When People of God Pray
The Bible conveys a wellspring of instruction on the benefits, merits and necessity of prayer.
Just to name a few, the Living Word emphatically instructs all of mankind to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), to not neglect the practice of prayer (1 Corinthians 7:5), and to resist becoming weary or disheartened when praying (Luke 18:1).
What exactly is prayer (someone may ask)? Simply put, prayer is communication with God.
There are no requirements to communicating via prayer with God – there is no preferred or set position or posture more accepted than another (i.e. kneeling, sitting, standing or laying down) and there is no particular form of presentation that’s prerequisite (i.e. verbal or non-verbal). However, God must be acknowledged and honored for who He is (His authority, persona, sovereignty, etc.) and since it is communication with God, prayer must be understood as dialogue and not a monologue. Finally, sincerity of the heart and a personal relationship with God is highly recommended.
On the evening of Friday, May 16, 2008, five people having a personal relationship with God came to my home with a single, united purpose – they came to pray for my wife, my family and me.
They came humbly and without fanfare. Their mode of travel did not consist of an impressive and luxurious vehicle; they were not attired in the bright, fancy and flamboyant colors and costumes currently familiar among a great number of well-known televangelists or mega-church monarchs. They were non-descript people who had aligned themselves in truth with the one, true and living God, who came as previously stated with a single, united purpose – they came to pray.
Like a squad of elite, special-forces warriors, they took up positions in the Schneidmill family room like combat veterans who’d already received and analyzed all available intelligence reports on the location, strength and determined design of the enemy forces they’d come to confront and decisively defeat by communicating with God through prayer.
These gentle, yet determined “prayer soldiers” listened attentively as my wife and I shared details pertinent to the reason they’d come to pray for us. And at what appeared exactly the right and most opportune times for giving input during our thoughts, they politely gave words of powerful encouragement and valuable insight. Additionally, their “Squad Leader” (Curtis Terrell*) clearly stated that they had come to pray for us because they’d been “mandated” by God to do.
And so they did…they prayed.
They prayed aggressively and with authority.
They prayed with commitment and confidence.
They prayed with fervor and ferocity.
And they prayed with sincerity and tenacity.
I was then, am now and forever shall be grateful for their actions which essentially were outward and visible expressions of love and obedience to God and love for their fellow man (us).
In bringing this week’s submission to a close, I want to mention one more thing that the Bible says about prayer – that the prayers of those whose lives are pleasing to God, whose characters are in right standing with Him; those prayers bring forth an immeasurable amount of benefit (James 5:16).
If the five people who graced my home that evening were not/are not in right standing with God, many, many people today who profess to know and/or have a relationship with God (myself included) are in dire need of help.
These were indeed and undoubtedly people of God, and when the people of God pray (people who consistently live in loving, obeying and serving God in deed more so than word), God is honored, lives are blessed and situations of all sizes and types do certainly benefit.
So, if you’re a “people” of God, I invite you and remind you to pray. Our nation and world has a myriad of needs today.
And people of God need to pray to seek Him for His help in all of them.
* Curtis Terrell is the Pastor of the Restore the Breach Fellowship church in Germantown, MD. USA.
Copyright © Paul Schneidmill 2008 All Rights Reserved