Heart to heart ❤️ with God

                                

           My life is  messy, but God already knew that. Yet, He still desires to have relationship with me. He didn’t call me when I was good enough, He wasn’t afraid of my stuff then, and He’s not afraid of my stuff now. I want to learn to embrace His Presence. It doesn’t happen over night. It’s a process, but it is in the Presence where all my baggage and mess falls off and where I become more like Him. So I pray...

          In prayer, we’re speaking to the One who has spoken to us through creation itself; the One who has spoken grace and peace and love over us, the One who has spoken the words of truth, life and shown us the way. Ephesians 1: 18-20 says, I pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened to know the hope, the glorious inheritance and the great power that is given for those who believe. This power is the same power that was used to raise Christ from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of God in heaven. Meaning what is on the inside of us is the same power that was used to raise Christ from death! Do we really grasp the depth of this verse? This means we have access to the Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the end... The Great I am, the one who brought fire down from heaven...just by trusting and talking to Him! Do we remember this when we pray? 

         Perhaps out of respect, we have adopted the notion that if God is going to act, he is going to act quickly. If we are honest, I think we adopted that perspective because it also relieves us of strenuous prayer. But this isn’t what we see in so many of these biblical accounts. Clearly, God did not just zap Peter out of prison. The church had to pray “strenuously” for him; the event goes on into the night. He did not zap the promised rain either—Elijah had to climb to the top of the mountain, and there he prayed eight rounds of intervening prayer. God did send the angel to Daniel the first day he prayed—but it took three weeks for him to break through. God didn’t just zap Joseph, Mary, and the child Jesus into safety in Egypt - they had to flee in the night.

 

        Are we getting the picture? Prayer is not just asking God to do something and waiting for him to zap it. Intervening prayer often takes time. And it takes repetition. During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. .‭‭(Hebrews‬ ‭5:7‬) Jesus prayed with fervent cries & tears!

          Effectual and fervent prayer- James 5:16. This kind of prayer does not mean just ‘saying’ our prayers or ‘thinking’ our prayers as we go about our routines. This is the kind of prayer which the devil, the world and our own self nature will oppose and try to put water on the flame. But if we mean to succeed, and exercise the same power God has placed in us, we must wrestle like Jacob - until we see an answer. The answer could be anything- yes, no or wait. But we will hear His voice and we know that we stand in the center of His will, covered by His love... come what may. The Lord is eager to interact with us fervently, in faith, exercising the power He has already placed in us. May we not let that power be wasted by praying safe, sleepy, disheartened prayers. May we learn to fight our battles on our knees, fight for our lives, our children, our families, our church, our nation. That when we get on our knees, satan trembles, mountains move, strongholds come down, gates open, deliverance happen. Because this power raises the dead, speaks life over dead bones and raises them up as armies. Let us exercise this power not just on the good days...but everyday.

Written by: Anu Varghese