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Monday, March 28, 2011

Devotion Letter on Prayer

Beloved in Christ, Please allow me to share a few thoughts with you from Luke 11:9. “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” I have always thought it amazing that our intercessor with the Father instructs us in how to entreat Him for the Father. The Word of God is most certainly complete. Please consider first of all the desire in our prayer. We know what it means to “ask.” However, when it comes to prayer we must recognize a different dynamic. To ask is simple yes, but to ask God? This is divine! When we “ask” we must understand that we are desiring Him. We want His paternal presence, His praise, His plan, His program, His provision, His Peace, His Purity, and His protection (Luke 11:2-4). We want Him. We do not pray to impress or inform God. We pray to invite God! Not that He would send revival but bring revival. Lord, YOU COME and stir your people! Secondly, there is the discernment in our prayer. To “seek” implies that there is something for us to know or understand. Most certainly, we want to experience the will of God, but we so over complicate it. The Word of God says (Romans 11:36) that “Of Him, through Him, and to Him are all things. To whom be glory forever. Amen.” If this is true about “all things,” then it is also true about prayer. That means that Christ is the source of our prayer, He sustains our prayer, and He is the subject of our prayer. (Adrian Rogers) “Prayer is a circle of Heaven all I do is complete the circuit.” Therefore our seeking is less about deciphering the goal of God and more about discovering the glory of God. Find His glory; find His presence. That is what I want to know and understand. The last of what I would share with you is the determination in our prayer. Obviously, to “knock” tells us that a door is closed to us and we would like it opened. This is not what praying is like but what the pray-er is like. The heart of the one asking and seeking must be prepared to continually knock upon a closed door. Why? We have a need. I’m not telling you that the sweat of our prayer moves Heaven the blood of Jesus does that. I am curious if as we stand in the throne room of God we have a shameless passion and sincere persistence when we knock on the door of His storehouse? Because, true conquering prayer is not about me getting a hold on Heaven but Heaven getting a hold on me! Please allow me to challenge your heart and mind with three questions as I close this letter. 1. Do we want Him more than what we are asking? 2. Do we pursue His glory more than we protect our pride? 3. Do we have a heart that means business when we approach our Heavenly Father? Until we speak again here, there, or “over yonder,” I bid you God speed. Pastor Joseph M. Cooper

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