Written by Carolyn Jo Gower, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Rom. 12:12 NIV)
My grandson, Noah, age three, was good at talking. But sometimes we’d have to ask, please repeat. Caroline at five months, was a happy chatterbox! We’d ask her, “How's your day going?” Her answer was jabbering with big smiles! Both expressed love!
Jesus can handle our prayers, even though we may feel lacking. Jesus gets it. When we pray (talk to Jesus), our love for Him shines through. He wants us to be real. He made us, He came to live among us, and now He lives to intercede for us.
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Heb. 7:25 ESV)
Jesus is praying for us! Prayer gets to the heart of God not that we’re worthy, we aren’t. Jesus is. He talks with the Father about us. He’s been here and knows what it’s like.
There’s no need for flowery words or memorized church prayers. Never just copy someone else’s prayer. You can use it as a prayer starter, but change it to speak from your own heart. Ever heard the expression, “Honesty is the BEST policy”? Truth be told, honesty is the ONLY policy. Talk to Jesus honestly first. He is our Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty God.
Being faithful in prayer means, “Keep on praying and don’t give up” (Luke 18:1 NIV).
Prayerfulness, or being faithful in prayer becomes a part of us as we read God’s Word and spend time with Jesus. For example, a few weeks ago, reading about John and his disciples in Matthew 14, I began to see something about prayer from a different angle.
John the baptizer was in prison for preaching repentance as he prepared the way for Jesus. He was doing everything correctly. But things weren’t looking good for John.
John’s disciples were praying for his rescue from Herod. But instead, Herod had him beheaded. His head was delivered on a platter to Herodias. John was murdered in an unspeakable manner. Talk about disappointment and hurt!
John had a huge following. He was a powerful man of God! We can’t begin to imagine the pain, fear, and anger his disciples must have felt!
They could’ve been thinking, “Now what are we to do, our leader is gone! Do we continue as John’s disciples? Is there even a ministry anymore?”
In Matthew 14:12, we read that after burying John’s body (note that John’s head was no longer with his body), his disciples went to Jesus and told him everything that had happened.
The only thing that made sense was to tell Jesus everything. That’s exactly what they did and some of the Gospels record that Jesus took John’s disciples with him, even to His own disciples.
Maybe prayer is not hard for us after all. Being faithful in prayer is going to Jesus first, moment by moment.
The way to move from prayerlessness into prayerfulness is to pray.
We are even commanded to be prayerful, …faithful in prayer (Rom.12:12) and pray continually… (1 Thes. 5:17). When we pray consistently, talking to Jesus becomes as natural as taking another breath.
Scripture tells us often that Jesus spent extended time alone in prayer with His Father.
Because of Christ, the great high priest (Heb. 4:14-16), God invites us to bring our needs to Him. “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” (Heb. 4:16).
God listens and when we call on Him, we’ll never get a response that ‘notifications are silenced’!
Just as we cherished the time talking with our grandchildren, Christ wants fellowship with all of His children.
Dear Iron Rose Sisters, do you feel comfortable going to Jesus, telling Him everything that has happened?