Musing – Do we Pray to God the way Persecuted Christians Pray?

 Hebraic Musing – Do we Pray to God the way Persecuted Christians Pray?

I’ve heard it said that people who are accustomed to persecution know that it causes a deeper faith.  Instead of fearing persecution, they fear the times when it slacks off causing people to relax and take their faith for granted.  People being persecuted are experts in fervent prayer as they expect imprisonment, torture and possibly death.
Do we suffer persecution in America?  What’s the worst we might suffer if we stand up for our Christian faith? 

What do our typical prayers look like?  A - the “Lord’s Prayer”, or prayers before meals and bedtime, or the “formal” prayers of the leader of a meeting, or spontaneous prayer for family or friend in need.   Are we lacking spontaneous beseeching prayers from deep down in our hearts?  Revivalist George Whitefield said “When the spirit of prayer began to be lost, then forms of prayer were invented.” Here’s some possible reasons - self-sufficiency, not needing God, lack of role models of prayer, lack of teaching on prayer or simply lack of faith! 

In these uncertain times when people sense we may be in “end times” there seems to be more seekers and people open to calling on God in more genuine prayer.  Reminds me of the desperation I sense in Paul’s final instructions to the Thessalonians –  “Be joyful always;  pray continually;  give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt.  Test everything. Hold on to the good.  Avoid every kind of evil.  May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”  1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 NIV   That’s a thorough teaching on Prayer right there!  Read it again.

Here’s just a few of the many examples of the power available to each of us if we pray in faith and believe:

·      Mark 6:13  “They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.”

·      Luke 10:17  “The seventy-two returned with joy …, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’”

·      James 1:5-8  “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”

·      James 5:14-16  “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

·      1 Chronicles 5:20  “He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him.”

My friend Johanna’s* summary:  “In some situations a standoff develops as Yehovah waits for us to make a move and we are waiting for Him to work a miracle. The crippled bigger in the temple could have continued to lay on the ground, but instead he reached up and grabbed Peter’s hand, was healed and not only walked, but danced in praise.  We can be like Gideon and ask for a sign like a sheepskin and established the ground rules, and Yehovah showed him that He indeed would be with Gideon in the battle and come out the victor.”

Point(s) to Ponder

Do we really expect a miracle when we pray?
If a person does not believe God will answer, is that person a non-believer?

Is our failure to pray evidence of a lack of faith?

Do we Pray to God in the same way Persecuted Christians Pray?

♫ “Peter and John went to pray. They met a lame man on the way.  He asked for alms and held out his palms, And this is what Peter did say  Silver and gold have I none, But such as I have give I thee, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. He went walking and leaping and praising God, …”♫ 

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                          November 17, 2020

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

*   Inspired by and excerpted from “Prayer” by Johanna Shager Hocker, Oct.19, 2020