Church of God, New World Ministries

Do You Believe In Prayer?

Surveys indicate that very few professing Christians make a habit of daily prayer. Most Americans families do not offer thanks to God at the dinner table as they once did. Extremely few regularly get down on their knees before the Creator, in a private place and ask His divine intervention and guidance in their daily lives.

Why? It is basically because they have been deceived about the reality of the Supreme God. Today’s society knows practically nothing about the power of the true God!

Modern psychology and psychiatry have deluded most “moderns” into the idea that prayer may be all right because it makes you feel better. Many teach that prayer’s only tangible benefit is that it gives you a positive mental outlook. Is prayer only a religious peace of mind pill?

The true God who gives you every breath of air you breathe, who said: “Let there be light: and there was light” – who is going to intervene in the affairs of nations and punish America and Britain for our national sins, that God is practically unknown to this generation. He is seldom prayed to because He is seldom recognized. He is the God that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob prayed to. He is the God of the Bible. But very few men really study the Bible today. And fewer still truly believe what it says.

The true God prophesied hundreds of years ago: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (II Tim. 3:1-5). And this is precisely what has happened!

Men have ceremonial prayers, pagan chants and responsive readings in church services. But when they are at home alone they feel unable to communicate with their Creator, the Eternal invisible God. They are used to people, pictures, candles, idols being around when they pray.

The invisible God seems far off, unreal. Since their forms and ceremonies, their pictures and idols have had no real power to supernaturally intervene and answer prayer; it seems difficult to believe that the invisible God of the Bible should have this power.

But at this point let me say candidly, that sooner or later down the pathway of life you had better come to find and to know the true God of power, the God and Father of Jesus Christ of your Bible. If you have skepticism and doubt about this most basic fact of all, and millions do, then read our articles “Does God Really Exist,” and “The Bible – Is It True?”

You may not yet fully grasp it and realize it, but you are living in the prophesied “time of the end.” You are living in the age when the great, individual Spirit person we call “GOD” is going to directly intervene in human affairs and reveal Himself to a fearless, deceived, hell-bent world.

Then men everywhere are going to know God. And they are going to know the “POWER” of God to directly answer the prayers of those who serve Him!

This very work of God which is being used to help prepare the way for Jesus Christ’s second coming to this earth is powered by the prayers of its members. The fact that Christ is going to return to this earth is not just vague hopes and wishful thinking. I mean a direct intervention of the Supreme Being to change the course of human affairs.

This is the result of taking the Bible literally, of believing that God means exactly what He says in His Word. To have your prayers answered, you likewise must come to believe in the real God of Power revealed in the pages of your Bible. You must learn to study His Word and believe what He tells you. Don’t kid yourself, there is no other way!

If you pray to a “god” of your own imagination, the “essence of good” or some other man-inspired concept, you may receive temporary relief from your frustrations because of the sentimental mood you conjure up, but you will never be helped by direct intervention on the part of the Divine Spirit Personality who right now sits at the controls of the Universe! He alone is the true God.

It is most important which “god” you kneel before! If you come to know and believe the God of the Bible, your prayers will be answered for you will learn to have the faith of Abraham who approached God “being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform” (Rom. 4:21).

You need to understand that the Bible is a written contract between you and the Creator. What God has promised in the Bible, He will perform. Make no mistake, there may be conditions. But God will unfailingly do His part if you faithfully perform yours.

In this age which threatens human annihilation, it is important that you learn how to pray. But it is also important that you take time to pray. For fervent prayer to God on your knees is your source of contact with the Supreme Power of this universe! There is nothing more important in your daily life than this!

During His “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus assumed (Matt. 6:5-8) that His true followers would pray. He did not say “if you pray,” but “when you pray.” He knew that anyone who was truly serving God would be praying often. Are you?

He cautioned the disciples never to pray “to be seen of men,” but to enter into a closet or “secret place,” and there commune with their Heavenly Father. Jesus taught that it was wrong to make long prayers in front of others to “show off” (Matt. 23:14). Preachers and “deacons” who delight in this sort of thing are disobeying God.

And have you ever heard certain denominations repeat prayers over and over again? Christ said, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (v. 7). Memorized prayers, including the Lord’s Prayer soon lose their meaning and sincerity.

Nowhere in the entire New Testament is the “Lord’s Prayer “repeated. The apostles didn’t repeat it over and over again. Jesus gave it only as a pattern or example after which we could fashion our own prayers.

This world’s churches are in error when they practice repeating any prayer over and over again each week. Avoid this error. And try not to return thanks in the same way at the table every meal. When you pray, don’t just “rattle off” so many words. Think about your blessing, your needs, and pray from the heart.

Remember, you are praying to the Supreme Ruler of the entire universe. Enter His presence with respect and awe, and put your entire being into your prayers. You are praying to your great Father in heaven, the Author of love and mercy, wisdom and power. Don’t forget this when you pray!

In Acts 13:22, we read that David was a man after God’s own heart. Read some of the Psalms. Many of the Psalms are simply David’s prayers. He prayed to God in times of trouble, for guidance, in thanksgiving. In every circumstance.

If you want to be a child of God, then get acquainted with your Heavenly Father. Talk to Him often; share your life with God. In Ps. 55:17, David wrote, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice,” David went to God in prayer three times a day. The prophet Daniel also prayed three times a day (Dan. 6:10).

Time is precious. Use your time where it counts. It’s better to miss a few physical meals, better to fast once in a while, than to get too busy to drink in the spiritual things of God. That is the very purpose of your life! Sometimes you will need to spend a long session with God. Christ prayed all night before choosing His twelve disciples.

When a crisis comes, when you are sick or afflicted, know that God is a God of power! You can tap the supreme source of all power just by getting down on your knees in a private place and fervently beseeching God to intervene and help you. Learn to expect an answer. God reveals Himself as a real God, a living, acting God. Take God at His word! Pray often!

 
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