Prayer on the cross (Lk. 23:34; Mt. 27:46; Lk. 23:46).
Obviously, the Lord not only preached prayer, He practiced it. Shockingly, He actually neglected the needy populace for a while in order to retreat in prayer. Prayer seemed to have been with Him always. Just think of it: He was without sin; the only begotten Son of God; clothed with power from on high; the only representative of perfect manhood; possessed with miraculous power; and yet He prayed constantly. If Jesus sensed the need for communion with God through prayer, certainly we sense this need. As Jesus said, “Men ought always to pray.”
May God help us to be more effective prayer warriors. Remember Matthew 21:22; “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Author Unnamed