See the Prayer and Praying Series here
‘Lord, Teach us to pray.’ Ahhh!
Curiosity was piqued. 1
So teach them He
did indeed, with a ‘B.C. interface’.
Thus here’s a
powerful insight that’s somewhat unique:
The prayer model He
taught was before the Age of Grace!
When reading
through the Bible, God’s Holy Word,
Here is something
we must remember and never forget:
To rightly divide all we have read and heard.
The major divide is
the B.C. and A.D. mindset. 2
Imagine the
different ‘audio-visuals’,
Between the B.C.
and A.D. types of prayers.
Note the rigor
in A.D. prayers that are forceful,
And the vigor
to receive by faith God’s answers.
After His
resurrection, it is abundantly clear,
Jesus totally
revised how the redeemed ought to pray!
Then He wrote us
many letters to help us get in gear.
With God, weak B.C.
prayers are now so very passé. 3
Roots of A.D.
prayer is faith in what God has said,
Concerning the
issues about which we pray.
He has released His faith in promises He calls ‘Bread’.
In A.D. prayers, our faith we must display.
Face-to-face, to
God it’s in Jesus Christ’s Name we plead.
Faith-to-faith,
it’s when we pray that we receive.
If to specific
promises our requests are keyed,
Then boldly
assured, we have what we believe. 4
Lacking deep knowledge
of promises God has made,
Means no foundation
of faith upon which to build,
The storehouse of
patience you will need to persuade,
Your un-renewed
carnal mind that is so strong-willed!
It is the body of
our flesh and our carnal mind,
That can’t grasp the
notion of ‘receiving when we pray’.
To things of the
spirit, body and mind remain blind,
Thus we must let
God’s Word our body and mind outweigh.
If between your
spirit and mind there is a raging war,
And to your mind
this all seems like a huge conundrum,
Note: God calls things that are not as if
they already are.
This is how the things He calls …into our world be-come.
If into your life
good things from God you pray to come,
Then to His Word
you must renew your thoughts and words.
Shun B.C. prayers
that to God are ‘deaf and dumb’. 5
Pray in Jesus’
Name, backed up with Word you have heard.
As you pray, please
take time to ponder
this insightful thought.
So much of that for
which we pray must put God in a binder.
Don’t pray for things
Christ’s sacrifice for us already bought.
Imagine Heaven
stamping such prayers
…‘Return-to-sender!’
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1 See:
Luke 11:1
2 See:
2 Timothy 2:15. B.C. refers to before Christ’s sacrifice for sin. A.D.
refers to the After Deliverance Age of Grace, especially for us who are
saved or redeemed, having accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. To us, all of
God’s Bible promises related to being righteous in His sight are now available
to us, whether written in the Old or New Testaments. This is The Gospel, writ large. Though available, we must
apply or appropriate them by faith.
3 John 14 and 15 set the contextual stage for
A.D. prayers. This is reinforced in Romans 12:12, 1 Corinthians 14-15,
Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 1:9 and 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:17,
1 Timothy 2:1,8, James 5:14-16, 1 John 5:14, and especially Jude 1:20.
4 See: Mark 11:23-26
5 God may be deaf (not
hearing) and/or dumb (not responding)
to faithless prayers. We, the redeemed, should study to not be deaf
to what God has specifically and generally said about our prayer issues, and not
be dumb, unwilling to speak His promises in faith. The only prayers of the unredeemed
God is committed to answer are the prayers of Godly, sorrowful repentance for
sin.
