Sunday afternoon, as I was
praying concerning this Bible study, I felt God was directing me to study on
how often the Jews pray.
The Jewish law requires the Jews
to pray at least three times a day at three specific times: morning, afternoon,
and evening.
It does not specify how
long they are to pray, but the Bible does mention that they went to pray at the hour of prayer. And the there are specific prayers they are to pray at
certain times.
Daniel -
followed that rule despite a law being passed that he would be fed to the lions
if he prayed to any one or any god other than King Darius for 30 days. It would be easy to make excuses to follow
that law…
·
It’s only 30 days
·
It’s more important that I live so I can continue
doing God’s work
·
I don’t have to really pray, I can still think
about God, God knows my heart
·
But Daniel understood the necessity and
importance of prayer
·
Time spent in prayer was more important that daily
food or even his life
Daniel 6:10 – Now when Daniel
knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being
open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three
times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did
aforetime.
·
Three times a day, Daniel would kneel to pray
·
He didn’t try to pretend to pray to Darius to save
his life.
·
No, instead, Daniel continued to pray three times
a day
·
he boldly opened his windows and prayed to the
only One who we all have to stand before in the end
·
He knew we all are going to die one day and it’s
better to die pleasing God than to live pleasing men.
·
Would we be that bold? We can be – the more we pray.
Peter and John were
faithful to pray during the hours of prayer.
·
Acts 3:1 – Now Peter and John went up together
into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
·
Peter was used mightily by God because he spent
much time in prayer.
Cornelius, the Centurion – Acts
10
·
He was a devout man, feared God, was a giving
person, and prayed to God ALWAYS (this word means constantly = diapantos G1275)
·
He had been fasting (Acts 10:30) and must have
been praying because around the 9th hour of the day, which is the
hour of prayer (Acts 3:1), he saw a vision of an angel come to him
·
The angel said, ‘your prayers and your alms
(giving) are come up for a memorial before God’ (Acts 10:4)
·
God said his prayers had come up as a memorial
before Him
·
God noticed His giving but mentioned his prayers
were a memorial to God FIRST … giving is
good but – God takes notice of our prayers!
·
Then the angel told him to send for Peter, who
would tell him what he needed to do.
·
The next day, Peter was praying around the 6th
hour when God gave him a vision and told him to eat what was traditionally
considered unclean to the Jews. Peter
was extremely hungry yet he refused to eat anything unclean. Yet, God’s
response each time was, “what God has cleansed, don’t call common (meaning polluted).”
God was using this vision to teach Peter not to consider anyone to be unclean
or unworthy of salvation.
·
Peter went to Cornelius’ house, a place forbidden
to enter by the Jews because the man and his home who were considered polluted
(Acts 10:28). Yet, he went because God
had told him to, and he preached about Jesus.
·
While Peter was preaching, the Holy Ghost began to
fall on everyone who heard the preached Word (Acts 10:44), and they began to
speak with tongues and magnify God (Acts 10:46).
·
Peter then commanded them to be baptized in the
name of Jesus (Acts 10:48)
·
But none of this would have happened if Cornelius
and Peter had not been faithful to pray.
Zacharias, a
priest who became the father of John the Baptist, was performing the duties of
the priest.
·
His responsibility was to burn incense when he
went into the Temple of the Lord.
·
As he burnt the incense, the people were to be
gathered outside praying during the time of incense.
·
Revelation 8:4 – the smoke of the incense, which
came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s
hand.
·
Incense is sweet smelling - Our prayers come up as
an incense before God
I’ve been trying to help the
Sunday School children to understand the importance and need to pray and read
their Bible every day….to build a relationship with Jesus.
·
Friendships/relationships are not built by just
occasionally talking to someone.
·
They are built because time is invested and
conversations happen often
·
Abraham was called a friend of
God BECAUSE he spent time talking to the Creator.
·
Can you imagine having that close of a
relationship with God?
·
To be called a friend of God as Abraham was – he
wouldn’t have been called God’s friend if he didn’t talk with Him often
*Prayer is us talking to God.
*Reading the Bible is God talking
to us.
The more you pray and read your
Bible, the more you’ll begin to hear and recognize God’s voice.
One of the children asked me how
you will be able to tell know if it’s God’s voice or the devil’s.
I explained that the devil will
not try to tempt and entice you to do something that’s good and right….he will,
however, try to make something look good and try to justify something that goes
against the Bible.
·
Some say: “You don’t need to go to church to be
saved”
·
Yet the Bible instructs us to ‘remember the
sabbath to keep it holy’ and ‘forsake not the assembling of yourselves
together’
·
We need the pastor to instruct us and teach us
what God’s Word says
·
Some say: “you can do the same thing at home that
you do at church”
·
Are you really?
Are you reading your Bible, praying, singing songs of praise and worship? Are you keeping the sabbath holy?
·
You still need a pastor – that’s Bible – and the
Bible still instructs we need to go to Church.
·
Some say: “I don’t need to pray or pray much. God
knows I love Him”
·
Then prove it!
·
A relationship is not maintained and will not last
if the husband and wife do not communicate often and express their love…often.
·
Yet, people treat their relationship with Jesus so
lightly.
·
When that happens, it becomes a one-sided
relationship.
·
Gradually, a person will choose the things of the
world over time with Jesus
Sunday, the children sang the
song, “Lord, I lift Your name on high.”
The chorus talks about how He
came from heaven to earth to show us the way of salvation. Then, from the earth He went to the cross,
my, your, our debt to pay…”
Take a moment and think about the
cross. Really think about it.
Think of all that Jesus went
through, the agony, the excruciating pain as that whip tore the flesh off His
back time and time and time again as they swung it while mocking and reviling
Him.
Think about the pain Jesus felt
as the crown of thorns was being pushed into His scalp. He felt the Blood running down His face and
His back. Then to feel a robe mockingly placed over His bloody wounds and later
removed again.
He was spit on and struck.
Think about the excruciating pain
He felt as they began to hammer those nails through His flesh and bones.
Think about Him hanging there,
naked, writhing in pain, struggling to breath.
We don’t want to think about it. It’s awful!
It’s horrifying!
But think about all that He felt
and tell me we pray enough?
Think about all He endured and
how He must feel when we make excuses and say we don’t think it’s necessary to
pray very often or very much.
How must Jesus feel when people
treat prayer, Bible reading, and Church attendance so lightly after all He
endured and went through….for us? All of
which are time spent with Him, giving Him attention, honor, and praise that He
is more than worthy of.
I saw a video from a foreign
country. People were walking up and down the streets, trying to stay under the
covers of canopies to avoid getting drenched from the pouring rain. But yet,
when a sound was made, they all stopped walking, knelt down on the wet muddy
ground with rain pelting their heads, and prayed….they did this, not for the
One true God but to a false god who will one day have to confess that Jesus
Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords.
If they are that dedicated to stop
what they’re doing to kneel and pray in mud and pouring rain, how much more
should those of us who are Blood bought Born Again Christians being dedicated
and faithful to prayer?
We don’t have to stop and kneel
in mud and pouring rain yet we should not neglect being diligent and dedicated
to pray and seek God’s face more and more and more. Especially as we see the endtimes unfolding.
Prayer is more important that our
daily food or necessary air that we breath.
Prayer is time spent in God’s
presence.
I don’t believe we can ever pray
enough.
Jesus is deserving of so much
more time and honor than what we give Him.
God said in His Word that when we
seek Him, He will be found by us WHEN we SEARCH for Him with all our heart.
(Jer 29:13).
There is a difference between
merely searching and searching with all our heart.
It will take more than just a
casual prayer time.
The old saying used to be,
“they’re too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good.”
I disagree.
The more you pray, the closer
you’ll draw to Jesus, and the more you’ll become a vessel that can hear His
voice and He can use to reach this lost and dying world.
