Prayer is our lifeline to the Trinity. We
continually communicate with God in prayer through each moment of the day
(Matthew 7:8). We do not need a quiet place to kneel and pray.
We pray through the storms of life, the serene
times of play, the busyness of our own making and the unforeseeable issues,
which life unexpectedly throws at us.
Prayer changes us, the people we pray for, the
circumstances surrounding us and the spiritual principalities and powers all
around us.
In chapters nine and ten, the Bible records
Daniel's experience concerning answers to his prayer. One was a quick response
and the other a delay of about three weeks.
In the later, when God's archangel finally broke
through Satan's lines of hindrance drawn in high places to prevent the answer
from being delivered, he explained all of this to Daniel in detail.
These are some of the most amazing verses in the
Old Testament. It enables us to realize the spiritual warfare going on around
us as a reality and an entity to take seriously.
These verses encourage us to "pray-through"
in every situation and to persevere until God delivers His answer, rather than
to give up after a weak attempt to petition our Deliverer.
Sometimes, our prayers are carnal and self-centered;
designed too heap on our self the riches of this world (James 4:3). God does
not always provide what we want, especially if He knows it is not for our
ultimate good (Romans 8:28).
Yet, at other times, Satan steps up his resistance
in order to discourage us from believing in God, trusting Him with our life and
walking in His order for our day.
God inspired James to tell us that if we submit to
God's will and resist the devil, he has no option but to flee from our presence
(James 4:7-9). This is the secret to successful spiritual warfare.
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for deigning to form an
intimate, personal relationship with us - the Creator with the created. You
desire our continual fellowship while we live on this earth and look forward to
our death when we come to abide in Your presence forever (Psalm 116:15).
Your angels rejoice when one sinner repents and
crosses over from eternal death into life, adding yet another Saint to Your
Kingdom (Luke 15:7). You rejoice over us with singing and You love us with an
everlasting love (Zephaniah 3:17). We can barely grasp the full meaning of this
relationship, which You offer to everyone ever born on this earth.
Thought for the Day:
Most people never avail our self the opportunity
to enter into this intimate union with our Creator and King, because we despise
the shame of the cross and resist the opportunity to totally surrender our will
to His.
