Skip to main content

Praying Fervently about Everything, by Pastor Charlie Handren



Praying Fervently about Everything
By Pastor Charlie

Last week pondered Jesus’ words from John 15:7-8 and the fact that he invites us to pray with holy fervency; this week we will ponder the fact that he invites us to pray like this about anything and everything. As the Apostle Paul later wrote, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” And elsewhere, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6, emphasis mine).
How can Jesus invite us into such a broad life of prayer? Isn’t he obligating himself to answer prayers he doesn’t want to answer? In other words, isn’t he concerned that we will ask for things that are not glorifying to him and good for us and others? The answer to this question would be “yes,” were it not for the conditions that Jesus laid out in the first part of the verse, namely, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you…”
When these conditions are met, the words of Christ lead us to die to our fleshly desires, and help us to see that the supreme aim in all things is the glory of God. The words of Christ give shape to our souls so that we understand what is good and right and true and pleasing to the Father, and thus they teach us to pray according to his will. It is as Paul said in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind [which happens as the words of Christ abide in us], that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” And when we are able to test and discern what is good and acceptable and perfect, we will pray according to the Father’s will and he will be pleased to answer all of our prayers.
The words of Christ are like the nutrients of the vine, and prayer is the means by which we suck the nutrients out of the vine. If we pray for poison, our loving heavenly Father will not give it to us, but he might use the occasion to shape us more into the image of Christ. If we pray for the life-giving nutrients of the vine, we should pray earnestly and expectantly, knowing that the Father will grant our requests, not because he is subject to our demands but because he is faithful to his promises.
Prayer Focus: Pray that the words of Christ will so shape our hearts and lives that we will learn to fervently pray according to the Father’s will. And pray that as we pray according to the Father’s will, he will be pleased to answer from heaven and bear much fruit through our lives, to the glory of his name.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord, by George Muller

To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord By George Muller “It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord, but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. “I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God—not prayer, but the Word of God. And here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God so that it only passes through my mind just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what I read, pondering over it, and applying it to my heart. To meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed. And that thus,...

Billy Graham, Holiness, and Leadership

A few years ago, I was listening to a radio program on which Marshall Shelley was being interviewed about his new book, The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham (Zondervan, 2005). They were giving away a few copies of the book to those who called in, and something inside me felt compelled to call. But I didn’t have a good question to ask, so I prayed to the Lord and said, “If you want me to have a copy of this book, please give me a good question to ask and I’ll call.” I’m not sure if the Lord gave me this question or if it just popped into my head, but one way or the other, I thought to ask about the connection in Billy’s life between his private pursuit of holiness and integrity, and his public effectiveness and longevity. So, I made the call and was given the last copy of the book they had to give. A couple of years earlier, I had breakfast with some friends and the subject of Billy Graham’s life and ministry came up. We talked mostly about his commitment to integrity in the area...

Catechisms: Building a Heritage of Sound Faith - By Pastor Kevin Feder

This is an article I (Pastor Kevin) wrote in 2005 and updated in 2017. It is featured in a new resource available through Children’s Desiring God called Discipleship through Doctrinal Teaching and Catechism by Sally Michael.  It is our desire to encourage parents to use a children’s catechism as a tool in building and strengthening faith in children. A simple definition of a catechism is “organized teaching.” Catechisms are not the only things that can or should be used to instruct the next generation, yet they have useful purposes. Listed here are ten specific benefits a catechism can uniquely offer. Hopefully these ten points will help parents understand how a catechism can be effectively used in their families. 1.  A catechism is a very clear and complete gospel message. A catechism is, among other things, a very clear and concise gospel message to children. Everything a child needs to know for salvation is embodied within a catechism. The gospel is truly ama...