The Purpose of Prayer - Part 2
by Sam Douglass
I left you last month with some unanswered questions, so lets get to those first as we continue to discover what exactly is the PURPOSE OF PRAYER!
The questions I posed to you last month are:
Why is “prayer meeting” the least attended church service?
If prayer is important enough to have JESUS say, “that men ought always to pray”, then why don’t we?
If prayer is important enough to have the Apostle Paul tell the Thessalonians to, “pray without ceasing”, then why don’t we?
In other words, why don’t we think prayer important enough to attend meetings designed specifically for it, and why don’t we think prayer important enough to be in a continuous state of it?
Let me give you some answers that strike me as being true!
WE RATIONALIZE THAT “THERE’S REALLY NO NEED”!
To go to prayer meeting
To always pray
To pray without ceasing
We rationalize by thinking, “God’s word or actions are sovereign”! Why pray? There’s really no need!
When God commanded (Gen 1), “Let there be light”, “LIGHT” had to happen…then…and forevermore! God’s word is LAW! “LIGHT” “HAPPENING” had no choice! God’s sovereign word ordained it, and regardless of my prayers, light would have happened! How could the fact that I go to prayer meetings (or not) and that I pray continuously (or not) have any effect on God’s sovereign will?
Another way we rationalize it is by thinking, GOD is ALL POWERFUL! Why pray? There’s really no need!
Listen, if God parted the red sea just by blowing his nose, what power could my prayers possibly have? How could the fact that I go to prayer meetings (or not) and that I pray continuously (or not) have any effect on God’s matchless power?
We convince ourselves that what God has ordained to happen, will, in fact,
happen!
Has to happen…whether I like it or not! There’s NO REAL NEED TO PRAY!
GOD’s “SOVEREIGN WILL” shall be done! God is just too powerful! There’s nothing that I can do to stop it!
This way of thinking is not only wrong, but it will lead us to believe that our prayers do no good, that there’s really no need to pray, or even if we do pray, our prayer are destined to fail! And , that’s why we don’t pray as we should! WE AVOID THINGS THAT FAIL! Truth is we avoid things that fail like we avoid the plague!
The real reason that we don’t pray the way we should…the way we were instructed by the Apostle Paul…and even by the words of JESUS…is this:
HUMAN NATURE AVOIDS FAILURE!
We don’t say it! We don’t (and won’t) admit it to anybody! NO…that would be admitting that we lack the “big F”: “FAITH”! And that would be heresy! GOD FORBID!
…but…
Most people really believe that prayer works…at least …not for them! In other words….
Most people really believe that their prayers fail! And at best…
Most people really don’t believe that prayer does a lot of good! Period!
YOU SEE…its human nature to avoid things that we think don’t work …even vending machines!
In October 2003, I was flying a trip for Dr. Myles Munroe (whom I consider to be one of the best bible teachers ever) and we were going from Nassau to Trinidad, B.W.I. for the open bible church annual Caribbean Basin International Convention.
We had stopped (at night) for fuel and customs in a Caribbean island nation, and the temperature had to be in the low 90’s with humidity at least 150%! Sweat! I was wet…head to toe! It felt like I had made a wrong turn and we’d landed in hell!!
IT WAS HOT!
As we were waiting for fuel, I noticed that there were some cold drink machines in the corner of the hangar…”AMERICAN” cold drink machines…took dollars and quarters! JACKPOT!
I slid my dollar into the slot…pushed “COKE” button…and waited anxiously while the machine made a few internal grumbling noises…ate my dollar…and to my surprise…no coke! WHAT?!
I decided to help the machine…pressed the “coin return”…no good. Needs more help…so I KICKED THE “COIN RETURN” …STILL…NO GOOD…
I decided to help the machine a little more…shook it…at first kinda easy…straight back and forth…then…when I saw that I wasn’t going to get either my coke to drink or my dollar back…I shook it hard! Back and forth…plus side to side! HA! That ought to do it!
NOPE! No good! Hope Dr. Munroe can’t see!
Not to “lose” to that devil coke machine, I went inside and told the person behind the desk that the coke machine inside the hangar had eaten my dollar bill, then asked if they had quarters for a dollar, cleverly deducting that the problem had to be the “dollar eater slot”! Back to the hangar…quarters in…pressed the coke button…more noises…deep inside the devil coke machine…grinding noises not heard before (quite possibly from being shaken violently?)…but…no coke..drat!
SCORE: Devil Coke Machine – 2; Sam Douglass -0!
Now…You…the reader, don’t know me, so let me give you just a bit of back-ground (history) on me.
I’m a double redneck; born in Alabama, live in Oklahoma and I’ve heard all the jokes so spare me! But I guarantee you this: Mama didn’t raise no fool! I’ve just lost $2.00 in the “Devil coke machine”! Now…what do you think the chances are for double redneck me to put even one more quarter into that “Devil Coke Machine”?
There are two chances: slim and none! Ain’t gonna happen! Know why? Because I know it doesn’t work!
Remember this: ITS HUMAN NATURE TO AVOID THINGS THAT WE THINK DON’T WORK.
Whether it’s a vending machine or prayer!
You see…most people really don’t believe that prayer works…at least…not for them!
In other words, most people really believe that their prayers FAIL, and at best… most people really does a lot of good! Period!
And that’s why most people don’t PRAY LIKE THEY SHOULD!
IT’S HUMAN NATURE TO AVOID FAILURE!
We believe in prayer, answered prayer, praying continuously
1Thessalonians 5: 16-18
Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
About the
author;
Sam Douglass is a Professional Pilot, Business Manager, as well as a
great Christian Teacher. In this series of THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER, each month you
will learn the importance of prayer using scriptures and practical teaching. We
hope that you will enjoy this and it will BLESS you.
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