MEMORISE: And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain
to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. Luke 6:12.
MESSAGEWhen we sing the song “Prayer is the masters Key”, I sometimes wonder whether we really understand what we are singing about. For some people, prayer is a religious routine, but there is a type of prayer that has wonder-working powers. Our Lord Jesus Christ set a good example of this type of prayer in our Bible reading today. Let us look at His prayer in detail to better understand how to engage in prayers that produces wonders. When Jesus got to the tomb of Lazarus, the first thing He did was to give thanks to His Father for two wonderful reasons: that the Father had heard Him, even before praying, and that the Father always hears Him! Moreover, Jesus Christ did not pray the “gentleman’s prayer” that is common in many so-called elitist Christians organisations. The Bible in John 11:43 says; “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” I always tell my children in the Redeemed Christian Church of God that the intensity of your prayer will tell God how urgently you want your miracle. Whether you believe it or not, God will listen to the one who cries aloud to Him for help before He listens to those who whisper their requests. If you don’t believe, ask blind Bartimaeus. Among all those following Jesus on His way out of Jericho, only the one who cried out got his need met (Mark 10:47-57). Also, in the prayer of our Lord at the tomb of Lazarus, we can see Him expressing His faith in what His Father is capable of doing. We can also perceive the cordial relationship between the Son and the Father in this prayer. This relationship gave the Son the confidence to ask the Father what He knew would glorify the Father. Jesus would not ask for anything that did not bring glory to His Father. Many times, we pray and receive no answer. Some might think that God is on holiday at such times; not at all. The Bible gives us one reason why we do not receive answers to our prayers in James 4:3: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” Another reason is that a life of sin robs us of the confidence we need to ask God in faith. Beloved, how is your relationship with the Almighty God? Remember, your prayer can work wonders today.
PRAYER POINT: Father, grant me the grace to maintain a cordial
relationship with You, so that my prayers to You may continue to produce wonders
to the glory of Your Name.
READ: John 11:41-44.
41.Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42.And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. 43.And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44.And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
41.Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42.And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. 43.And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44.And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:1 SAMUEL 12:13 AND MARK 5:21-6:6.
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