1
Timothy 2:1, 8
I
urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and
thanksgiving be made for all people—
Therefore
I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or
disputing.
In
the Encyclopedia of Illustrations, Maxwell Droke shared the story of a noted
clergyman who was asked by a colleague why the loud, vehement praying of
his earlier days had given way to a more quiet, persuasive manner of speech.
The clergyman laughed and said, “When I was young, I thought it was the thunder
that killed people, but when I grew up I discovered it was lightning. So I
determined that in the future I would thunder less and lighten more.”
There
is one important lesson that we learn in prayer. Prayer
shows the power of God in us (2 Corinthians 4:7). For when we pray, we invoke
God’s power. This power is available to us, to make us confident of what God
can do for us. Having this confidence of
God’s power, our prayers life should show results.
How then
do prayers show results?
First, let us understand that prayer has two
directions. Prayer is both vertical and horizontal.
Prayer
is vertical when its direction is from top to bottom or bottom to top. When we pray, we pray to God who is in heaven. Prayer
comes from the lowly state to the heavenly power, from the plebeian point to
the high and holy place. Prayer is directed from the heart of the abject and dejected
to the throne of the high and lofty One (Isaiah 57:15).
This
prayer brings vertical dependence on God. Without
God who is our confidence and the source of power, we are nothing.
The
direction of our prayer is upward to heavens. Our
prayer does not stop at the ceiling. Our
prayer of dependence does not go sideways. It
does not depend on people around us. It
does not depend on idols or graven images around us. It does not depend on resources around us. Our prayer is our vertical dependence to God.
Prayer
is also horizontal.
Being horizontal, the direction of prayer is
sideways. When we pray, we pray for
people around us. We pray for family
members. We pray for friends. We pray for circumstances around us. Being horizontal, prayer brings blessings.
With
our prayers, we can ask for blessings for other people. We pray to God to bring blessings to other people.
As the direction of our prayers is sideways to
other people, our prayers do not stop at ourselves. Our prayers of blessings do not stop at our own wall
or door. They do in fact, allow our lives
to be channels of blessings when we pray for others.
Whether
vertical or horizontal, prayer comes from a source. The source of prayer is the believer. God both commanded us and empowered us to pray.
Praying is God’s command to all believers (1
Thessalonians 5:17; Matthew 26:41; Luke 18:1; Ephesians 6:18). Being commanded by God to pray earnestly,
continuously, and patiently, the believers are the very sources of prayers. We
cannot expect someone who does not believe in God to call upon God in prayer. As
God commanded the believers to pray, He expects us to do so in obedience.
Prayer
is also God’s empowerment to all believers (Acts 4:31; Luke 11:13; Philippians
1:19; James 5:17-18).
The
great men of faith in the Old Testament had proven the power of prayer. Elijah prayed for rain and he received the answer to
his prayers (1 Kings 18:45-46). Hannah
prayed for a child despite the barrenness of her womb and she received the
answer to her prayer (1 Samuel 1:20). Samson
prayed for strength and God empowered him with such strength that torn down the
whole building (Judges 16:28). Jonah’s
prayer for salvation while he was inside the belly of the big fish was heard by
God and he was rescued (Jonah 2:1-9). King
Asa, one of the righteous kings of Judah prayed for victory in battle and God
answered him and gave him victory (2 Chronicles 14:11).
The
New Testament accounts of the power of prayer are as compelling as the Old
Testament accounts of powerful prayer. The
leper’s prayer for healing was heeded by Jesus Christ (Matthew 8:2). The thief at the cross cried out to Jesus Christ to
remember him when Jesus returns to His kingdom (Luke 23:42)-43. The repentant tax collector prayed for mercy and Jesus
Christ taught that his act of prayer made his justified (Luke 18:13-14).
The centurion in Capernaum prayed for Jesus to heal his servant who is sick of
palsy and Jesus Christ healed his servant according to his faith (Matthew
8:5-13). Peter prayed the prayer of distress when he started sinking in the
high waves and Jesus Christ saved him (Matthew 14:30-31).
As
believers, we can pray for two main reasons. When we
recognize these two reasons, we can accomplish all the other reasons to pray, both
vertically and horizontally.
We pray for the fear of God.
Psalm 86:11: each me your way, Lord, that I
may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your
name.
Scriptures
have shown in many different instances the essence of the fear of God. When
we pray for the fear of God, we pray because the fear of God is a positive
thing rather than a negative one.
Consider these
examples:
Then
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah
and Puah: 16 “When
you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the
baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 But
because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They
allowed the boys to live, too (Exodus 1:15-17).
So
Joseph put them all in prison for three days. 18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing
man. If you do as I say, you will live (Genesis 42:17-18).
But
select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate
bribes. Appoint them as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred,
fifty, and ten (Exodus 18:21).
The
fear of the Lord in these scriptural passages show us that the fear of God
compels His people to obey Him rather than obey human sinful instincts. The
Hebrews midwives fear God and allowed the Hebrew baby boys to live. Joseph
fears God and suppressed his human desire to exact vengeance upon his brothers. The
Hebrews leaders were chosen by Moses because of their fear of God is a mark of
their honesty and integrity in leading the people of God.
This
fear of God builds lives, guides decisions, sets godly people apart from the
ungodly.
Why
do we pray for the fear of God?
In Exodus 20:20, we read, “Don’t be afraid,”
Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that
your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”
In Matthew 10:28, we find this: “And do not fear those
who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy
both soul and body in hell.
In 2 Corinthians 7:1, we are encouraged that “having
therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
These
passages are teaching us that praying saves us from yielding or surrendering to
our own sinful nature.
The Bible
also teach us about the lack of fear of God.
The
book of Romans in chapter 3, verses 10-18 says, “As the Scriptures say, No one
is righteous—not even one. 11 No
one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. 12 All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does
good, not a single one.’ 13 ‘Their
talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with
lies.’ ‘Snake venom drips from their lips.’ 14 ‘Their
mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’ 15 ‘They rush to commit murder. 16 Destruction and misery always follow them. 17 They don’t know where
to find peace.’ 18 ‘They
have no fear of God at all.’ ”
Thus,
the lack of fear of God is sinfulness. We pray
therefore, that the fear of God be our strength to say no to sin and to say yes
to the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
We pray for the love of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19: For this cause I bow my
knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 of whom the whole family in heaven and
earth is named, 16 that he would grant you, according to the
riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner
man; 17 that
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in
love, 18 may
be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 and to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
God
is not only a powerful God. He is also a loving God. He desires that we are filled with His love through the
Holy Spirit.
As
Paul spent over three years with the Ephesian church, he has loved them and
longed to see them live faithfully with God. We
spend our entire life loving our family, loving our neighbors, loving our
enemies, loving even those who are so difficult to live. We pray for the love
of God because we know that it is extremely difficult to love unconditionally.
We pray that God, with all His mercies and compassion, teach us to recognize
that the people who are the most difficult to
love are the ones who needed love the most.
We
know the power of God through prayer. When we
pray for the love of God, then we can pray for anything that pertains to our
neighbors, to our friends, to our brothers, to our sisters, to our enemies,
even to our loved ones who are difficult to love.
When
we ask for the fear of God and the love of God, God grants us these capacities
to fear Him, to revere Him, to honor Him, and to love others more than we love
ourselves.
There
is power in prayers, especially when they are prayed in the fear and the love
of God. Such is the power that created godly men and women that God is using
for His kingdom. This power of prayer was made manifest in the lives of God’s
people who love to do so. When a young preacher just settled in his first
pastorate in Philadelphia, he was visited one evening by one of the laymen of
his church. The layman said bluntly to the young preacher, "You are not a
strong preacher. In the usual order of things, you will fail here, but a little
group of us have agreed to gather every Sunday morning to pray for you!"
The young preacher saw that a group of people grow to more than one thousand
praying weekly for him. The minister was J. Wilbur Chapman, who grew to be one of the greatest
preachers America has ever known.
