Saturday, February 23, 2019

UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER, PART 2 - OUR PRAYER LIFE

Most praying Christians may disagree with this statement. However, in order to have a truly fulfilling prayer life, one must next, in this process of Spiritual Growth, surrender that life to the Lord.

Why should we do that? There simple answer can actually be found in one little verse from Romans 8:26. Please note every word in this verse "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words".

The key words here for our discussion is directly from God, in context: 
     -  Weakness
     -  The Spirit helps us
     -  We do not know HOW to pray
     -  As we should
     -  The Spirit Himself intercedes for us

We may be the person who prays down heaven in the group prayer meeting at noon, or before church, or during a special prayer assembly.  But we are still mortal, weak and vulnerable to spiritual attacks humans who are completely dependent on Holy God, even if we do not wish to admit it. 

We may be in prayer ministry for 10-15-30-50 years, but we still must stay plugged into the Source and rely on Him. We must do this daily.

We may even write books on prayer, like I did, still - that means absolutely nothing if we are not, first acknowledging our weaknesses right now, and then surrendering to the Lord.

So what do we surrender? How do we surrender? Let us proceed to pray like this:
Father, in the Name of Jesus, I know I am a completely frail, weak and mortal creation, susceptible to the influences of world and noise around me, no matter how passive I may think it is. You said to concern ourselves about today, because today has its own evil. Help us to NOT gloss over that. Help us to not rely on the mountaintop prayer moments with you from the past. Help us not to jump ahead of today to the next thing down the road in the future, when the giant is in front of us right now. So Lord, I surrender, by that acknowledgement, my entire Prayer Life to You. I pray that Your Spirit - the Holy Spirit Who is God Himself - will not only assist me, guide me, direct me, protect me, but I pray that He shows me the way I should pray. Not in mindless repetition and chants like the pagans and the religious do, but in a humble, surrendered spirit, which confirms that You are my Helper, my Advocate and my all in all. I willingly give my prayer life to be directed ONLY by You now, in the Mighty and Strong Name of King Jesus, amen.

This prayer, or a similar one, doubles back to Romans 8:26. A winning strategy, for a successful prayer life, is one which blossoms out of a surrendered humble heart. Building on Praise and Scripture, this foundation can only grow us closer to the Lord, in the way which He would have us approach Him. If you add prayer and fasting unto this, on a regular basis, the resulting life of true Christian Faith, is one full of peace, joy and fulfillment in the Lord.

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