ZNP Blog -

[ZNPaaneah]

The Lord taught us to pray “thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven”. Ellicott sums up the paradox very well:

“The real difficulty in the prayer is, that it lands us, as before, in a mystery which we cannot solve. It assumes that even the will of God is in part dependent on our wills, that it will not be done unless we so pray. The question, “Who hath resisted this will? Does it not ever fulfill itself?” forces itself on our thoughts. And the answer is found, as before, in accepting the seeming paradox of prayer. In one sense the will of God, which is also the eternal law, must fulfil itself; but it is one thing for that law to work in subduing all things to itself, another for it to bring all created wills into harmony with itself. And in really praying for this we, as before, in part fulfill the prayer.”

The first mention of prayer was concerning the building of the house of David and building the house of God. It was to be a house of prayer. A place where the people of the world could come and lay their petition before God. But that got abused and false prophets turned the house of prayer into a den or thieves.

This is one of the cornerstones of prayer. The second is that the prayer of the upright is God’s delight. It is the mystery of God’s will that He desires us to pray for His will to be done and to do it. Just as Jesus said “all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive”. This is how God glorifies Himself and how his servants prosper, something else that God delights in.

The third cornerstone is to “persevere in prayer”. As James said, patience is required for a perfect work. God delights in a perfect man. This can never happen without perseverance in prayer.

The fourth cornerstone is that God delights in loving kindness. This matter of prayer stands on faith and lovingkindness. As a consequence it reveals the faithless, and the wicked. It reveals those who devour widow’s houses, and those whose hands are full of blood. God delights in loving kindness, but this reveals those who are perverse in heart and those who have turned a deaf ear to the Lord’s instructions.

Look at the context of the Lord's instructions on prayer:

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

What did Peter say to the poor beggar -- "silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give to thee"

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

This is clearly a continuation. Hypocrites make a big show of giving to the poor, and that show is their reward. Likewise, the religious hypocrites make a big show of their prayers.

Likewise, "7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

This babbling reveals faithlessness.

[ZNPaaneah]

Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah

“The real difficulty in the prayer is, that it lands us, as before, in a mystery which we cannot solve. It assumes that even the will of God is in part dependent on our wills, that it will not be done unless we so pray.”

Perhaps an analogy can help visualize this mystery. Recently my car needed to be repaired. The secondary air pump, part of the catalytic converter, was not working. However, what in fact was not working was not the air pump but a switch. This switch turns the pump on when the car is cold and turns it off once the car has warmed up.

This could be our function in prayer. We pray according to God's will (that is like the switch turning on when the car is cold and turning it off when the car warms up). Our prayer is to the power source, the transmission of that power is the spirit or electricity traveling to the pump, and the pump is answer to that prayer.

[ZNPaaneah]

"Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries"

"The mystery of God's will" is a mystery. If God does not reveal it, then so be it. However, God is "the revealer of mysteries". We learned this in Daniel.

[ZNPaaneah]

I think that many of us when we pray would like the Lord to hear us. To hear us when we call.

In the same way the Lord tells Saul that to obey is better than sacrifice. The Lord also wants us to hear Him when He calls.

We are probably familiar with these preachers who hawk God's word and say "you can't out give God". So I would ask, can you out listen God? That would be a good experiment. Let's see if you can be more attentive to God's speaking than God is to yours?

James says the "effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much". Interesting criteria. What is "effectual fervent" prayer? Well, when you are praying to be saved, that is my best example of fervent prayer. Perhaps you are drowning, perhaps you are about to be evicted, and yes, perhaps you are on death row. Now a person in that situation generally has a very specific prayer, something that can be done, something that is effectual.

But James also puts in the criteria "of a righteous man". There are many instances in the Bible where God admits that the unrighteous are crying fervently to Him, but that He will not hear them because they did not listen to Him. You cannot ignore God and be righteous. You cannot ignore the nagging conscience and be righteous. You cannot disobey God's word and be righteous.

So then, we know that God desires all men to be saved, that is His will. We also know that the "effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much". Put that together and the first step is to listen to God, to obey His word. Step 2 is to realize when you need God's intervention, and step 3 is that effectual fervent prayer. If you ignore step 1 then obviously your prayer may not avail very much.