The DNA of Prayer (Part I)

Beloved,

Last Sunday morning I shared the following building blocks of prayer.  Citing the Church in Acts as the quintessential example, I made the strong point of suggesting that we must learn to pray and we must ensure people know what to do while at prayer, rather than to assume that our brothers and sisters know how to pray.  Therefore, the following DNA helix - shared in the form of "Ws" (Part I) and "Ts" (Part II)  - may help you to realize your role as a royal priest with greater joy, purpose and biblical compass...

(1)  Worship...  The purpose of prayer is to worship the Lord.  Period.  No other reason is greater or more central to the Christian life than to worship the Lord through prayer.  We should pray seeking nothing more than to bask in God's radiance and love.  To cuddle under His wing and to feel the peace of His pasture and presence.

(2)  Will... Prayer affords us with unlimited access to God's will and purposes.  Through prayer, we will comprehend the Scriptures and know the plans of God, while simultaneously acquiring greater trust in our Lord.  To believe in God is not sufficient.  Even the demons believe in God.  What makes us different to them, eh?  WE MUST TRUST CHRIST...  Blind, radical surrender... this is trust in Jesus Christ defined.  We can only grow in said trust if we know our Lord and become well acquainted with His will.  The more we know His will and the more we trust God, the more we will desire to do His will and to pray for His will to be done in the lives of those we intercede for; as well as in our very own.

(3)  With... Communion with God comes only though prayer.  How can you gauge the health of your life in and with Christ?  Ask yourself how often do you pray.  That is the measuring stick, the standard of our relationship with Jesus Christ.  To speak about Him isn't sufficient.  We must to Him, too.  In fact, talking to the Lord is rudimentary and must always serve as prologue to ministry.  Seeking to be in His presence and to commune with our Father in heaven is our daily bread and nourishment.  Think of it as spiritual communion, a spiritual expression of the Lord's Supper.  And in so doing, we experience joy, we are strengthen and equipped for the next W...

(4)  Win... God promises to give us all the territory and new ground that we consecrate in His name and that we toil in for His glory, honor and purposes.  Let us remember Joshua and the promises God gave to him should He remain strong and courageous.  Where do we find unlimited quantities of strength, courage and faith?  We must always be connected to the power source.  In Pilates, the powerhouse is the center of the body.  For the Church body, the powerhouse, the power source is God Almighty.  This is the center of our being and the source of all control.  We will win ground in our marriages, families, friendships, missions, ministries, plans and purposes, is we commend all of these relationships and enterprises to God and hand them over - totally and completely - to Him.   This can only be done in prayer.  All will remain surrendered through the power of prayer as well.  Only through prayer will we have steadfast trust in His will, desire His pleasure and be filled with every good thing necessary for our being able to remain faithful & burden free.

(5)  Weep...  We will enter the heart of the Kingdom of God when we learn to cry.  Weeping is the outpouring of a broken heart.  When we come to Christ and we set our tears before His throne of grace, we ignite the mercy seat.  Through a broken heart, we find ourselves being humbled, our pride and pretension are pulled from under our feet like a rug and all the dust and grime of our sin and past that we've tried to drag under that infamous and proverbial rug is ripped underneath the "polite" and "proper" appearances of our "having it all together" and of being "fine".  

Our next post will discuss the "Ts" of prayer.

Until then, blessings to each of you and may you experience unimaginable joy, grace and beauty as you pray and bask in the Lord's light, power and mercy...

Pastor Daniel