Today, Thursday September 16
The Place and Power of Prayer 1 John 5:14-15 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
One of my favorite quotes by Oswald Chambers is, “It’s not so much that prayer changes things, but that prayer changes me and then I change things.” I really don’t think too many of us really know and understand the place and power that prayer should have in our lives! In these two verses before us today we again find that is something we can know! The phrase “we know” is used twice concerning prayer.
Remember this Epistle of John is full of “we knows”. First “we know” that God loves us because He gave His Son Jesus Christ to die for us. (1 John 4:10) “We know” we don’t have to fear or worry because perfect or maturing love cast out all fear! (1 John 4:18) “We know” who the children of God are because they bear the birthmarks of their Father in heaven. (1 John 5:1-5) “We know” who Jesus is because of the witnesses that God has given us concerning His Son. (1 John 5:6-9) “We know” that we have eternal life because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the assurances of God in His written Word!
It is one thing to know that Jesus is God and that we are God's children; but what about the needs and problems of daily life? Jesus helped people when He was here on earth; does He still help them today? Earthly fathers take care of their children; does the Heavenly Father respond when we as His children call on Him?
Christians have confidence in prayer, just as they have confidence as they await the judgment (1 John 2:28; 4:17). As we have seen, the word confidence means "freedom of speech." We can come to the Father freely and tell Him our needs.
Yes, today “we can know” that our Father in heaven will hear and answer our prayers if we ask according to His will! If there is anything that the devil wants us to neglect in our lives, it is prayer. As a pastor over the last forty plus years, I noticed that if we announced a “play” night at our church gym we would have the place filled with “players”. But if we announced a “prayer” night, only a few prayers would show up.
Someone has said, “Prayerlessness is the greatest sin a believer can commit.” I think they might be right. Because when we are not praying, it means that we think we can accomplish what needs to done in our own strength and wisdom. In other words, when we don’t pray we are telling God we don’t need Him.
May the Lord help us today to realize the place and power that prayer should have in our lives every day!
God bless!