~J Oswald Chambers
“And he went a little
farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou
wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto
Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter
not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He
went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup
may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and
found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.”
Matt 26:39-43
Over the years, in my personal prayer walk, I have noted two things
that are pitfalls, drawbacks, snares and snags to my advancement in the discipline
of true prayer. They are both lessons of Gethsemane:
A lack of understanding of God's will, and a weak body- flesh.
a. A lack of understanding of God's will. '...not my will...'
Jesus prayed the way He did in the garden because He understood and surrendered to God’s will. The key to praying amiss is a lack of understanding of the will of God.
And this is the confidence that we have toward
Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
And if we know that He hears us, whatever we
ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. 1Jn 5:14 -15
The primary pitfall in prayer is a lack of understanding of God’s
will. That is the reason why we ask amiss- like a child asking his father for a
jack-knife to pick his teeth, or a 5 year old throwing a fit and insisting that
his dad give him the car keys. That is the reason why we wrestle in prayer
against flesh and blood and sing pseudo-spiritual war songs against our human
enemies. That is why we bind people who move our Bibles from our place on the
church pew and live as undiscerning Christians praying unintelligent prayers. A
lack of understanding of God’s will.
God’s will is revealed in His word
and revealed by His Spirit.
When you do not know what to pray, search God’s word and listen to His Spirit. These 2 principles are key to praying God’s will and obtaining answers to prayer.
i. Find out what God’s word has
to say.
True intercessors are men of God’s word. Daniel was a model
intercessor, but did not begin to pray until he had ‘understood by the books’-
the writings of Jeremiah. If I do not pray God’s word, I do not pray God’s
will. ‘Understand by the books’ before you get on your knees. If it is in God’s
word for you, then God is committed to it.
One of my fathers in the Lord taught me this early by his practice. I
often wondered why, when we were praying, he would ask us to open our Bibles
and keep them open to particular scriptures from which we prayed. Praying with
my Bible open in my hands is often an experience in understanding the will of
God.
In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel,
understood the number of the years by books, which came of the Word of Jehovah
to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the
desolations of Jerusalem.
And I set my face toward the Lord God, to seek
by prayer and holy desires, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
Dan 9:2-3
Daniel’s understanding of God’s will by scripture stirred him to pray.
There are quite a few nasty songs in the traditional Pentecostal
tradition that reflect this lack of understanding of God’s will. A popular female
award-winning West African gospel singer sang, “Yio sa agolo de Port Har(cort).” The gist of that song essentially
is that all people who think evil of me, all my enemies, will run mad- turn
schizophrenic- and pick tin cans on the highway for several kilometres. That
may appeal to our sense of judgement, but is this the will of God in prayer? A
Yoruba prayer in song says, “God that
directs the wind, direct my enemies in front of a moving trailer.” Another
one, complete with choreography- swinging both arms like a moving steam engine-
says, “Mo mu railuway gori ota mi lo,
faka, fiki, faka” and means “I run
over and crush the head of my enemies with a moving train.” Did Jesus call
us to crush our human enemies with a locomotive engine, run them over with
trailers or call down fire on them?
Jesus’ answer is in Matthew 5:43-48 -
“You have heard that it
has been said, You shall love your neighbour, and hate your enemy. But I say
unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That you
may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to
rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the
publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than
others? Do not even the publicans so? Be therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect.”
For we have not so
learnt Christ.
Has Jesus put His Spirit
in our hearts to call down fire on unbelieving men and women?
Jesus’ answer is in Luke
9:52-56
“And sent messengers
before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans,
to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as
though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw
this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven,
and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said,
Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to
destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.”
Our battle is not with
human beings. Next time you decide to pray that someone should fall down and
die, remember that we wrestle principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness
of this world and spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. When we know
God’s will, we know how to pray for results.
ii. Allow God's Spirit to teach
you God's will.
1 Cor 2:11
For what man knoweth the
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit is the
custodian of the will of God. Only in a relationship with Him do we have access
to the express will of God.
The Greek word for lusts is the word hedone, from the root ‘to please’, it means sensual delight, desire
and pleasure. When
we do not ask according to God’s word and by the leading of His Spirit, we ask
hedonistically; according to our own lusts. God looks down and sees entire
churches holding lustful prayer meetings. Praying to please ourselves and not
him; negating the pattern prayer of Christ in which he taught us to say, “your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
James 4:3
You make your request but you do not get it,
because your request has been wrongly made, desiring the thing only so that you
may make use of it for your pleasure. (BBE)
You ask and do not receive, because you ask
with wrong motives, that you may spend it in gratifying your
lusts. (EMTV)
When you pray for things, you don't get them
because you want them for the wrong reason-for your own pleasure. (GW)
You ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it upon your lusts. (MKJV)
Why do you want that car, that house, that piece of land? Is it not to be like the other nations? To make a name? Oh God, deliver us from lustful prayers!
No comments:
Post a Comment