The Hidden Benefits of Prayer
If you were to survey the Christian books I have read, the Bible studies I have taught there would be a recurrent theme in them; prayer. I would not say I was an expert in prayer as I would say F.B. Myers or Andrew Murray was, but it does make a statement. I am passionate about prayer. I have and have had a lifestyle of prayer for many years. I think I could safely stand before God and say, most of my life as a believer prayer has been a part of my life, an important part. Do I say this to boast, no? Do I say it to encourage yes, to admonish, yes? Do I say it to defend, yes both myself and the Father. I am a witness that God answers prayer, that he hears us in heaven and responds in compassion and understanding. He is my witness that I belong to Him. In answering my prayer He shows the world that I am in right relationship with Him. It is a very good thing to be God’s witness and to be shown approved. What better way to live. Do you wonder if you are accepted by God? Pray and you will know.
You have heard it said that we should not just pray for our own benefit, out of selfish motive or just in time of crisis. That I am sure is the topic of many a Bible study class or Sunday school lesson. The manner in which we pray, or the position in which we pray all concern the disciple of prayer and are worth of our attention. They are tools to be picked up and used. Then there are the obstacles to prayer and the means to overcome. That too is a subject that will encourage and invigorate your quiet time.
But what I mean by the hidden benefit of prayer is what is does in context to our relationships with others. I first caught a glimpse of this in all places, an AA book meeting. I met once a week with a group to read through and discuss AA’s 12 Step Program, the topic making amends. For the uninitiated that is a foreign concept, though completely Biblical, although I am afraid unfamiliar in the church today. To make amends requires someone to have grasps the fact that things they have done and said have injured another. It requires deep repentance. A repentance genuine enough to cause you to seek the other person out and not only to ask for forgiveness, but to pay restitution if that is in order or to ask the open question, what can I do to change things, what can I do to restore you to where you were before I did you harm. It is not an easy task. There is no guarantee the person will receive you nor accept that your motives are above board. According the 12 Step Program it is the only way to true sobriety. That is a sobriety which goes beyond abstainance to a lifestyle of living right before God and man. It is a lifestyle what through a radical change of heart desires to do the right thing no matter how difficult, no matter what the cost.
In my tangled life at the time, where all and I mean all of my relationships had suffered because of my drinking it was not an easy place to be in at that meeting. And like all good alcoholics I had lived under the delusion that things just weren’t my fault. So to squarely place the blame in my court, own up to it and act upon it, was BIG. And how did the old timers as we called them tell us to do that? Simple; to pray. Pray everyday for that person until you were able to act. We understood we were not released from that until we were able to follow through and make amends. That is what we became willing to make amend is all about, praying for others. I tell you it will revolutionize your heart in broken relationships. It works backwards too. When there are those who have offended you, pray for them. They may never seek you out for reconciliation or to make amends but it will free you up to live with an unfettered heart.
Prayer not only mends broken relationships it bonds us together in a way that can only be described as supernatural. Do you feel alone; left out, then pray. Better yet join a group to pray regularly, like the Watchman Group. See it doesn’t even matter if you are physically together, something happens when we pull together with others with a common purpose and goal. But even beyond that when it is a partnership with the Father to further his Kingdom than I tell you the unseen results are amazing. Prayer can be difficult, but the rewards are too great to be missed. I can tell you my closest most godly and enduring relationships have been forged in times of prayer. That is why I do not pass up a time to pray for or with anothers. That is why I still do my Watchman time for HGBC. I do not want to miss what God has in store. I do not have to be physically present to be in your midst.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:3-11