Colossians 4:2-6 and 12
I think about how the disciples were with Jesus constantly. They
followed Him and witnessed the things that He said and did. In 2 Peter 1 we
read; “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the
power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye witnesses of His
majesty” … John writes in 1 John 1; “That which was from the beginning, which
we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and
our hands have touched, this we proclaim…”
And, in their being with him and observing him, they began to “connect
the dots” and realize the importance of Prayer.
When we read the accounts of Jesus, we notice that he finds a quiet
place to pray; he finds a quiet time to pray; and he has a quiet heart - in
that he truly listens for God’s voice. Jesus knew, as we must come to know,
that prayer is a necessity of life. It
is through prayer - talking with and listening to God - that we really come to
know Him and create a relationship with Him. It is through prayer that we come
to know what God desires for us and from us in this life. Imagine what kind of
relationship we would have if I never talked with, or listened to, my wife!
Now, I also have found that just having a quiet time and a quiet place
does not necessarily guarantee effectiveness in prayer. I have searched the
scriptures and - although there are verses that say things like; “Call unto me
and I will give you the desires of your heart”…and, “Ask, and it shall be given
unto you”… Or, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in
prayer” …. There are also verses like Mark 11:24 - “And
when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him,”
which is the rest of that verse. Forgiveness is a two-way street,
regardless of the hurt. If you don’t give you don’t get. I wonder how many
Christians would want God to forgive them in the same way they have forgiven
others?
An unforgiving heart will stop our prayers dead in their tracks!
Psalm 66:18 is a statement of the obvious; “If I cherish sin in my heart, the
Lord will not listen”…If there is active sin, or if we are “continuing
in sin” as John calls it, our prayers are not even heard.
Proverbs 21:13 says; “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he
too will cry out and not be answered.” That simply means that a lack of
compassion will hinder our prayers.
1 Peter 3:7 says; “Husbands, in the same way
be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the
weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that
nothing will hinder your prayers…For the eyes of the Lord are on the
righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer.” A lack of domestic
peace, or peace in the family, will affect our prayers.
1 John 5:14 says; “This is the confidence we
have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he
hears us.” Our prayers must be in the will of God. Notice that I did not
say “if” it’s God’s will, but “in” God’s will. There are times – for instance –
when seeking a job position, when we should pray “If it is God’s will”…but most
often we already know from His Word if something is God’s will.
And finally, Matt. 21:22; Mark 11:24; and
Romans 14:23 say that faithless prayers are not answered. “All things
are possible to him who believes”! Why ask God to heal sickness if we don’t
really believe he can or he will?
So, we are
back to unbelief. Jesus said; “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I put
up with you?” Perhaps the right thing to do is to be like the father of the
possessed boy in our scripture who cries out; “I do believe, but Lord help me
overcome my unbelief!”
In our
scripture today, we have another example we can look at and that is Epaphras.
First of all, Paul identifies him as a “servant of Christ”…to be a servant, one
must have a master. He had made a choice in life, and Christ was his
master! Second, it says that Epaphras
was “always wrestling in prayer” for them. Another translation says that he
“labored” in prayer. Epaphras wasn’t a “bless Mary and bless John” kind of
person, he was a prayer warrior! He was the type of person described in James
5:16 where it says; “the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much”! How we need those who would “labor” in prayer today!
Epaphras was
not focused on selfish desires; he was an intercessor, praying for others. As
intercessor’s we ought to be always praying for the church and its people as
well. We surely ought to have a prayer list for the sick and the needy. But,
the most important prayer list should be for those whom we know to be unsaved.
In the realm of prayer it ought to take precedent because we already know that
“It is God’s will that not one should perish.”
Salvation,
the forgiveness of sin, and the promise of eternal life is given to every
person who repents and receives Christ by faith. I think it is the
responsibility of every Christian to pray for the lost. However, we won’t pray
for the lost unless we have (a.) the right belief and (b.) the right
burden.
Do you
believe that Jesus meant what he said that a person “must be born again to
enter the kingdom of heaven”? We must have the right belief. Do you believe it
when Jesus said; “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father
except by me”? Your brother, your sister, your Mother, your Father, your
neighbor, your daughter, your son…are not good enough to get into heaven! They
need Jesus! There are a lot of “good” people headed for Hell! We must have the
right belief and the right burden or we will not pray!
I read that
W.C. Fields was on his deathbed when a friend dropped in to see him and found
him reading the Bible. A little
surprised, he asked what Fields was doing? “Looking for loopholes, my friend,
looking for loopholes.” In order to have
the right belief, we need to understand that there are no loopholes! God
doesn’t grade on a curve!
Hopefully, if
we have the right belief it will give us the right burden. Many hearts have
grown cold concerning the eternal destiny of others. We figure they will hear
it sooner or later and make their own decision. Or, we may think they have
heard and have already made a decision. Is that good enough for you? Not for me either. One of Satan’s schemes is
to get us to neglect praying for the lost.
I looked up
the word “intercessor” and one of the meanings was “to represent”…When we pray
for others, we are representing them before God. That’s what Jesus did on our
behalf. He not only came to represent us before God… but to - re-present
- God to us!
Let me close
with this scripture from 2 Cor. 5 - “Since then, we know what it is to fear the
Lord, we try to persuade men…All this is from God, who reconciled himself
through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation… We are therefore Christ’s
ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us.”
It is not only a
responsibility to pray…it is our privilege to pray.
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