In a recent study, Ohio preacher David Reid asked the
rhetorical question: “Who does this earth belong to?”
He explained, “The first thought that may go through your
mind is that it belongs to Satan. That’s not scripturally true.
“I Corinthians 10:26 says, ‘For the earth is the Lord's, and
the fulness thereof.’ That verse says the earth belongs to the Lord. You may be
wondering, ‘Yeah, but what about II Corinthians 4:4 where it calls Satan the
god of this world?’
“That verse says that
Satan is the god who the world worships. There’s a difference between the two.
Who does the world choose to worship?
“The point I’m making is when people talk about God intervening
in the world, that’s the same thing as saying you intervene in your car. Do you
intervene in your car when you steer it, or is it YOUR car?!
“You’re not coming between you and your car; your car
BELONGS to you. So when you steer it, you didn’t intervene; it belongs to
you—you CONTROL it!
“The earth is the Lord’s. God owns the earth, just as He
always has because, guess what, He MADE it; it’s His!”
*****
Reid began his discussion about prayer by confessing, “I’ll be
honest and tell you that in my life as a grace believer, I’ve had a very
pathetic prayer life. My observation is that many grace believers do.
“The critical Pauline passage on prayer in my opinion is
Philippians 4:6: ‘Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.’
“ ‘Be careful for nothing,’ is saying, ‘Don’t be full of
care, don’t be overwhelmed, don’t be overburdened.’
“ ‘But in everything’ . . . Notice it says IN everything. In every
situation, every circumstance, every detail. Do you ever find yourself in a
situation where you can’t pray? Not according to what that says.
“Notice it says ‘let your requests be made known.’ Does it
condition them? Does it tell you there are certain things you can’t pray? It
says if it’s your request, you can make it known. In fact, what it specifically
says is ‘if you have a request, make it known.’ Don’t sit on it; make it known.
*****
“Look at verse 7 because this is what crystallizes prayer in
my mind: ‘And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’
“If you put verses 6 and 7 together, it says, ‘Don’t be
troubled, and with an attitude of thanksgiving let your requests be made known,
and you know what happens? You get peace!’
“I find often in my life I run into problems and my first
reaction is, ‘This is bigger than me and I don’t know what to do with it.’
“So what I love about prayer is I can say, ‘God, this is
causing me care. Here’s my request. I’m thankful for whatever you want to do
with it and, God, it is now your problem. It’s not mine. It’s bigger than me;
I’m giving it to you.’
“Verse 7 says what I get from doing that is peace, and
that’s even peace that’s beyond my ability to understand. I don’t understand
how it works, the details of it, but I understand I’ve given it to the Creator
God who loves me and now it’s not my problem. Philippians 4: 6-7 is how you
unburden yourself.
*****
“Let me run some verses with you. I Kings 8:54 says, ‘And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.’
“Daniel 6:10 says, ‘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.’
“Luke 22:41 says, ‘And
he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed.’
“Isn’t that interesting? The Lord Jesus Christ knelt in
prayer. Of course, Solomon did, Daniel did.
“Part of prayer is being in humility towards the Creator.
Part of prayer is acknowledging your place in the universe and there’s
something appropriate and spiritually proper to kneel down in prayer.
*****
“Paul writes in Colossians 4:12, ‘Epaphras, who is one of
you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in
prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.’
“What I find fascinating about that verse is it describes
prayer as a labor. It’s actual WORK. I think sometimes we get the idea prayer
is passive, but when someone prays for you they’re doing you this great
spiritual service. They’re working to help you!
“Isn’t it fascinating to think you can think about a
brother, and though he may be far-removed from you, you can care about him, and
then by communicating with God about him, you can actually do him good because
you are laboring in your soul on his behalf?”
“Paul says in Romans 15:30, ‘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.’
“Prayer is something that requires effort because it’s a form of
warfare. II Corinthians 1:11 says, ‘Ye also helping together by prayer for us,
that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be
given by many on our behalf.’ ”
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