H G – Prayer – July 2006

Prayer is a mighty source of power. We have been made to understand how important prayer is in our lives. When we pray in our quiet times, we are praying one on one with God. We don’t need to pray as we do in a meeting when others are listening in. We pray in the first person, “I.” “I love You, Father. I love Your Way; I love Your Will; I love Jesus; I am thankful for His willingness to live and die a cruel death that I might have a hope of Eternal life. I pray –, I love –, I plead — , I beg –, I ask, I give thanks, etc.” Sometimes, an hour isn’t even long enough to make our petitions known, but we should not pray long prayers in the meeting. An hour may not be long enough for us to hear God speak to us. That is more important than making ourselves heard. We can take as long as we want when we are praying in the secret place. If we prayed short prayers in a meeting, others would have something to express also that has not been expressed several times already.

 

In a meeting, we are praying SHORT prayers together so we pray as a group. We pray in the plural in the meeting. “WE pray, We love, WE ask, WE plead, WE beg , WE are thankful, WE need your forgiveness.” It isn’t judging others when WE pray for forgiveness. We can safely pray in the plural sense because we are praying as a group. Save your personal prayers for personal time with God. Do you realize that when we pray in a meeting, we are praying to God and others are listening in, and we need to speak up so others can hear us? When we speak in a meeting, we need to speak up also because we are speaking to others and God is listening in.

 

We sometimes get nervous and forget how and what we are praying. When we pray, we should pray in Jesus’ name, not in the Father’s name. Not in THY name but Thy SON’s name. Do you get tired of hearing others end their prayers by making their requests in Jesus’ name? I hope not. That is certainly not vain repetition. Vain repetition is praying the same ‘vain’ words because they do not come from the heart, or we are not asking for a present need for right now, for this meeting, but uttering words memorized from having said them so many times in the same sequence, hardly realizing what we are saying. And could vain repetition be praying the same thing over and over, which has already been prayed many times in the meeting, like the people who chant the words of Jesus’ sample prayer and chant, “Lord have mercy,” over and over in their services? Are you guilty of repeating what has been prayed already MANY times? If we would remember this, we would not be praying long prayers in the meeting and we would not be seeking to use pretty words for other’s ears. God doesn’t need to hear fancy words; He knows what words we are thinking before we speak them, so our prayers should be in simplicity.

 

Do we think it pleases God more to ask of Him in His own name than simply do what Jesus told His disciples and ask in Jesus’ name or in Christ‘s name? Do we think, “The other twenty or twenty-five in the meeting have asked in Jesus’ name, so I will end my prayer differently?” We should be VERY AWARE that we are asking OF God in His Son Jesus Christ’s name, making a few simple requests known as a group so all can say AMEN. Can this be impressed upon us enough? May we be teachable, as the Holy Spirit seeks to teach us, so that our prayers may be heard and our times together would be profitable.