Why Pray?

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Scripture

He has regarded the prayer of the destitute And has not despised their prayer.
(Psalms 102:17 NASB)
This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.
(Psalms 102:18 NASB)

 

Observation


The Psalmist was well schooled in prayer. He had a deeply intimate relationship with God and knew that he was highly dependent on that relationship. God had answered his prayers in his times of deepest need. He would cry out when he was destitute and God responded. Not only did God respond to his prayers for the here and now, but also for the future generations, for the ones that the Psalmist himself would not see. However, the Psalmist already had in his heart a desire for those who would come after him to know the Lord just as intimately as he did and so he prayed for his children and their children and their children that they might all praise the Lord!

 

Application


We may be able to identify many reasons to pray -- but they all spring out of the intimacy found in prayer. He hears the prayers of the destitute! Maybe this is a foreshadowing of the Sermon on the Mount where we are told "Blessed are the poor in Spirit" -- because once I realize that all that I have is nothing compared to him -- then I'm destitute -- and I realize that I am poor in Spirit and my prayerlife is consumed with a desire to be near to him so that I may be filled with him.

The number one reason to pray is to know Christ! We will never get to know him the way that he desires if we don't make it a priority to spend time with him, to get to know him and allow him to mold us and to shape us into a reflection of his image! Without knowing Christ everything else really becomes worthless. All of our actions and responses must come from a deep passionate relationship with Jesus Christ -- where we get to know him. Only when we get to know the heart of Christ will our hearts break for the things that break his heart -- and then we will know how to pray for others. We will awaken in the middle of the night and have such an overwhelming burden for someone that all we can do is join with Christ in prayer for that person at that very moment. We will be sitting in a church service when all of a sudden we will know that a particular person is struggling and we will join in prayer with Christ for that individual as we recognize the spiritual battle sensed through our intimacy with Christ. And it is this intimacy with Christ which draws us deeper in our walk with him -- it becomes so sweet and beautiful you feel that you can almost touch him and you desire this kind of relationship for all of those whom you love. This is when we begin to cry out in prayer for our loved ones -- desiring them to know the deep, deep love of Jesus. You pray for your children and your nieces and nephews...and you pray for those sons-in-law that you don't even know yet -- and you pray for those grandchildren who aren't even born yet -- and you pray for those great grandchildren whom you may never see -- and yet you pray! We pray because we are so desperately in love with Jesus Christ that we want a people "yet to be created" to praise the Lord!

Why Pray? Because without prayer there will be no spiritual life...there will be no life.

 

Prayer


Lord, thank you for your beautiful and sweet presence. Amen.

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