The Call of Prayer

THE CALL OF PRAYER

 

And now we have reached a time where they vote us out and we vote them out and in between we each raise money and organizations in order to shout victory during the next election cycle. Radio and television talk shows are a steady stream of complaining and self elevation.

But where are the glows emanating from prayer closets? Where are the silent fasts that elicit questions about weight loss but in reality have nothing to do with weight? Where are the tears shed over the lost and the backslidden church? Believers by the millions suggest the situation is desperate, but the church house remains dark during the week while the television glows like uranium.

People salivate over gun ownership and yet they ignore the spiritual weapons which alone can war in the spirit realm. Day after day after pitiful day the church continues to observe a powerless and redundant religious practice that is masked by the melodic harmonies on Sunday mornings. We live in the most violent and hedonistic culture on the planet and yet not only are we not arrested, but we are accepted as the “religious right”. If this is Christianity then let us eat, drink, and be merry. Wait a minute, that is exactly what the church is doing now.

But there is a way, there is a path, a sacred path that has been laid out for us. It is not a well worn path in these latter days of activity and success and unremarkable Christianity. This path does not scream with strobe lights and fog machines and ear pumping extra bass music. This path has very few walkers and most preachers seem to believe it is of little consequence. There are many much wider and more exciting paths upon which the evangelical community walks and runs and frolics. But this path, this path still smells of great drops of blood. This path still smells of sweat and labor. This path smells like, and in fact reeks, of God’s holy presence.

This is the path called prayer and it beckons those who love Christ. This path is walked upon with feet and with knees. This path is very long and requires much time and sacrifice. This path is transcultural and beckons only the most surrendered of His disciples. This is no playground at McDonalds. This is a precious path in which the Redeemer resides. This is the path which can remove guilt and sin and which can set the captive free. This path leads seamlessly through the fallen places on earth and into the hallowed corridors of heaven itself. In fact, this is more of a throne room than it is a path.

This is the path called prayer and it beckons those who love Christ. It is not interested in perfunctory verbiage that is largely designed to convince God to give you what you desire. It is a path which has a miraculous power to change and transform those who enter it and submit completely to the Spirit and allow that same Spirit to speak through them as well as speak to them. Yes, to say this path is filled with a divine power of infinite proportions is to underestimate the length and breadth and depth and scope of the Spirit’s eternal ministry.

This is the path called prayer and it beckons those who love Christ. This present world screams and distracts all who might enter this path. The cares of this world fill and confuse the minds and the temporal pleasures magnify themselves so as to obscure this path. The fulfillments of the temporal muscle out any thirst for the eternal and in so doing earthly contentment is a substitute for spiritual desire. Those who refuse this path have surrendered to the glory of man. That trade is a colossal loss.

This is the path called prayer and it beckons those who love Christ. Unknown to most, and beyond all who do not know Christ, this path is filled with rest and yet filled with labor. This path glows with the invisible incandescence of the Living Christ. No one can truly walk upon its supernatural path and remain unchanged or selfish or carnal. This path takes a living human sacrifice and creates a resurrection which has the seal of Christ and imprints it upon that person. That path walker is now dead and His Redeemer now lives in his place. That is the miracle of miracles which confounds the wise and renders all ecclesiastical schemes as hollow and useless.

This is the path called prayer and it beckons those who love Christ. There is a realm within this path that transcends temporal realities. It is a spiritual experience but even much more than an experience. This is a worship conference unlike any earthly kinds. The worship leader is the Spirit of God and the overhead projector is the Risen Christ. The altar of incense is now a reality and the Ark of the Covenant speaks. Those who have entered the Holy of Holies suddenly realize how little they have known and how shallow has been the earthly gatherings. Bowing as it were in His majestic and unfathomable presence, the shekinah glory overshadows those path walkers and anoints them with a brokenness that both honors the King while allowing Him to remake them into His own image.

This is the path called prayer and it beckons those who love Christ.  

Matt.6: ⁵ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Matt.17: ¹⁹ Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

²⁰ And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
²¹ Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Matt.21: ¹⁹ And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

²⁰ And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
²¹ Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
²² And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Acts 1: ⁷ And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

⁸ But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts 1: ¹² Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

¹³ And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
¹⁴ These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

Eph.6: ¹⁸ Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit

Phil.4: ⁵ Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

⁶ Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
⁷ And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Col.4: Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

I Thess.3: Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?

I Thess.5: ¹⁷ Pray without ceasing.

I Pet.4: ⁷ But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

Rev.8: ² And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

³ And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
⁴ And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

And this is what I believe breaks the Father’s heart most. The church is consumed with Martha’s kitchen in all its forms while the feet of Jesus remain lonely. Who really desires to be with Him so much they are willing to sacrifice time and energy and entertainment? His presence is constant and is everywhere; however He knows just how little His people really thirst for Him. Yes, we love our doctrines and our public gatherings and all our moral discussions. But to get alone, and with love and purpose hand over our hearts and just commune with the Father aided and empowered by the Spirit, well, there is precious little of that anymore.

I feel such a sense of emptiness when I think of all we love to do and say while leaving our Blessed Redeemer waiting as if He did not really exist. We have made our faith such an ecclesiastical structure. We have removed the glory and the mystery and the fellowship with the Eternal God. It is little more than a religious oblation to ourselves. Long ago the church lost the sacred practice of deep and penetrating and life changing prayer. Today we have lost the practice itself. Pray for ten minutes and you are a comparative fanatic. The church collectively and individually mocks our Lord. Without prayer, without the life giving and life sustaining spiritual force found in prayer we live as atheists with only our pitiful statement’s of faith to prove we love Christ.

Jesus said His house was an house of prayer and yet today it is everything but prayer. Oh the lights, oh the music, oh the announcements, oh the excitement, oh the fellowship, oh the buildings, oh the age specific ministries, but where is the prayer? Can we continue endlessly like this? We have allowed the culture to conform our worship. We have allowed schedules and the drone of the redundant weekly and daily habits to choke out any real commitment to prayer. It was not too long ago that a Chinese pastor was allowed to come to America and visit a few evangelical churches. He spoke at some. Upon his return the Chinese brethren were anxious to hear what he had learned from the American churches. Were there any surprises? His reply,

“There were many things that I saw and heard. I had a wonderful time with the American brethren. However what surprised me most was how much the American church can do without God.”

You see, in China the believers are committed to prayer and when that pastor spent time with believers in America and in their gatherings he saw just how little prayer there was. In a hedonistic culture which demands gratification every moment prayer is an inconvenience and a distraction. But let us filet our hearts and minds before our Lord and admit what is evident. We do not really believe in prayer anymore.

We do everything more than we pray. And yet the Scriptures clearly tell us that the weapons that are at our disposal are weapons of the Spirit. And some things can be moved through prayer and fasting. And Paul advises married couples not to prayer and fast too long so as to deprive each other of their own intimacy. What a mockery that is today. There are books and Cds and sermon series’ and week long conferences that present a deluge of advice about the husband and wife relationship including many humanistic principles and sexual expertise. But where are the conferences that invite believers to give themselves wholly unto fasting and prayer? Where are the Sunday morning gatherings that sometimes materialize into elongated seasons of prayer instead of the perfunctory and predicable prayers offered by one of the church leaders?

Nowhere does it say preach without ceasing or read without ceasing, but the Spirit exhorts us to pray without ceasing. There are times when we can walk in the Spirit and have an open communication with God at all times. But there must be times when we shut out the temporal and seek He who is eternal. Seeking God’s face is no small task and it does require sacrifice. What does it mean when the Scriptures talk about God’s face? Watch two lovers as they eat and notice that they gaze into each others’ face. They are consumed with each other. And why should we treat God any differently? Can we really be content with the paltry time we offer He Who shed His blood, suffered in agony, and gave His life for us? You see, what the church does is not following Jesus. It is a nice and well organized religious construct designed to meet the needs, or wants, of each age group and each gender.

But why is the “church” not shaped and formed according to God’s desire and design? We have taken the world’s business structure and the world’s time constraints and have built the practice of the evangelical church with those very guidelines. Most people see no real need for any change not to mention any substantive and uprooting change. Most will admit they could do better, but in the end that is mostly a conscience salve. We all could do better. But we have been sold an evangelical bill of goods which ministers to the religious flesh in ways open and subtle. And prayer has all but been completely taken out of the church.

As you read those verses I have listed does it not strike you as odd why we do not pray more? And as I have said, prayer is much more than just hunting around for what God is already going to do and saying it. It is more than just uttering some nebulous words which cannot embarrass God or you. The word “prayer” is centered around asking. The English still say “I pray the court” when asking the judge for something. God delights is his children’s dependence upon Him. We ask for more of Jesus; we ask for more spiritual power; we ask for conviction of sin; we ask for clear revelation form God’s Word; and we ask God for specific needs as well as specific souls. But in the end prayer can only really be learned by praying. All the books and all the CDs and all the blog posts can only exhort. But praying is also learning to pray.

Americans are doers. We proudly admit that this culture is designed to provide the most opportunities to succeed in life. The American dream is available for everyone. And the church has bought into that same idea. A successful person is defined by their occupation or vocation and how they have navigated their financial lives. The prosperous doctor who is a giving member of an evangelical church is considered successful. The pastor whose church has grown under his leadership and has even built new facilities is considered successful. We measure denominations by their growing or declining membership. Even secular news organizations periodically report of the number of Baptists and Methodists etc..

 

But as you read Revelation chapter 8 you notice something quite unique. Our prayers are miraculously saved in heaven and even offered up before the throne of God. That openly and dramtically reveals how important God feels about prayer.

So if we desire to walk in the Spirit we must have prayer as a priority, and when and if we do make our prayer life a high pursuit, we must reject the feelings of superiority and accomplishment or we risk having our prayers be nothing but wind. True prayer comes from abject humility as well as sacrifice.

Ps.51: ¹⁶ For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Yes, we should always pray and faint not. That is not some Hallmark card saying. That is a serious admonition. Run to the Father in loving abandon and let Him know that time with Him is no small thing.