"God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him." -Andrew Murray
We have been talking a great deal on prayer. Why? Because prayer is absolutely essential to the Christian life. We pray because God loves us and prayer is simply our response to His love. True prayer is spending time with the Lord. One of my favorite Scriptures in the Bible is Romans 5:8 which says, "But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Many of us know this verse yet still look at prayer as something I have to do as opposed to something I choose to invest in. However, when the Holy Spirit bring us a true revelation of God's love for us, prayer will cease to be a chore. It will stop being the activity you dread but will become the lifestyle you adopt. Prayer is the exchange of two lives fully committed to each other. We know that God is fully committed to us for in Hebrews 13:5 it says, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." But what about you and me? Are we committed to the Lord Jesus. If so, prayer will be the natural result of this commitment.
Prayer is the result of a vibrant relationship with God.
If we were to study the lives of any heroes of the faith, we would immediately recognize the common factor in each of them: a strong prayer life. In Moses we see a great prayer warrior. Israel's war with Amalek was won not only on the field of battle but on the mountain of intercession (Ex 17:12-13). By the prayers of Elijah, there was no rain in the land for the space of three years. Despite Ahab's anger, rain only descended after Elijah asked the Lord for it (1 Kings 17:1;18:1-2). Yet the greatest example of a life of prayer is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout the Gospels we see how much time the Lord invested in prayer. These are some examples: "...he went up into a mountain apart to pray..." (Matt 14:23), "...that Jesus also being baptized, and praying..." (Luke 3:21), "...And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words..." For Jesus, prayer was not some side "hustle" but He centered His life on this discipline. And the result? Well a life that was well pleasing to the Father (John 8:29). A life truly surrendered to the His will!
He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30)
Prayer brings change. No one that has spent a significant amount of quality time in their prayer closet can come out the same. To pray is to be willing to change. And change is necessary for Christian growth. One of the main objectives of the Christian life is for each one of us to be "conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom 8:29). Stagnation is not God's plan for our lives. The Christian man or woman ought to be constantly growing into the image of Jesus. That is the goal. But how does this happen? Let's look at John 15:1-5.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
Prayer is the vehicle to abiding in Jesus.
When I read this passage of Scripture, I am instantly drawn to the words abide in me. Jesus is here telling His disciples (and each one of us as we follow Him) that the way to fruitfulness in the Christian life can only be accomplished by abiding in Him. Yet what does the Lord mean by instructing us to abide? Psalm 91:1 says this, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." The word dwelleth and abide both mean "to remain" in their original language. I believe that God is telling us that the way to Christian growth and becoming more Jesus-like is found only when we remain or abide in His presence. This is done through the vehicle of prayer. [Side Note: I want to emphasize the words vehicle of prayer. I have been writing much on the subject of prayer and its importance. However I want to clarify that prayer is only important because of its end goal which is drawing the presence of Jesus into our lives. I do not want anyone thinking that we should pray just to say that we've prayed. For that is a legalistic and works-based mentality. A thought pattern that says: I pray everyday so I can earn God's favor or I pray and therefore I am a better Christian than most. I want to dispel this line of thinking. Praying, simply for the sake of it, does absolutely nothing for our spirit man. Praying does not place us higher than other Christians that don't pray. If we are not careful, praying can quickly turn into a legalistic ritual. The praying that the Lord invites us to is more than an act. It is a lifestyle of constantly seeking His presence. Prayer is only a vehicle that helps us draw closer to the Lord. When praying, we must never forget what our end goal is...Jesus. We don't seek prayer, we seek Him. We don't abide in prayer, we abide in Him.]
The more time we spend with Jesus, the more like Him we will become.
Have you ever spent a significant amount of time with another person for an extended period of time? Maybe a mentor/coach, best friend, or even your spouse. One thing I have always noticed is that whenever I spend a lot of time with another person, I have a tendency to become like them. I find myself repeating words that the other person always says or viewing situations and people from their point of view or even go as far as dressing like them. Whether for better or worse, the truth is we become like those closest to us. It's true in earthly relationships as well as with God. The apostles experienced this reality and so must we. Amos 3:3 says, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" Sooner or later we will find ourselves at a fork in our spiritual road. Will we continue to live a life directed by our own desires? Or will we deny ourselves and obey the Lord? It is a choice that we will have to make many times in our journey. Though the decision to die to self can be very difficult at times, it is 100% worth it.
Total surrender is a necessity!
We live in a very superficial and selfish society that constantly sells us a lie that we should have anything we want. Today's culture basically says "self-control is evil and everything should be permitted". Yet the Lord invites us to a very different lifestyle. When speaking to His disciples, Jesus told them the following "...If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matt 16:24). I don't know about you but those aren't exactly easy instructions to follow. Deny myself? Take up my cross? Not exactly words I want to hear. Yet Jesus never once in His Word promised an easy life. What He does promise is to be with us regardless of our circumstances. He promises that no matter what we say or do, He could never love us any less (Rom 8:38-39).
Jesus shows us the perfect example of total surrender...
Though He was 100% man and 100% God while on the Earth, Jesus lived a life surrendered to the Father's will. If anyone could have done anything He wanted and not sinned, it would have been Jesus. After all He was as much God as though He was not man. The Lord could have very easily lived His life according to His own will and desires. Yet He didn't. Everyday He consciously chose to surrender His life to the Father's will. The epitome of His total surrender is found in His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane when He said "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). Imagine for a minute the burden that the Lord must have felt knowing the cruel death that He would endure. The agony of not only physical pain but emotional as well as He witnessed His chosen disciple betray Him for money, the rest of His companions run away in fear, and His close friend deny Him three times. Being fully man the Lord asked the Father "remove this cup from me". Notice that even Jesus found it hard to be fully surrendered to the Father's will. But notice the next words He said "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done". Jesus made a choice to deny Himself and because He gave His life completely into the Father's hands, God was able to exalt and magnify Him and now He sits at the right hand of the Father on high (Eph 1:20-23). Examine the precious words the apostle Paul writes in Philippians 2:8-9:
And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name.
Notice the word became in the previous verse. Became means Jesus was not born this way. Hebrews 5:8 tells me the following "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." Obedience was something Jesus learned and so must we if we want to follow Him. Obedience requires going a different way than we originally planned. Obedience will require death to self. Yet obedience and surrender are necessities in our Christian life. Jesus showed us the way and now we must make a decision to follow Him in obedience and surrender.
Reader, I want you to know that more than anything the Lord is completely in love with you. Prayer is just a tool for you to spend time with Him. And though change is necessary to continue walking with Jesus, you must know that the Lord is patient and longsuffering towards you. He is so in love with you that He will patiently wait...and wait...and then wait some more for you to seek Him in prayer. He's not angry or disappointed in you. He's waiting for you...waiting for you to come to Him. You don't have to do life alone. More than anyone else, He wants to be your friend. He wants to pour His love on you and then patiently wait until you can return it back to Him!
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