More Than A Crisis Prayer
Rise and Shine for Jesus! \O/
By Pam Iannello (my late mother)
A ministry of New
Beginnings Baptist
Church
When has an emergency or personal problem caused you to pray? It's interesting how these are the times that
we can always be found beseeching the Lord for His help. But what about when there is no emergency,
what about when there is no crisis in our lives, are we praying then?? Why do you think it is that personal crises
motivate people to pray more? Do you
think perhaps we might need to change our attitude toward prayer if this is
usually the case?
Psalm
5:1-2 (KJV)
Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation.
Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
Just like us, David prayed to the Lord when he had big
problems. But did you notice the way
he prayed? His words sound like a pretty
bold approach, don't they? And there is a desperate ring to them as well. No
doubt about it, when emergencies and problems come into our lives we ache for
the Lord to hearken unto us! We want -
and need - God to listen to our cries for help and consider our pleas. Like
David, during these times we have chosen our King and have laid our cares at
His feet, trusting Him for guidance. What a privilege we have as God’s children
to go to His throne of grace during the most difficult times of our lives! It
gives us an advantage over our enemies that they do not have. Those that do not
know the Lord do not have such wonderful access to divine help. Therefore the wicked are limited in their
ability to overcome the righteous.
Praise God for the power and privilege of prayer....
Incidentally, how and when we pray reveals much about the person
we are. It also reveals much about our attitude
toward prayer. Just what was David's attitude toward prayer? Was he guilty of
only praying in a personal crisis?
Psalm 5:3 (KJV)
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the
morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
I think David had a proper attitude toward prayer because the
Bible says here that God heard his voice EVERY morning! In other words, he wasn't just a
crisis-prayer. David purposely directs
his attentions and his voice toward the Lord daily, every morning. As a matter of fact, we find over in Psalm
55:17 that David prays in the evening, morning AND at noon. Do you pay the Lord
that much attention, dear lady? Does the
Lord hear your voice that often? Did He
hear your voice this morning, or will He only hear it when you have a personal
crisis??
I like what David said at the conclusion of verse three; he said, "and
will look up". To me this
imparts an attitude of respect. When you are engaged in conversation, do you
usually look directly AT people or only throw them a glance
intermittently? Do others look directly
at you when chatting with you? How do
you feel if the person you are addressing is focused elsewhere? Looking at people directly while
speaking to them is certainly respectful behavior. When my children were younger and didn't
focus in on me when I was talking to them, I would say, "Look at my
eyes!" To do this shows that you
have placed value upon on individuals and are intent upon listening and
learning. It proves that you WANT to
hear and understand the other party. So
it is when we pray to the Lord... What do you think David was looking for when
he looked up in his time of prayer?
Certainly he was looking for the Lord to intervene on his behalf in
specific matters. I'm sure he was also
looking for hope, daily guidance, definite answers, peace that passes all
understanding, and strength that only God can give. Yes, David was looking to learn about the God
who saved his soul...
Matthew
11:29 (KJV)
Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye
shall find rest unto your souls.
Ladies, prayer offers us a greater glimpse of our heavenly
Father! Are you looking up in prayer
with the attitude that you want to learn more about the Lord? Have you fixed your eyes upon the Lord yet
today? Are you looking daily to Him for
guidance or just rambling aimlessly through your daily list of prayer requests
while thinking about the other things that need your attention? If so, you need to change your attitude
toward prayer! You're missing out on
really KNOWING the Lord.... You see, we
must discipline ourselves to reverently focus on God's character and abilities
when we pray. He's the only one that can
bring rest to our souls... Look up and
only up - not down and not around! You just might see the glory of God and
forget about your circumstances like Stephen did! Even Jesus prayed looking up....
John
17:1 (KJV)
These
words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said Father…
Acts
7:55 (KJV)
But
he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw
the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.
You see ladies, when we join Stephen in his attitude of
steadfastness during prayer, we'll be more likely to pray ALL the time and not
just when things get difficult. We'll become more than crisis-prayers! We won't be able to take our eyes off the
Lord and the daily strength and wisdom that are available to us through a growing
relationship with God! We'll eagerly
stay engaged in constant conversation with our Father in heaven. This is the
attitude we need to have when it comes to prayer…
1
Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV)
Pray
without ceasing.
In closing, search your heart today won't you, and find out the
reasons you usually have for praying.
What is it that has been motivating you most often - problems only, or a
desire to stay close to your heavenly Father?
What distracts you most from talking to the Lord daily, even
hourly? How do you need to change your
attitude toward prayer? Take the necessary steps to establish consistency
in conversation with your heavenly Father.
God desires - and deserves - to hear our voices regularly, to have us
look His way more than just in our time of personal crisis!
LORD TEACH US TO PRAY
We
often say our prayers
But
do we ever PRAY?
Or do
the wishes of our heart
Go
with the words we say?
We
may as well kneel down
And
worship gods of stone,
As
offer to the LIVING God
A
prayer of words alone!
For
words, without the heart
The
Lord will never hear,
Nor
will He to the one impart
Whose
prayers are not sincere.
Lord
show us what we need to see,
And
teach us how to pray.
Please
help us more to seek THY face
and
mean the words we say.
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2004
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