11-10-2014

Good Morning All,

         Psalm 28:2; “Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.”

     I have been asked numerous times the basic question, “why pray?”  The logic of the person asking the question goes something like this.  Since God is unchangeable, since he knows the future and what is best and since his will is always followed then “why pray?”  On the face of it, this may seem like a logical question to some and it may seem like a faithless fatalism to others.  It is probably somewhere in the middle.

    Why do we pray?  Our first and foremost reason should be because God tells us to.  This is not because God has some need that we must fill; rather God tells us to pray because it is beneficial for us.  It does us good to pray.  When you and I pray, we are the main beneficiaries of the prayer.  We benefit by expressing to God our fears, our dreams, our desires and all of our thoughts.  God gives us the gift of prayer that we might be comforted, that we might be strengthened and that we may come to know his peace.

   So does praying make a difference? Definitely!  Does it change God’s mind?  No one can ever know.  We know that God is a God that is unchanging but we also know that he is a God whose love for us is the greatest love ever to exist.  God’s love is far beyond our comprehension.  So can God be moved by the pleas of his people?  We cannot say that He can’t or won’t.  God is God and his ways are above our ways so in the end it is all about faith.

   Since God’s love for us is beyond our understanding; his actions for us are going to be the best for us.  So he invites us to pray so that we will know that he is there for us; that he is near to us.  He invites us to come to him the same way that a small child comes to his father with a love and a longing; with a trust that, what is asked will be given.  So we pray with that same boldness.  God answers prayer; he has promised us this.  His answers may take a form or shape that we are aware of but God will answer your prayers.

   God will use your prayers to shape you and to form you into the disciple that he wants you to be; a follower who is completely dependent upon Him and one who relies solely on God’s goodness and mercy.  This means that we turn to prayer first and not last.  It means that we should always be in a state of prayer where we lift up to God those things that are upon our heart, trusting in God’s grace to provide for us.

   Does God answer our prayers? Yes.  Do our prayers change God? We don’t know.  Do our prayers change us? God uses them to do so.  Should we pray? Absolutely!  We will be strengthened and encouraged because we do.

Father of grace, you hear us and give us comfort through prayer.  As you hear us cry out, your love is poured down.  Be with those who doubt or are unsure of your active mercy in their life.  Guard them by your loving arms.  Give them the certainty of your love for them.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret