PRAYING FOR MY CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE: MY STORY
By Intern Pastor Dave Doyle
I’ve been excited by the whole concept of churches in Cedar Rapids coming together in prayer. Think about it. Jesus said that wherever two or more are gathered in His name, He is there as well.
Now try to imagine the power of 10,000 Christians "gathering together" in prayer through the Prayer, Care, Share process. I am asking.....no I am pleading with the Lord that He will show Himself in mighty ways in our midst as we all turn our collective prayers to Him, for those who we want to touch. This entire process will allow us to literally "pray others to the Lord."
Since I’ve been excited by this, I naturally went to the scriptures to research prayer. I wanted to know what makes prayer acceptable to God so that it is answered. Also, I wanted to know what makes prayer unacceptable to God. I found myself totally immersed in this search through the Scriptures in no time at all, but something happened that stopped me in my tracks.
SLIDE 2: "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5: 16
During my quiet time of reading the scriptures at the end of the day, I came across the story in the book of John about the man who had been blind since birth. One day, Jesus and His disciples walked past this man as he was begging near the temple. Jesus stopped, picked up a handfull of earth, spit in it, made it into a mud paste, and smeared this concoction on the man’s eyes. He told him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash his eyes. As soon as the mud was washed off, the man who had been blind since birth realized he could see. Jesus had miraculously given him his sight! As the man went about proclaiming the power of Jesus’ miracle, the Pharisees caught wind of this, and jumped into action. After all.......Jesus had the audacity to heal someone on the Sabbath!! Right away, the man who had been healed was pulled before an investigative council of the religious leaders of the time. As the Pharisees badgered the man, and repeatedly demanded to know how this healing took place, and who did it, the man who had been given his sight finally got frustrated and started pushing back at the Pharisees and insulting them about their lack of knowledge concerning Jesus.
SLIDE 3: We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the Godly man who does His will." John 9: 31
When they told him that they knew Jesus had to be a sinner since he had healed him on the Sabbath, they man’s reply was, "Whether this Jesus is a sinner or not....I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind......but now I see!! In John 9:31, the man who had been blind made a remarkable statement in his defense of Jesus that struck me to my very core. He said, "We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the Godly man who does His will."
As soon as I read that, I realized that all my research to find the things that would make my prayers acceptable in God’s sight was absolutely the wrong thing to do. Unknowingly, I had been doing the same thing the Pharisees were guilty of. I was trying to turn my prayers into a formula!! A formula I could use to get God to answer my prayers....the way I wanted Him to......and when I wanted Him to. I could hear the words of the blind man playing over and over in my mind. "We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the Godly man who does His will."
SLIDE 4: Prayer-Care-Share Bookmark
I pulled out the list of names of the people who I was going to put on my bookmark, and looked at the first name. That person I had listed was someone who had hurt me, very deeply, many years ago. It’s someone who truly needs to know the Lord. As I considered the feelings I’ve harbored in my heart for years about this person I came to understand that I love them deeply.....but the "old hurt" is still there. I had never completely "Let Go" of all that. As I came to the knowlege that this was an issue of forgiveness, I could hear the phrase from the Lord’s Prayer playing in my mind........."and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."
With a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I had to quietly lower my head and confess to the Lord that I had never completely forgiven that person. I had to ask forgiveness for my unwillingness to do that and I asked for the Spirit of Christ to help me. I needed help in understanding the Lord’s ability to forgive those who hurt Him, even those who nailed Him to a cross. More importantly, I needed His help to understand how He could forgive someone like me, who even after receiving so many blessings from God continued to walk in my own stubborn ways.
I looked at the second name on my list. That person is one who had been like a brother to me during my "party-boy heyday". He was indignant when, in 1993, I made a complete about-face and abandoned that lifestyle. The Lord had worked a powerful set of life-changing events in my life and I willingly walked away from the drinking and partying that, up to that point, had been the major aspects of my life. He felt left out and left behind by me. Even though I tried to reason with him and explain this life-changing set of events to him, and even though I had begged him to join me in this mind-set that was centered on Jesus, he was certain that something was very wrong with me and that I had let him down by not wanting to continue the drinking and the partying with him. Now....guess what happened as soon as this thought came to my mind Do you think the Holy Spirit was going to let me get by with thinking I could just pray for this person? No way!! That still, soft voice was immediately quoting Scripture to me. In fact He was quoting Matthew 5:23 & 24. "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift."
I did not dare go any further down my list of names of those I want to pray for. I knew I would continue to run into this problem every step of the way. I got frustrated, and muttered to myself, "For crying out loud...all I’m trying to do is pray for these folks so they can come to know you, Lord. This isn’t supposed to be about me!! It’s supposed to be about them!!" Ever so quietly, I could hear in my mind the same words again and again. "We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the Godly man who does His will." "We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the Godly man who does His will."
I asked myself.........how much did I really want these prayers for the folks on my list to be effective? Just how important is it to me that the power of prayer be unleashed on their lives. Am I being genuine about this, or am I just going through the motions? Folks....it was gut-check time for me, and what it really came down to was a test of my faith. Did I really believe, with all my heart, what Jesus taught us in the scriptures, or was my belief only a half-inch deep?
In my struggle with questions like this, I felt a protective warmth that reminded me of how it felt when I was just a little kid, and my Dad would wrap his arms around me. I knew where that sensation came from, and at that moment I knew what I needed to do. The entire point to all this is really very simple. If we attempt, as I did, to turn effective prayer into a formula, we are acting like the Pharisees. Instead of acting as a believer in the Son of God....we are "acting religious." If we choose to be selective about what God teaches us, and only use the parts that do not require anything of us that might make us uncomfortable, we are using " a form of godliness which lacks power." Most importantly...we are being dishonest with the Creator of the Universe....the One who holds our very soul in His hands. The same one who loved us so much that He gave His only Son for the likes of us. When I think of it this way.......I know that the yoke He has asked us to take up is not heavy. In fact He is there, with us every step of the way to help us carry it.
SLIDE 5: STREAMS OF LIVING WATER
Prayer is empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is an active participant in our prayers as he prays for us in "groanings too deep to understand." We read in the gospel of John, chapter 7, verse 38. about Jesus telling those listening that "Whoever believes in me as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." I like that verse when I consider the power of prayer because I visualize prayer being like water. More specifically, like a river. A river is victoriously persistent against all barriers. If a tree falls across a river, the water will find its way either over, or under, or around that tree. The tree cannot stop the river from reaching its destination. If a barrier, like a dam, is placed in a river’s path, the water, given time will find its way over, under, or around the dam. If water isn’t occasionally released from a dam, it will continue to rise until it goes over the top. Truly, there is no stopping it on a permanent basis. It can be delayed...but not stopped.
I honestly believe that prayer works just like that. With 10,000 Christians all praying together.....just think how powerful this river is going to be!
So pray, brothers and sisters. Pray for those on your lists and bookmarks. Pray like you’ve never prayed before and believe with all your hearts that the Lord our God is listening. There is no magic formula to make your prayers effective, but there is a way to make sure they are heard. Ask our Father to help you be more like Jesus. Ask for the heart of Christ to become your heart. Do God’s will.........and your prayers will be heard.
CLOSING PRAYER.
