Prayer and the word

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Simple, yet Saturated with Gospel Truth

I have been so encouraged by the “Prayer & The Word” podcasts. They are short & easy to listen to, yet rich with gospel truth. Pastor Matthew Bryant has an incredible ability to dissect Scripture and explain its principles in a very down-to-earth, yet spiritually focused, way. But he doesn’t stop there… he completes the process by applying those principles in prayer. I have benefited greatly from his model in doing so, as well as resources offered on matthewcbryant.com in regards to how to have a more joyful & consistent prayer life.

Prayer and the Word

For so many of us who grew up in church, the ability to pray was either assume or claimed to be a special gift only given to uniquely spiritual believers. However, Matt demonstrates how prayer AND the Word are the calling of every believer. So thankful for this ministry and it’s focus on calling Christians back to prayer.

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Weapons to Use Against the Devil

The arms of combat against the forces of evil must be used by Christians in their totality and unity. Above all, a habitus is necessary; that is, a way of thinking, loving, and acting that conforms to the life of Jesus. A simple and humble soul totally confident in God — as Jesus had in his earthly life — learns how to relate to our Creator. The freedom to choose enables man to resist the Devil, because the Devil can tempt us, but he can never oblige us to do his will.

The arms of combat and defense that Jesus has left us consist of the Word of God, prayer, fasting, and the sacraments.

In using these weapons of defense, we must guard against a superstitious attitude toward their efficacy; that would be a magical concept. In other words, we must not believe that our religious practices dispel demons. On the basis of biblical testimony, the Devil is expelled solely by faith and total trust in Jesus.

Our Lady and all the saints show us how communion with God makes the human being, a creature inferior to Satan, stronger than the Satan himself. This accelerates the Evil One’s intense hostility toward man, which he puts in motion when the person he has attacked decides to return to God with all his being through the use of these weapons.

The Word of God, the Gospel

The Word of God listened to consistently and repeatedly in the course of the day is the inspiration and the weapon that overcomes doubts, anxieties, recurring thoughts, fits of depression, suicide, anger, confusion, and all the disorder that Satan can generate in the mind. Indeed, the attack of the Evil One begins by penetrating the core of the will and the free will — the mind and the intelligence — influencing and subjugating them until he can arrive at the soul and then accompany it to evil.

Often those who go to a priest exorcist are prayerful, go to Mass on Sunday and sometimes also during the week, but they complain of sudden awakenings at night, tormenting dreams and obsessive recurring thoughts, doubts about God and their faith in Him. It must be emphasized that these persons do not participate or assist at esoteric rituals, not even as a joke. Usually, however, they are lacking in involvement with the Word of God, that is, with Jesus Christ, the center and foundation of the Christian life, Jesus Christ, the Word of God.

In the Gospel of Luke, after Jesus was baptized and led by the Spirit of God into the desert, He was tempted by Satan. In that case, victory over the demon did not occur through prayer. Three times Jesus cited Sacred Scripture in order to resist the temptations and refute the lies of the enemy. Jesus affirmed: “It is written . . .” (Luke 4:1–13). The Word of God was His instrument of truth against the lies and provocations of the enemy.

Jesus, in making Himself man, became one like us to show us how to keep the enemy away. He kept His distance from Satan, citing the source of wisdom and discernment: the Word of God. And He teaches us that, in order to bear our earthly life with serenity, it is always necessary to have His words in mind, so that in every adversity the Word of God comes to our mind and, guided by the Holy Spirit, we may know how to choose what is true and good. It is fundamental that the Gospel be imprinted on our mind, the seat of the will and of free will. Satan knows that if he succeeds in confusing the free will by turning it aside and distancing it from the will of God through sin, he can also corrupt and damage the soul of man. The Word of God listened to and lived each day in concrete choices becomes our defense from the snares of the Evil One.

Prayer

We often take for granted that we know what prayer is, but in reality we do not. From childhood, we were taught to say prayers in the morning and in the evening, but perhaps we did not understand the value or the meaning of it.

At the Last Supper Jesus said: “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). With these words, Jesus is telling us that God the Father has established an eternal alliance with man, a relationship of faith founded on the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. This alliance is maintained only if, through the Gospel, there is a response from man. This response occurs in prayer that has been stirred up by the teaching of the Word of God. To pray is to converse with God after having listened to Him. Jesus tells us: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16).

Prayer is also praise and thanksgiving. This is the prayer Jesus prefers: that He is thanked continuously for life, for what we are, and for what we have.

Prayer is also an invocation or supplication for help. If it bursts from a soul purified by the sacrament of Reconciliation, the prayer is immediately heard because the person praying is in communion with Jesus and He is particularly attentive to humble souls (Luke 18:7–8). The Word is not only a voice; it is a person in flesh and blood, God Himself made man in the person of Jesus (John 12:44–45, 48–50). To listen to Jesus is to listen to the Invisible One, the Omnipotent One, the One made visible and reachable.

Prayer manifests trust, confidence, supplication, praise, and joy and is expressed not only in words but, above all, in the dis­position of the soul. Prayer is more effective when it has a precise intention and demonstrates communion with God. In this way, it becomes a force against instinctive states such as solitude, fear, anxiety, confusion, and disorder; and it places everything under the guidance of Jesus, who helps us to overcome human weaknesses and the temptations of the Evil One.

Our prayer, however, cannot be a direct instrument of libera­tion from the enemy, since we cannot combat him by ourselves. As human creatures, we are weaker beings, inferior to the angelic creatures. To believe that we can liberate ourselves from the Evil One solely through our own prayer would be a sin of arrogance, since we cannot expel the Evil One with our own strength alone. Indeed, by driving away the enemy, we would be making his wickedness even more effective in our life. Therefore, it is only prayer that can expel the demon — that is, insofar as it is a call for the intervention of Jesus, Mary, and the saints.

At times, we might offer a prayer of benediction or liberation and it is not heard. It is not because of our spiritual condition at that particular moment that our prayer seems ineffectual; in reality, it is our unpardoned sin that impedes the action of God.

I have been able to verify through the persons I assist that the majority of spiritual disturbances occur through the conduct of a muddled or hypocritical spiritual life, that is, through inconstancy in prayer, inconstancy in the encounter with Jesus in the sacraments, and inconstancy in listening to the Word of God. In these cases, to assist our prayer, it is helpful to become familiar with a suitable catechism and to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation. The efficacy of this last remedy depends on a coherent and faithful Christian life.

If prayer springs forth from a soul in communion with God, it is immediately effective against the attacks of the enemy. I had the case of a man who suddenly went from extremely devout to refusing the sacred. His sister, also very faithful, pointed out this apparently unexplainable change. I counseled her to invoke mentally the intervention of Mary Immaculate precisely at the moment of her brother’s visceral anger. She told me that, as a result of the prayer, her brother calmed down at times and at times grew worse. This was proof that the change was not chosen by the brother; rather, it was the consequence of the Devil’s vexation. The brother, in fact, was not able to know about his sister’s mental prayer.

There was also the case of a five-year-old boy whose mother had taught him how to pray the Hail Mary. I was called because the child saw shadows around his bed. I told the parents to maintain themselves in the state of grace with God through the sacrament of Reconciliation in order to render the prayer more powerful, and that, when this phenomenon reoccurred, to invoke the intervention of our Mother in Heaven.

After a week they called me, saying that the phenomenon was reduced but not ended. I asked if they had prayed with the boy. They said no. I invited them to pray with him when the phenomenon occurred. They did. They told me that as soon as the child said “Hail,” the shadows no longer returned. That “Hail” alone prayed by the little child in trust and in genuine and total faith was enough to chase away the powers of darkness.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that

to attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions they demand, is to fall into superstition (cf. Matt. 23:16–22). (no. 2111)

The prayer that comes forth from a humble heart and is in communion with God is not only efficacious; it also becomes an instrument of perception for unmasking the enemy and his actions.

Editor’s note: This article is from a chapter in An Exorcist Explains How to Heal the Possessed, which is available from Sophia Institute Press.

By E.M. Bounds

“How constantly, in the Scriptures, do we encounter such words as ‘field,’ ‘seed,’ ‘sower,’ ‘reaper,’ ‘seed-time,’ ‘harvest’! Employing such metaphors interprets a fact of nature by a parable of grace. The field is the world and the good seed is the Word of God .Whether the Word be spoken or written, it is the power of God unto salvation. In our work of evangelism, the whole world is our field, every creature the object of effort and every book and tract, a seed of God.” — DAVID FANT, JR.

GOD’S Word is a record of prayer — of praying men and their achievements, of the Divine warrant of prayer and of the encouragement given to those who pray. No one can read the instances, commands, examples, multiform statements which concern themselves with prayer, without realizing that the cause of God, and the success of His work in this world is committed to prayer; that praying men have been God’s vicegerents on earth; that prayerless men have never been used of Him.

A reverence for God’s holy Name is closely related to a high regard for His Word. This hallowing of God’s Name; the ability to do His will on earth, as it is done in heaven; the establishment and glory of God’s kingdom, are as much involved in prayer, as when Jesus taught men the Universal Prayer. That “men ought always to pray and not to faint,” is as fundamental to God’s cause, today, as when Jesus Christ enshrined that great truth in the immortal settings of the Parable of the Importunate Widow.

As God’s house is called “the house of prayer,” because prayer is the most important of its holy offices; so by the same token, the Bible may be called the Book of Prayer. Prayer is the great theme and content of its message to mankind.

God’s Word is the basis, as it is the directory of the prayer of faith. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,” says St. Paul, “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

As this word of Christ dwelling in us richly is transmuted and assimilated, it issues in praying. Faith is constructed of the Word and the Spirit, and faith is the body and substance of prayer.

In many of its aspects, prayer is dependent upon the Word of God. Jesus says:

“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

The Word of God is the fulcrum upon which the lever of prayer is placed, and by which things are mightily moved. God has committed Himself, His purpose and His promise to prayer. His Word becomes the basis, the inspiration of our praying, and there are circumstances under which, by importunate prayer, we may obtain an addition, or an enlargement of His promises. It is said of the old saints that they, “through faith obtained promises.” There would seem to be in prayer the capacity for going even beyond the Word, of getting even beyond His promise, into the very presence of God, Himself.

Jacob wrestled, not so much with a promise, as with the Promiser. We must take hold of the Promiser, lest the promise prove nugatory. Prayer may well be defined as that force which vitalizes and energizes the Word of God, by taking hold of God, Himself. By taking hold of the Promiser, prayer reissues, and makes personal the promise. “There is none that stirreth up himself to take hold of Me,” is God’s sad lament. “Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me,” is God’s recipe for prayer.

By Scriptural warrant, prayer may be divided into the petition of faith and that of submission. The prayer of faith is based on the written Word, for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” It receives its answer, inevitably — the very thing for which it prays.

The prayer of submission is without a definite word of promise, so to speak, but takes hold of God with a lowly and contrite spirit, and asks and pleads with Him, for that which the soul desires. Abraham had no definite promise that God would spare Sodom. Moses had no definite promise that God would spare Israel; on the contrary, there was the declaration of His wrath, and of His purpose to destroy. But the devoted leader gained his plea with God, when he interceded for the Israelites with incessant prayers and many tears. Daniel had no definite promise that God would reveal to him the meaning of the king’s dream, but he prayed specifically, and God answered definitely.

The Word of God is made effectual and operative, by the process and practice of prayer. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah, “Go show thyself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.” Elijah showed himself to Ahab; but the answer to his prayer did not come, until he had pressed his fiery prayer upon the Lord seven times.

Paul had the definite promise from Christ, that he “would be delivered from the people and the Gentiles,” but we find him exhorting the Romans in the urgent and solemn manner concerning this very matter:

“Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints.”

The Word of God is a great help in prayer. If it be lodged and written in our hearts, it will form an outflowing current of prayer, full and irresistible. Promises, stored in the heart, are to be the fuel from which prayer receives life and warmth, just as the coal, stored in the earth, ministers to our comfort on stormy days and wintry nights. The Word of God is the food, by which prayer is nourished and made strong. Prayer, like man, cannot live by bread alone, “but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord.”

Unless the vital forces of prayer are supplied by God’s Word, prayer, though earnest, even vociferous, in its urgency, is, in reality, flabby, and vapid, and void. The absence of vital force in praying, can be traced to the absence of a constant supply of God’s Word, to repair the waste, and renew the life. He who would learn to pray well, must first study God’s Word, and store it in his memory and thought.

When we consult God’s Word, we find that no duty is more binding, more exacting, than that of prayer. On the other hand, we discover that no privilege is more exalted, no habit more richly owned of God. No promises are more radiant, more abounding, more explicit, more often reiterated, than those which are attached to prayer. “All things, whatsoever” are received by prayer, because “all things whatsoever” are promised. There is no limit to the provisions, included in the promises to prayer, and no exclusion from its promises. “Every one that asketh, receiveth.” The word of our Lord is to this all-embracing effect: “If ye shall ask anything in My Name, I will do it.”

Here are some of the comprehensive, and exhaustive statements of the Word of God about prayer, the things to be taken in by prayer, the strong promise made in answer to prayer:

“Pray without ceasing;” “continue in prayer;” “continuing instant in prayer;” “in everything by prayer, let your request be made known unto God;” “pray always, pray and not faint;” “men should pray everywhere;” “praying always, with all prayer and supplication.”

What clear and strong statements are those which are put in the Divine record, to furnish us with a sure basis of faith, and to urge, constrain and encourage us to pray! How wide the range of prayer, as given us, in the Divine Revelation! How these Scriptures incite us to seek the God of prayer, with all our wants, with all our burdens!

In addition to these statements left on record for our encouragement, the sacred pages teem with facts, examples, incidents, and observations, stressing the importance and the absolute necessity of prayer, and putting emphasis on its all-prevailing power.

The utmost reach and full benefit of the rich promises of the Word of God, should humbly be received by us, and put to the test. The world will never receive the full benefits of the Gospel until this be done. Neither Christian experience nor Christian living will be what they ought to be till these Divine promises have been fully tested by those who pray. By prayer, we bring these promises of God’s holy will into the realm of the actual and the real. Prayer is the philosopher’s stone which transmutes them into gold.

If it be asked, what is to be done in order to render God’s promises real, the answer is, that we must pray, until the words of the promise are clothed upon with the rich raiment of fulfilment.

God’s promises are altogether too large to be mastered by desultory praying. When we examine ourselves, all too often, we discover that our praying does not rise to the demands of the situation; is so limited that it is little more than a mere oasis amid the waste and desert of the world’s sin. Who of us, in our praying, measures up to this promise of our Lord:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to My Father.”

How comprehensive, how far reaching, how all-embracing! How much is here, for the glory of God, how much for the good of man! How much for the manifestation of Christ’s enthroned power, how much for the reward of abundant faith! And how great and gracious are the results which can be made to accrue from the exercise of commensurate, believing prayer!

Look, for a moment, at another of God’s great promises, and discover how we may be undergirded by the Word as we pray, and on what firm ground we may stand on which to make our petitions to our God:

“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

In these comprehensive words, God turns Himself over to the will of His people. When Christ becomes our all-in-all, prayer lays God’s treasures at our feet. Primitive Christianity had an easy and practical solution of the situation, and got all which God had to give. That simple and terse solution is recorded in John’s First Epistle:

“Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in His sight.”

Prayer, coupled with loving obedience, is the way to put God to the test, and to make prayer answer all ends and all things. Prayer, joined to the Word of God, hallows and makes sacred all God’s gifts. Prayer is not simply to get things from God, but to make those things holy, which already have been received from Him. It is not merely to get a blessing, but also to be able to give a blessing. Prayer makes common things holy and secular things, sacred. It receives things from God with thanksgiving and hallows them with thankful hearts, and devoted service.

In the First Epistle to Timothy, Paul gives us these words:

“For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”

That is a statement which gives a negative to mere asceticism. God’s good gifts are to be holy, not only by God’s creative power, but, also, because they are made holy to us by prayer. We receive them, appropriate them and sanctify them by prayer.

Doing God’s will, and having His Word abiding in us, is an imperative of effectual praying. But, it may be asked, how are we to know what God’s will is? The answer is, by studying His Word, by hiding it in our hearts, and by letting the Word dwell in us richly. “The entrance of Thy word, giveth light.”

To know God’s will in prayer, we must be filled with God’s Spirit, who maketh intercession for the saints, and in the saints, according to the will of God. To be filled with God’s Spirit, to be filled with God’s Word, is to know God’s will. It is to be put in such a frame of mind, to be found in such a state of heart, as will enable us to read and interpret aright the purposes of the Infinite. Such filling of the heart, with the Word and the Spirit, gives us an insight into the will of the Father, and enables us to rightly discern His will, and puts within us, a disposition of mind and heart to make it the guide and compass of our lives.

Epaphras prayed that the Colossians might stand “perfect and complete in all the will of God.” This is proof positive that, not only may we know the will of God, but that we may know all the will of God. And not only may we know all the will of God, but we may do all the will of God. We may, moreover, do all the will of God, not occasionally, or by a mere impulse, but with a settled habit of conduct. Still further, it shows us that we may not only do the will of God externally, but from the heart, doing it cheerfully, without reluctance, or secret disinclination, or any drawing or holding back from the intimate presence of the Lord.

Some years ago a man was travelling in the wilds of Kentucky. He had with him a large sum of money and was well armed. He put up at a log-house one night, but was much concerned with the rough appearance of the men who came and went from this abode. He retired early but not to sleep. At midnight he heard the dogs barking furiously and the sound of someone entering the cabin. Peering through a chink in the boards of his room, he saw a stranger with a gun in his hand. Another man sat before the fire. The traveller concluded they were planning to rob him, and prepared to defend himself and his property. Presently the newcomer took down a copy of the Bible, read a chapter aloud, and then knelt down and prayed. The traveller dismissed his fears, put his revolver away and lay down, to sleep peacefully until morning light. And all because a Bible was in the cabin, and its owner a man of prayer.” — REV. F. F. SHOUP.

PRAYER has all to do with the success of the preaching of the Word. This, Paul clearly teaches in that familiar and pressing request he made to the Thessalonians:

“Finally, brethren, pray for us that the Word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified.”

Prayer opens the way for the Word of God to run without let or hindrance, and creates the atmosphere which is favourable to the word accomplishing its purpose. Prayer puts wheels under God’s Word, and gives wings to the angel of the Lord “having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Prayer greatly helps the Word of the Lord.

The Parable of the Sower is a notable study of preaching, showing its differing effects and describing the diversity of hearers. The wayside hearers are legion. The soil lies all unprepared either by previous thought or prayer; as a consequence, the devil easily takes away the seed (which is the Word of God) and dissipating all good impressions, renders the work of the sower futile. No one for a moment believes, that so much of present-day sowing would go fruitless if only the hearers would prepare the ground of their hearts beforehand by prayer and meditation.

Similarly with the stony-ground hearers, and the thorny-ground hearers. Although the word lodges in their hearts and begins to sprout, yet all is lost, chiefly because there is no prayer or watchfulness or cultivation following. The good-ground hearers are profited by the sowing, simply because their minds have been prepared for the reception of the seed, and that, after hearing, they have cultivated the seed sown in their hearts, by the exercise of prayer. All this gives peculiar emphasis to the conclusion of this striking parable: “Take heed, therefore, how ye hear.” And in order that we may take heed how we hear, it is needful to give ourselves continually to prayer.

We have got to believe that underlying God’s Word is prayer, and upon prayer, its final success will depend. In the Book of Isaiah we read:

“So shall My word be that goeth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

In Psalm 19, David magnifies the Word of God in six statements concerning it. It converts the soul, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes, endures eternally, and is true and righteous altogether. The Word of God is perfect, sure, right, pure. It is heart-searching, and at the same time purifying, in its effect. It is no surprise therefore that after considering the deep spirituality of the Word of God, its power to search the inner nature of man, and its deep purity, the Psalmist should close his dissertation with this passage:

“Who can understand his errors?” And then praying after this fashion: “Cleanse Thou me from secret faults. Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.”

James recognizes the deep spirituality of the Word, and its inherent saving power, in the following exhortation:

“Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”

And Peter talks along the same line, when describing the saving power of the Word of God:

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”

Not only does Peter speak of being born again, by the incorruptible Word of God, but he informs us that to grow in grace we must be like new-born babes, desiring or feeding upon the “sincere milk of the Word.”

That is not to say, however, that the mere form of words as they occur in the Bible have in them any saving efficacy. But the Word of God, be it remembered, is impregnated with the Holy Spirit. And just as there is a Divine element in the words of Scripture, so also is the same Divine element to be found in all true preaching of the Word, which is able to save and convert the soul.

Prayer invariably begets a love for the Word of God, and sets people to the reading of it. Prayer leads people to obey the Word of God, and puts into the heart which obeys a joy unspeakable. Praying people and Bible-reading people are the same sort of folk. The God of the Bible and the God of prayer are one. God speaks to man in the Bible; man speaks to God in prayer. One reads the Bible to discover God’s will; he prays in order that he may receive power to do that will. Bible-reading and praying are the distinguishing traits of those who strive to know and please God. And just as prayer begets a love for the Scriptures, and sets people to reading the Bible, so, also, does prayer cause men and women to visit the house of God, to hear the Scriptures expounded. Church-going is closely connected with the Bible, not so much because the Bible cautions us against “forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is,” but because in God’s house, God’s chosen minister declares His Word to dying men, explains the Scriptures, and enforces their teachings upon his hearers. And prayer germinates a resolve, in those who practise it, not to forsake the house of God.

Prayer begets a church-going conscience, a church-loving heart, a church-supporting spirit. It is the praying people, who make it a matter of conscience, to attend the preaching of the Word; who delight in its reading; exposition; who support it with their influence and their means. Prayer exalts the Word of God and gives it preeminence in the estimation of those who faithfully and wholeheartedly call upon the Name of the Lord.

Prayer draws its very life from the Bible, and has no standing ground outside of the warrant of the Scriptures. Its very existence and character is dependent on revelation made by God to man in His holy Word. Prayer, in turn, exalts this same revelation, and turns men toward that Word. The nature, necessity and all-comprehending character of prayer, is based on the Word of God.

Psalm 119 is a directory of God’s Word. With three or four exceptions, each verse contains a word which identifies, or locates, the Word of God. Quite often, the writer breaks out into supplication, several times praying, “Teach me Thy statutes.” So deeply impressed is he with the wonders of God’s Word, and of the need for Divine illumination wherewith to see and understand the wonderful things recorded therein, that he fervently prays:

“Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.”

From the opening of this wonderful Psalm to its close, prayer and God’s Word are intertwined. Almost every phase of God’s Word is touched upon by this inspired writer. So thoroughly convinced was the Psalmist of the deep spiritual power of the Word of God that he makes this declaration:

“Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.”

Here the Psalmist found his protection against sinning. By having God’s Word hidden in his heart; in having his whole being thoroughly impregnated with that Word; in being brought completely under its benign and gracious influence, he was enabled to walk to and fro in the earth, safe from the attack of the Evil One, and fortified against a proneness to wander out of the way.

We find, furthermore, the power of prayer to create a real love for the Scriptures, and to put within men a nature which will take pleasure in the Word. In holy ecstasy he cries, “O, how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” And again: “How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my taste.”

Would we have a relish for God’s Word? Then let us give ourselves continually to prayer. He who would have a heart for the reading of the Bible must not — dare not — forget to pray. The man of whom it can be said, “His delight is in the law of the Lord,” is the man who can truly say, “I delight to visit the place of prayer.” No man loves the Bible, who does not love to pray. No man loves to pray, who does not delight in the law of the Lord.

Our Lord was a man of prayer, and He magnified the Word of God, quoting often from the Scriptures. Right through His earthly life Jesus observed Sabbath-keeping, church-going and the reading of the Word of God, and had prayer intermingled with them all:

“And He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day, and stood up to read.”

Here, let it be said, that no two things are more essential to a spirit-filled life than Bible-reading and secret prayer; no two things more helpful to growth in grace; to getting the largest joy out of a Christian life; toward establishing one in the ways of eternal peace. The neglect of these all-important duties, presages leanness of soul, loss of joy, absence of peace, dryness of spirit, decay in all that pertains to spiritual life. Neglecting these things paves the way for apostasy, and gives the Evil One an advantage such as he is not likely to ignore. Reading God’s Word regularly, and praying habitually in the secret place of the Most High puts one where he is absolutely safe from the attacks of the enemy of souls, and guarantees him salvation and final victory, through the overcoming power of the Lamb.

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Magnificent Life Ministries

Prayer and the Word!

February 16, 2021

Prayer and the Word!

“But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word.” Act 6:4

During certain periods, the early church faced major challenges, having many duties, responsibilities, and people to keep up with. The church was greatly increasing such that some part of it was being neglected. And it is crucial all members of the church must stay connected. It was huge that they had to set up a new committee to take care of certain ministry parts.

Irrespective of the trials and challenges, they never forgot their major priorities; prayer and word. While they were chasing lost souls and sheep, they never lost their major tool: ‘prayer and the word.’ They know what makes them special before their ministry becomes known and expand in the world and beyond. They never took their source of inspiration, power, and strength for granted.

John 15:7 says, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

What about you? Is there anything in your life drawing you away from God? Examine yourself now and makes every necessary adjustment that will draw you closer to God’s presence. It’s a simple but powerful way to renew your faith and strengthen your relationship with God. Prayer and reading the word of God is a great way to tame your mind and heart. It’s a tool to help you find peace in your life and make sure that you are not tempted by temptation.

Jesus understood the importance of prayer and the word; He was so passionate and gave Himself into it. Every time we pray, we are edified, and every time we read the word, we receive power and life. Fervent prayer and diligent reading of the word of God should be a major duty of a true believer. Do not allow any form of distraction. Be sensitive! Matthew 26:41 says, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Prayer:
1. Oh Lord, thank you for this great reminder to keep my heart in your presence.
2. Help me to be sensitive to every form of distraction, Lord. I receive the grace to continue in you and for you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Regarding to the connection between prayer and our private devotion, Professor Louis Finkelstein, a 20th-century Jewish scholar, said, “When I pray, I speak to God; when I study (read the Bible), God speaks to me.”  There is a Bible passage which bears out this idea to perfection, Numbers 7:89 which says ” And when Moses had gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with Him, then he heard the voice of One speaking to him from the mercy-seat on the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubs.  And He spoke to him.”

When Moses went to pray, whether for himself or for his nation of Israel, and prepared to wait for God’s instruction, inevitably he found God waiting for him.  We can and should learn from this.

Jesus had words for us too on the matter of Prayer and the Word of God.  Matthew 6:5-6 makes prayer an imperative for all born-again Christians, for as Jesus Himself said “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, so that they may be seen by men.  Truly I say to you, They have their reward.  But you, when you pray, enter into your room.  And shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.”   Notice it says “when you pray.”  Prayer then, is not an option for Christians, but the means, the normal means and normal method of communication, between us and God.

Notice also how Moses went into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with God; compared to us, who can pray anywhere, but are recommended to use a private, closed and quiet room.  When we go to pray, God will be there to meet us.  For Christians, it is not about show, it is not about the public and outward manifestation of prayer ritual, but it is all about the private words given and heard, in secret.

A PRAYERFUL SPIRIT

For us to approach God, we need to develop a prayerful spirit, for it is when we are in that spirit, that God will speak.  This is a listening, humble, quiet and expectant spirit, not a self-focussed, brash, impatient spirit.  A prayerful spirit is a spirit full of desire to hear the Word of God and desperate to communicate with God, for in true communication with God, the presence of God is as real and as tangible as our own presence.  Scripture can help is in this, such that both reading and praying, become true fellowship with God.

A RIGHT PLACE

As we saw in Numbers 7:89, Moses went into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with God.  We also saw in Matthew 6:6, that we need to go into our own private room or cupboard or quiet place, to practice communication with the Living God.  We are called to enter our quite place and pray to the Father who is in secret and He will meet us, but any private place where we can be alone and concentrate on God and God alone, will suffice.  But there we must be separated from all else, to achieve that which God wants us to achieve – focus on Him and on Him and His Word, alone.

Yet we need more than this – we need a heart set with intent on communication with God and of meeting Him personally.  When we have this, and when we go to speak with God, He will hear.

A RIGHT POSTION

Throughout the Bible, and especially in the Old Testament, there is only one position of supplication before a higher authority, let alone before God.  In Genesis 23:13 “Abraham bowed before the people of the land” and in Exodus 34:8  “Moses made haste and bowed toward the earth, and worshiped.”   Thus we can well understand how Moses positioned himself in the tabernacle of the congregation before the Mercy Seat, from where God talked to him.  Moses and all others bowed before the Living God.  This is the right position for us in prayer – bowed in reverence, before the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Living God.  When we are in that position before the Mercy Seat, we can know with certainty that an upward look, will find God’s eyes.  As Psalm 51:17 tells us “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

A RIGHT MIND

To come to pray to God with expectancy that He will listen, we first need to come with, as mentioned earlier, a listening attitude.  It is, after all, not about us.  It is, and always will be, all about Him.

Typically we come to God in either of two conditions, first with blank minds – not knowing what to say.  Or second, conversely, with a “shopping-list” of prayer requests, as though God works for us and is our servant, doing our bidding.  With these attitudes, we will be always talking, but never listening, thinking He has nothing to say to us.  Isaiah 66:1-2 gives advice on the correct mind for entering before God in prayer saying  “So says Jehovah, Heaven is My throne, and earth My footstool.  Where, then, is the house that you build for Me?  And where is the place of My rest?  For all those My hand has made, and all those exist, says Jehovah.  But to this one I will look, to the afflicted and contrite spirit, and the one who trembles at My Word.”

A right mind is the result of a humble heart; a heart humbly waiting for God to speak – no matter how long it takes.  The Word confirms for us that when we enter into prayer with the right attitude and mind, not only will God hear, but God will answer, for ours is relational God.  He so much wants to have a relationship with us, and a relationship devoid of hollow ritual, but filled with authenticity.  To this end, God has given us not just His Word, but also the Holy Spirit, the paraclete – the one who comes alongside, to help us.

A RIGHT WORD

Reading the Bible, reveals one simple message from God to us – that Prayer and His Word are not just intrinsically and inseparably linked, the Word gives matter and substance to prayer.  The Word not only tells us what God will do for us, but also what and how we should do things for God.  God has set His protocols in the Word and they are very important to Him.  To be in God’s will, does not only mean understanding God’s will, it means understanding God’s will at that time.  For God requires of us His Will, at His time, and His way and in compliance with His protocols.  The Bible, the living Word of God, provided this for us in clear and simple language.

Yes, the words to God come from our lips, but when we ask, as in Psalm 19:14 to “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer” we are bringing God’s will into our hearts and in doing this, we pray His will.

The Word of God gives us the path of prayer, the power of prayer and the answers to prayer.  All we need to do is give up our will and let the Lord have free reign over our lives.  To understand why this is so, we need only to look at Prayer and the Word.  Prayer and the Word have the same single centre – God.  We can see that Prayer seeks God and quite clearly, the Word reveals God.  They are two faces, as it were, of the same coin.  Thus, as Finkelstein (and many others) and Numbers 7:89 say, in Prayer mans asks God, and in the Word, God answers man.  As Andrew Murray wrote in his book “Daily Experience with God”, “In prayer, man rises to heaven to dwell with God; in the Word, God comes to dwell with man.  In prayer, man gives himself to God, in the Word, God gives Himself to man.”

God, as we have seen, is at the centre of the Word and at the centre of Prayer.  In the Word and in Prayer, God is all there is, and all there needs to be.  To pray as God wants us to pray, we need to understand this and make God the centre of our lives, the centre of our hearts, the centre of our minds, the centre of our marriages, the centre of our families.  There is no other position for God, other than at the centre of all we do, all we think and all we say.  When we achieve this, both Prayer and the Word take on a new meaning and a new an unimaginable blessed fellowship with the Living God Himself.  For as Second Corinthians 6:16 says “For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Amen and Amen and Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father,
I come before you as a confessed sinner and with only one thing on my mind.  I pray that You will change me and teach me to Pray to you.  I long for a true relationship with you.  I long to hear your voice.  As I bow before you Lord, please change me from the inside out.  I give my will freely to you and ask You Lord, to have Your way and only Your way, in my life.  Lead me Lord, such that Your destiny for me will be fulfilled in Your way and at Your time.
In Jesus name I pray.  Amen.