To Pray is to stretch yourself

by Pastor George Lehman

“We can get tired, weary and emotionally distraught but after spending time alone with God, we find that He injects into our spirit, soul and bodies energy, power and strength.”  C. Stanley.

No stretching yourself to pray – you’ll live defeated, touchy, weak spiritual life

The key to a victorious life is a prayer life!

Matthew 12:34b – For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Jesus is here telling us how we operate.

Coming to church, reading our bibles, with all the courses and study material available to us that’s the easy part.

However, getting on your knees and talking to God for half an hour seems incredibly difficult to most Christians.

Many think, “What does one say after the first five minutes”? - (How do I possibly fill that much time?)

The fact is that we should have grown spiritually over the years – prayer should have become easier for us.

We have come to realize that we can come directly into God the Father’s presence - before His very throne.

Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) – Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  

There appears to be a serious attitude of prayerlessness as time has gone by in Gods church.

Perhaps because we are living in the Laodicean Era. Revelation 3:14 -20 The Lukewarm church

We have become a little complacent in our prayer life.

Prayer has slid from its former place of importance!

“The early church was married to poverty, prison and persecutions.  Today the church is married to prosperity, personality and popularity.”

Leonard Ravenhill

 

“If we displease God, does it matter whom we please?  If we please Him, does it matter whom we displease?”  Leonard Ravenhill

“You can’t live wrong and pray right.”

Leonard Ravenhill

Our scripture reading in:

Matthew 12:34 – Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

He then explains it by saying:

Matthew 12:35 – A good man out of the good treasure of his heart (the storehouse of the mind where thoughts, feelings are kept) brings forth good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things.

Jesus concludes by warning us that the day of judgement is coming.

Even our idle words will be scrutinized, and we will have to give account of them to God.

Verse 36 - But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.

 

Our words will either condemn us or acquit[vryspreek] us Verse 37 -“For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Because we know and believe these scriptures, we should be very conscience of what we allow to leave our mouths.

James 3:2(Amp) – For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things], he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature.

Even though we work at being blameless in speech, we realise that none of us has arrived at oral perfection.

Consider this then... applying this principle a little differently?

Most of us naturally think of this passage Jesus taught to refer to our conversations with others at home, at work, at play, at the shop, at church etc..

But what about applying it to ourselves when we are on our knees speaking to God?

Have you ever considered that, out of the abundance of our prayers, or the lack thereof, our heart speaks?

Do you deeply consider what you say to God?

Do you take the time to organize and improve how you present your request to Him?

Do you think about the attitude in which you come before the great God of the universe?

You may not consider this as a blessing, but God knows our every thought, every desire and every emotion.

Hebrews 4:13 (Amp) – And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.

The beauty of truly understanding this is that we may as well be totally open and honest with God.

Tell Him everything because He already knows the deepest intents of our heart.

God is acutely aware[bewus] of our attitude when we approach His throne.

He discerns whether we consider time spent in conversation with Him to be of great value or whether we are just going through the motions.

1 Samuel 2:3 (NIV) – “Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed.

This does not mean that we pray perfectly every time – although this should be our goal.

We have this assurance:

Romans 8:26-27 (NIV) – 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

How important is prayer to you?

Psalm 4:1 (Amp) – Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness (uprightness, justice, and right standing with You)! You have freed me when I was hemmed in and enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me and hear my prayer.

This is what prayer is – calling on God to give relief to whatever it is your asking for.

What needs to change in your life to ensure you become a prayer warrior? To pray is to stretch yourself.

Ephesians 6:18 (Amp) – Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding on behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).