Grace For The Journey

  The Bible tells us in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes . . .” and in Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.”  God gives us power through the indwelling of His Spirit and through the means of grace the Spirit uses to apply that power to us.

Yesterday, we looked at the power available to us in God’s living and active Word.  Today we will look at another means of grace – prayer – and see if we are plugged into it . . . or unplugged.

Numerous times God speaks about the power and ability of prayer in His Word . . .

Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Ephesians 6:18, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing (continually) . . .”

James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you . . .”

As you can see from these Bible passages listed above . . .

We are not only invited into prayer;

We are commanded to pray.

I believe one of the main reasons we are commanded to pray is to help us overcome our own sense of unworthiness in coming to the Throne of Grace.  We may often feel unworthy, especially after we have done something we ought not to have done.  When the devil bombards us with his accusations, we can begin to believe that heaven’s gate has been closed to us.

This is simply NOT TRUE; and that is why we must remember that we are commanded to come to Jesus . . . just as we are . . . at all times, on all occasions . . . to seek His face and invite Him to work in our lives!

The Bible provides a great example of the downside of neglecting to pray.

If we neglect our Lord’s instruction to pray,

We will free fall into temptation and disobedience.

John 18:10-11, “Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to pray and told His disciples, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’ So what did they do? They went to sleep. And what happened to the beloved apostle Peter immediately after that? He tumbled face-first into temptation.  Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)  Jesus commanded Peter put his sword away because He had to drink the cup the Father has given me. (John 18:10-11)

Luke 22:33-34, “He (Peter) replied, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know Me.’”

Luke 22:59-62, “About an hour later another asserted, ‘Certainly this fellow was with Him, for he is a Galilean.’  Peter replied, ‘Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.”

What is true of Peter is true of all of us.

Our public fall always begins with our private fall

When we neglect the disciplines of grace God has given to us.

Charles Spurgeon warned that, “A neglected [prayer] closet is the beginning of all spiritual decline.”

Our Lord set the model for a life of prayer.  If we truly are His disciples, our lives should be marked by prayer.  Remember, the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16).

So . . . how is your prayer life these days?

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”