PRAYER LIFE, PART 2

‘Now I am departing the world; I am leaving them behind and coming to you. Holy Father, keep them and care for them -- all those you have given me -- so that they will be united just as we are.’
(John 17:11)

There is no better place to spend a week than at my church’s annual Bible camp. Depending upon the job you have, your day is either physically or emotionally rugged.  Mine is always emotionally charged because my job is to be a counselor for high school girls.  More about that later…

Last time, I left you with a question: So why do we tend to read with such a bent towards being more like the tax collector, in Luke 18: 9-11?  What I mean by this question is that when you read this story about these 2 men, do you, like me, think, ‘wow, I am so glad that I don’t think like this Pharisee.’

Does God really listen to us? Does our morality chart dictate how closely God listens and answers our prayer? Could we expect God to hear our prayer if we, like the tax collector, spent a week cheating people out of their money and then take a knee in prayer? “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, 'O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.” Luke 18:13

I don’t recommend living a lifestyle like the tax collector, but we need to remember that our morality does not dictate God’s listening power. God doesn’t work that way. Remember that when Jesus was on the cross, He said, “It is Finished!” John 19:30. 

When you accept Jesus as your Lord of Lords and your personal Savior, He gives you grace. You cannot buy more of it. And you cannot lose it. We can be confident that God listens to our prayers no matter what we’ve done.

Like I said earlier, my job at Bible camp was to be a counselor for high school girls. This year my awesome co-counselor and I had 14 girls. We spent many hours in prayer. In fact, at any moment of the day and night, you could find us huddled, praying just about anywhere throughout the entire campus. 

Why? Because anytime there was a challenge, especially when you’re dealing with large groups of people, on any level, we immediately sought wisdom and grace from God. We needed level thinking to prevail and I find that prayer works to calm emotions. It allows people to take a time out and reframe. It allows the ‘me’ in us to become the ‘we’ in us.  And that is what God wants from us.

You learn a lot about Jesus in his prayer to the Father in John 17. You learn where His heart is. I like this prayer because it makes me feel very loved and cared for by Jesus.  (John 17:11 is written out at the top of the page.)  Jesus is getting ready to go to the cross and is thinking about my welfare - ‘…Holy Father, keep them and care for them…’   Sorry folks, but if I was headed to the cross, I surely would not be thinking about you. But Jesus was thinking about you and me. He wasn’t ‘me’ centered but ‘we’ centered.  Prayer makes me look outwardly when praying inwardly. Does that make sense?

Further down in John 17:21, Jesus talks about how He wants us to be one with each other. ‘My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father -- that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me.’

Each time my co-counselor and I would stop and engage others in prayer, it was to become one with our Father. It was to help a teen become one in the body of Christ. Prayer is powerful. We saw teens come to know Christ as their Savior and then be baptized. We saw teens repent of chemical abuse, gay lifestyles, sexual activity, teens that were broken and lost and now found. Prayer is powerful.

We started the week with a cabin full of 14 me’s. After a week of loving on them and praying for and with them; we ended our week with a cabin united as ‘we’.

There was a sign on one of the walls at camp that read: ‘Keep calm & carry on.’  I’d make one change to the sign – ‘Keep calm, pray & carry on.’

Does God hear us? Yes. Does He answer our prayers? Yes. Do you want to learn more about how to pray? Just open your Bible and read all the prayers that Jesus prayed to His Father.  God isn’t looking for perfection. He is looking for how we handle our situations when we don’t have it all figured out. He wants us to depend upon Him to figure it out for us.

God has a plan for you. However, we must seek Him to know the plan. ‘For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  In those days when you pray, I will listen.’ Jeremiah 29:11-12 (my emphasis)

Let’s pray. Father, I pray that this message about the importance of prayer will fall deeply into the hearts of many people. Lord and I pray that if there is one that is lost and broken, that they would accept Your gift of salvation and grace this day. Father, I pray that you would heal broken families. Reunite loved ones. Help us to forgive one another and ourselves for the things that we have burdened others with and are burdened by ourselves.  You are our only refuge in times of trouble. Only by Your grace and mercy can we accomplish Your plans for our lives. Thank you for never judging us and for loving us first. In Jesus’ strong Name we pray. Amen.

Until next time~

Blessings, Nancy