PRAYER IS AN INVITATION TO ENTER INTO GOD’S PRESENCE
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“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” – Martin Luther –
Why pray? Isn’t it true that our omniscient God knows our needs and desires before we ask? What do our prayers accomplish? Will our prayers ever change anything?
God invites us to pray. His love for us is so deep, so vast that He longs for us to talk with Him. Why is it we often do not accept His invitation? Perhaps we find excuses to not pray… “I don’t have the time”… “I feel distant from God”… “I don’t want to bother Him with my problems”… “I think I have it all figured out.”
Or we may believe… “God loves me. He knows I love Him. He knows the details of my life. I send up arrow prayers throughout my day when I need His help. Isn’t that enough?”
“In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.”– Ephesians 3:12
Prayer is an invitation, an opportunity, a high honor. God invites us to come into His blessed presence. He gives us the opportunity to come boldly to His throne of grace. He offers us the privilege of talking with Him. We can share our deepest thoughts and concerns with the God of the universe. What an awesome privilege!
Prayer at its essence bridges the gap between a holy God and mankind. Jesus cleared the way for us to have a relationship with the Father. He is our Bridge, our Mediator. He satisfied God’s wrath against our sin through His work on the cross. Our heavenly Father now sees us through the lens of Christ’s perfect righteousness. We are worthy before a sovereign God.
“Christians should never forget that the highest kind of prayer is never the making of requests. Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God to a place of such blessed union as makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison.” – A.W. Tozer
Prayer is a time when we talk with God, listen to Him and love Him. As we pour out our hearts before Him, our Father hears us and understands. He is kind-hearted, compassionate and merciful. He speaks to our spirits, sharing with us His wisdom and revelations. We sense His perfect love for us and we express our love to Him.
Prayer is a blessed time of union with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father hears our prayers, the Son mediates for us before Him, and the Holy Spirit reveals the heart of the Father and Son to us. It is in spending time with our God that we come to know Him, love Him, and become like Him.
Perhaps our question then should be… Why not pray? Why would we not accept God’s invitation to pray? We embrace the amazing privilege of spending time with the One who loves us with a neverending love… the One who will take our best and make it His best… the One who will transform our lives.
