“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians4:6
True prayer and real peace are the provisions and gifts of God, to meet the very present needs of believers in Christ, but also, those needs of those who are around them. In the context of spiritual warfare, the Apostle Paul instructed the believers in Ephesus to pray, “….always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” (6:18) The believer in Christ has a responsibility and privilege to be watchful concerning the needs of others in the body of Christ, so that by prayer and supplication to God, those needs can be met by God in answer to faith. One example of this kind of praying is found in one of Paul’s prayers to the Colossian church. He prayed: “…(we) do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His (God’s) will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord…” (1:9,10) There is no question that this prayer is an essential one in praying for the brethren, and for ourselves, not only because of the need we have to know the will of God, but primarily of the need for GOD to reveal it to us. It is not enough to know the truth. Why? God takes the truth, compliments it by other truths and the revelation of His nature, in order that the believer may know that it is Christ who is at work in him, to will and to do of His good pleasure. Knowing the will of God is an exercise, and blessing, in knowing God, communing with Him. Prayer is an essential part of that blessing. We then must ask the question, “If we do not pray, will we ever know the will of God?” The Apostle James tells us that, “…You do not have because you do not ask.” (4:2) Prayer is essential in knowing the blessing of God’s working in the hearts of others, and in our own.
So, the disciple of Christ is called to be prayerful, persevering, trusting the Spirit of God, not only to guide him in praying for other believers, but also for ALL men. We see this in the Apostle Paul’s first letter to Timothy: “Therefore I exhort, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for ALL men.” (2:1) It has been said that, “There is no one so poor as the one for whom no one is praying.” Why is this? Prayer brings down the blessing of God, first concerning the work of God in the heart to bring an individual into contact with the truth, and the reality of the presence of God, but also, to an understanding of God’s ways so that man can be forgiven of his sins, know the power of a new life in Christ by faith, being born again by the Holy Spirit. If God alone can do the work of God, and He does that work in answer to believing prayer, how much should we be praying, especially for those who do not know Christ? If we do not pray, who will pray for them? If we do not intercede in their behalf, how shall the blessing come upon them to know and love Him?
Why did God give us through the Apostle John the very words of Christ’s great prayer just before He went to the cross? It was to reveal to us first the heart of God, His love, power, and faithfulness. It was also for the purpose of giving us direction in prayer, a pattern to follow. First and foremost is the prayer for the glory of God, that revelation of the Father. Secondly, that the Father would “keep,” protect and preserve the disciples from the evil one. Thirdly, Christ prayed for the Father to sanctify them, and that they would be ONE in Him.
Dear Father, Make us truly prayerful. In Jesus’ name, Amen.