“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.’ ”
*****
Reid began to talk about prayer by first 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.”
(new article tomorrow)
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