The value of your prayer

 

Ephesians 3:11-13

Do you pray with boldness, and do you go before the Father with confidence?  Why is it that many who have put their faith in Christ place little are no value in their prayers?  I have talked with enough people to know that I am not the only one who has experienced the lack of faith in my prayers, at some point in my life in Christ. 

In my search to find some understanding I turned to a man after God’s own heart, the Psalmist David, “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?  And who shall stand in his holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.  He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.  Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.” (Psalm 24:3-6)  I believe king David nailed this one, it is a heart problem, I want God to do what I want, and that will not work.  Jesus told us to pray in this manner; “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10)

Often, it has been my lack of understanding of my place in the family of God, I did not understand that it was not my performance but my position in Christ, the apostle Paul states, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba Father!” (Romans 8:14-15)  It may be helpful to have kept reading because in verse 16, is states that we who are in Christ are children of God, and 17 says, we are heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.  From my own experience it is clear that the normal Christian will never seek first the kingdom of God, they are too full of self, it is only when we come to the understanding that in Christ is fullness, in the world is tribulation.

We will come to the understanding of this truth when Ephesians 2:18 opens our heart to the understanding that through Christ Jesus we have access to the Father by the Holy Spirit.  It also will become clear that in Christ Jesus we have a relationship with the Father, we are his children, and we are greatly loved. “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” (Ephesians 3:12)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice