Most of us began to pray around the dinner table when we were very small children. We didn’t completely understand the nature of what we were doing but we knew that we were thanking God for what we were about to eat. Our parents and grand parents were beginning to teach us a very important part of our lives.
“God, is gracious, God is good, let us thank Him for our food. Amen.” Simple but also profound.
As we grow and as the gravity of life and all its vicissitudes began to become a reality to us, we learned how to pray to the Lord deeper and more specifically.
The Bible teaches us to pray. In fact, it was Jesus who gave us the model prayer when he taught us to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven, hollowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
As we develop as Christians, we learn how to pray to a deeper level. We are instructed by the Apostle Paul to pray about everything and to pray continually. In other words, prayer should be seen as a necessary part of our lives. It gives us the opportunity to communicate with the God of this universe with the assurance that He is listening to us personally. Just think about that. The creator knows you personally and you can communicate with Him in a one-on-one relationship. This thing called prayer is mighty in its power and is God’s way of having a more personal relationship with us.
The Lord gave me this statement a number of years ago while I was writing a sermon on prayer. It goes like this: “Prayer is a spiritual guided missile. It can be launched from anywhere in the universe to anywhere in the universe. It travels at the speed of thought; never misses its mark and always accomplishes its task.” Allow me to give you a good example of this.
I invited a lot of the very best evangelists to preach revivals in our church, Abilene Baptist, while I was pastor. One of the very best was a man by the name of Bill Stafford. This preacher was highly skilled and gifted in evangelism because that is what God had called him to do. Bill would have a congregation highly engrossed in a deep spiritual subject one minute and the next minute he would have the people laughing as some point of humor he would interject into the situation. He was one of the very best preachers that I invited to Abilene in those days.
Bill Stafford was also a man who cared deeply about God’s preachers and loved them. One of the things that his evangelistic association did each year was that they would go to South Africa and put on a conference for those pastors who were ministering to people out in the country. These men were ministering to people in small churches that they had founded way out in the backwoods. They had no formal training and were eager to learn what to do and how to do it. Bill Stafford helped them. His evangelistic association would save up money all year in order to have these men come into the city and attend this conference where they would learn correct theology and proper ways to conduct themselves as a pastor. They would also learn how to administer a church so that it would grow and win more people to Jesus. Learning how to preach properly was also a central part of this week-long conference each year which cost them nothing.
One Wednesday morning during one of our meetings together, I picked him up to go to the Wednesday evening revival service. This was the last service of the week and we were looking forward to the Lord saving some souls. While on the way to the church, I asked Bill how things were going that day. He said, “Brother, I am fine but I want you to pray for something for me.” I inquired what it was and he related to me that the hotel in which he housed all those men who came to the conference in South Africa had told his office that they must have a $10,000 check by the next day in order to reserve the hotel for the conference. This had never happened before on such a short notice and Bill did, of course, did not have that kind of money so readily available. He said that he didn’t know what to do about it because all the men had already made provisions to come to the conference which was only a couple of weeks away. He asked me to pray with him about it. Well, we drove on toward the church and I told him that I would certainly be praying about the situation asking the Lord to handle this problem.
We were sitting in my office and it was about five minutes until service time. I told Bill that we needed to pray for the service, for his preaching and for the funds he needed for the South Africa conference. He agreed, and we prayed. I asked the Lord for His blessings on the service and then I said: “Lord, you know this situation about the needed $10,000 and I am asking you to provide that money so that Bill and his association can minister to the men in South Africa as they teach them how to be a better pastor and soul winner. Please solve this problem as you see fit.” Amen. Not five seconds later there was a knock on my office door. A dedicated member of our church was standing there and asked if Bill Stafford was in the office. I replied that, Yes, he was right here. He asked if he could see him for a minute. Now, it was about time to start the service, but I told him that he certainly could talk with him. This man came to Bill Stafford and said: “Brother Bill, I don’t know why, but God stoke to me and told me to give you $10,000.
I almost fell over. Bill looked at me with a look of wonder on his face. God had answered that prayer within five seconds of saying “Amen.” It was an astounding event and a wonderful demonstration of the fact that God hears us and answers our prayers when they are within His Will.
I would be remiss if I did not point our something else about all of this. You see, God knew our need and had already provided for it even before we prayed our prayer. That man had already heard God on the issue and had already written his check. He was on the way to my office while we were still paying to the Lord about it. He knew the need. He just wanted us to trust Him for the fulfillment of the prayer.
Always remember…God hears our sincere prayers that are centered on trusting Him to provide our need. Selfish prayers won’t work. But, God-centered prayers which bring glory to Him will be heard and acted upon according to His Will.
Just recall this: “Prayer is a guided missile given to us to enable us to communicate with our Father. We should praise Him, thank Him, entreat Him and honor Him with our prayers. He will hear and He will answer our Spiritual Guided Missile.
