Luke 11:2 -So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven…”
I think it is noteworthy, that Jesus said, “When you pray” and not “if” you pray. Unfortunately, statics show (I’ve often wondered who were the people they surveyed) that most Christians spend very little time in prayer. So I thought that I would repost this blog, since I’m in the midst of blogging about prayer.
What happens when you pray? Are your prayers being answered? Are they seemingly not being heard? Does nothing happen? Does something happen every now and again?
This scripture resonateds with me and I couldn’t help but ask myself, “What happens when you pray?” What happened when Jesus prayed?
So let’s take a look at what I discovered about what happened when Jesus prayed:
- Luke 3:21- the heavens opened up while He prayed
- Luke 5:16-He prayed often in the wilderness and the paralyzed and many others were healed
- Luke 6:12-After praying all night, He chose the 12 disciples
- Luke 9:29-As He prayed, He was transfigured (His appearance and His clothing changed; and Moses and Elijah appeared with Him)
- Luke 11:1-As He prayed, His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray
- Matthew 14:23-30- After He prayed, He walked on water and so did Peter
- Matthew 26-He prayed and then He went to the cross
- Mark 1:35-He prayed in a solitary place and cast out demons and cleansed the lepers
- John 14:16- He prayed and the Father sent the Holy Spirit to be our Helper
This is just a quick list of the things that happened when Jesus prayed. In other words, when Jesus prayed, something was always happening!
Charles Finney, considered the Father of Modern Revival, was not brought up in a Christian home. It wasn’t until he was pursuing the law that he was even near a church that he could attend regularly. Charles began to attend the weekly prayer meetings that were held near the law offices that he worked in. It was his study of the law that got him interested in religion, because much of the law was based on Scriptures.
Finney began to notice that even though he went to prayer meetings weekly, no prayers that were prayed were ever answered. This troubled him so deeply he almost walked away from the Bible and Christianity. When the prayer group offered to pray for him, he said no thanks! How sad is that? To have someone say to you that they don’t want your prayers because they have not seen your prayers answered is insulting!
I am convinced that when we pray, something should be happening all the time. The Bible mentions in detail, less than 40 miracles that Jesus performed, but then multitudes were often healed when He was around. I believe He made such an impact, because He prayed often, He prayed effectively, and He left the evidence to support this!
I believe in prayer! I’ve seen some wonderful things happen as a result of prayer! Private prayer, prayer groups, and corporate prayer! God answers prayer! Charles Finney did eventually figure out the power of prayer and God used him mightily during the Second Great Awakening in America. Maybe you haven’t seen your prayers answered, or feel inadequate in your prayer life. I can understand the frustration that will produce. But I encourage you to be like Finney! Don’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself; learn to pray and to pray effectively. One of the first things he did was to study what the Bible has to say about pray and how God delights in giving His children the kingdom! Then he began to pray knowing that God heard him and wanted to answer him. I can assure you that he saw many of his prayers answered.
As I was thinking about my blog for today, I just had a desire to read some of my past blogs on prayer, and found this one. As I reread it, I decided it would be my post. As I began looking at, I had to add some new thoughts to it. Prayer is such an important part of the life of the believer. Not an exercise, but a time spent communing with the Father, and Him with you. A time of asking and receiving. A time of gaining strength and wisdom. A time of power! Jesus prayed often, and if we want to be anything like Him, and do anything He did, we are going to have to pray, also. More to come! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 