Christians in Action

Prayer
Prayer is an important topic that should not be overlooked. As Christians we need to know the value and power of praying. The Word of God tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing….for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
All through the Old Testament we read about men of God praying when confronted with impossible situations. For example, look at 2 Chronicles chapter 32. It tells the story of how the King of Assyria came against the people of God because he wanted to take their land. He taunted the Jewish people and cursed God, because he was a very powerful man and he appeared to be undefeatable. He felt pretty sure that he would also take Jerusalem, but he didn’t know that  he was dealing with the true God.
Hezekiah the King of Jerusalem was not afraid, in verse 20, it says “Now because of this, the King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah prayed and cried out to the Lord”, and in verse 22, we see that the Lord saved Hezekiah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. It is important to point out here that Hezekiah was a righteous man before God; verse 31:20 declares this before the account of King Assyria.
Jesus also gave us examples of prayer and we know that He was perfect and knew no sin. When He was about to be crucified, He knew that God would answer His prayers even to the end. He said to the disciple that cut of a soldier’s ear, “ do you think I cannot now pray to my Father and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels.” (Matthew 26:53).  Before, that( Matthew 26:39) He had prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, that if possible let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. Jesus knew it was God’s will that He needed to go through with the paying of our sins, He knew the scripture had to be fulfilled and that He was the One to do it. Jesus sought out the Father’s will- we also need to remember to seek God’s will in our life, when we pray. We also need to   realize we may not always get an answer the way we want  from God; but we trust Him because He knows way more than we do.
There is so much more about prayer in the Word of God, so this will be the first in a series on prayer.
We would love to hear from you, how God answered your prayers!!