PRAY FERVENTLY

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HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div

I once knew an extremely dedicated and zealous servant of God who often said: “Brethren, one of the reasons we in our modern society do not receive more answers to prayer is that we do not put ourĀ heartsĀ into our prayers!” One of the key Scriptures he would then cite wasĀ Hosea 7:14, which describes one reason that GodĀ did not hearĀ the prayers of the ancient Israelites. TheĀ MoffattĀ translation perhaps renders this verse the most clearly: “They never put theirĀ heartĀ into their prayers.”

What about us? Do you and I pray with ourĀ entire being? Or do we just rattle off a memorized prayer like some pagan chant, canticle or perhaps sleepily mumble a few half-hearted requests to God just before drifting off to sleep?

Again, remember Jesus’ example of getting upĀ earlyĀ to pray to the Father! For prayer was vitally important to Christ. That is why He apparently put itĀ firstĀ on His schedule—before anything else could interfere. And He probably came back to God repeatedly as the day progressed. The book of Hebrews tells us about Christ’s passionate, heartfelt prayers: “Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehementĀ criesĀ andĀ tears to Him who was able to save Him from death… was heard because of His godly fear” (Hebrews 5:7).

It is good to go to a “private place” to pray as Jesus instructed in Matthew 6. Alone, we can occasionallyĀ cry outĀ to our Creator toĀ helpĀ us, toĀ chastenĀ us, toĀ deliverĀ us from temptations or difficulties where only the help of God Himself can fully take care of the situation. The last night of Jesus’ human life, when HeĀ knewĀ He was about to be arrested and crucified, HeĀ poured out His beingĀ to the Father in fervent prayer for help and deliverance: ‘And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44).

Jesus wasĀ crying outĀ to His Father in such an intense and passionate manner that some of His capillaries may have literallyĀ burst—filling certain sweat ducts with blood! In our modern, secular, hedonistic, “laid-back” society, we need to grasp that the trulyĀ vitalĀ issues of life are not material! Rather, they areĀ spiritual—having to do with our Creator and withĀ all eternity. They are certainly worthy of getting excited about!

So let us put our hearts into our prayers. Let us beĀ fervent. Let us beĀ passionateĀ as we pour out our hearts to the awesome Personality who wants to be our real Father: “the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity” (Isaiah 57:15).

Author: Godfrey Gregg

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