This is the third in a series of blogs on Prayer as a part of the Armor of God.
Understanding and implementing God’s communication strategy is important for us to stand firmly in our position when challenged by worldly beliefs and doctrines in our daily lives. However, understanding the motivation for prayer is even more profound when we realize that God made it possible for us to approach Him. It is not necessary for us to get God’s attention because we already have it. Since He took the initiative, we must understand that God is in search of us!
The concept of prayer is first mentioned in Genesis 4:26 where we are told, “When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time people first began to worship the Lord by name.” In the New King James Bible version, the last sentence is translated, “Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.”
If you follow the family tree from Adam and Eve, you find that Enosh was born some 235 years after the fall of man (Genesis 5:3-6). You may think, as I did, why did men wait so long to talk with God? Well, having read several books on raising children, perhaps Enosh was the first strong willed child! As a result, Seth may have sought help from the Lord to raise his son. I'm sure many parents, myself included, can relate to this possibility. We have called upon the Lord many times for wisdom in raising our kids. However, in this case with Enosh the Bible does not give us an answer as to why. The irony is that even today many people still do not communicate with God; including many Christians!
The concept of prayer seems very simple; we just talk with God as we would with any friend. Yet, it also seems very complex; what do we talk about with an infinite God? But prayer cannot be discussed only in terms of talking, since it also involves our attitude toward God. In Hebrews 11:6 we are told, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” In this verse God gives us two requirements which define what our attitude toward Him must be when we approach Him. First, we must believe that He is, that He exists. Some people do not even bother talking to God because they don't believe He is there. Second, we must believe that He rewards those who seek Him. Some people talk to God because they believe He exists, but He does not respond to them because they do not believe it makes any difference. However, some people can actually communicate with God, because they understand the true nature of prayer. Therefore, our goal should be to understand the true nature of prayer, and to learn how we can effectively communicate with God who willingly wants to communicate with us.
Hebrews 10:19-22 lays the foundation for some valuable principles concerning our communications with God where it states, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”
What the writer of Hebrews dealt with then, and what we must deal with today, is a concept about prayer based upon an improper attitude toward God. Many people feel that God is distant and uncaring. Others feel that God is only motivated by the sacrifices they are willing to make for Him, or the level of perfection they are able to attain through their own abilities. All to often people feel that they must take the initiative to get God's attention by trying to meet some personal standard for prayer.
The writer of Hebrews refuted these wrong attitudes and told us that God has taken the initiative to communicate with us, and it is His desire that we come to Him as we are! He does this because He wants to communicate with us.
The key phrase in these verses is "Jesus opened a new and life-giving way". In the New King James Bible version this is translated “He consecrated for us”, and it has the meaning of inaugurate or to begin or start officially, implying a public dedication. This phrase states that God publicly took the initiative to communicate with us and gives us the first principle for prayer: God is trying to get our attention!
We are wrong to think that prayer is a means to get God's attention. We have His attention already! The implication of this principle is that God did something to get our attention, and this is the very thing Hebrews is telling us. God sent Jesus to die for us making us presentable before a holy God. In the preceding passage the writer of Hebrews stated how the one sacrifice of Christ was sufficient for us all. Because of Jesus, “our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water” (verse 22). In addition to God's acceptance of us, He established a great priest (that is Jesus) to be our advocate before God (verse 21). What can we possibly do in addition to these things to make ourselves presentable to God? Also, with what God has done, how can we possibly think that He is not interested in us, or that we must somehow entice Him to look our way?
Because of these things the writer of Hebrews said in verse 19 that, "we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus". This becomes the second principle for prayer: Our confidence in approaching God is based upon what He did for us, and not on anything we have done! Therefore, all people come to God at the same level, both believers and unbelievers alike, and there is nothing either can do to change it. The only difference between the believer and unbeliever is that the believer has accepted what God did for them.
Before Jesus' sacrifice, only the Jewish high priest was allowed to enter the holy place of God. Because of Jesus (the great priest) the high priest has been removed and we now have free access to God's presence. This new way did not exist under the old covenant and illustrates the third principle for prayer: God is providing something better! This phrase is used to emphasize freshness and life. God wants to have a direct and fresh relationship with each one of us that we can find alive and effective.
God desires to have a fresh and live relationship with us because we fit into His plans. He is in control of His creation directing its affairs and movements. He wants us to communicate with Him so we can participate in partnership with Him; shaken not stirred.
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All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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