Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:9-10) […]
What’s Ahead? — Ernie’s Musings
We could probably come up with several reasons to pray with earnestness. Here are three that stand out to me.
First of all, we should pray with earnestness because of our great need for God. Truth has gone out the window, sin is rampant, and the world is lost. Where once swearing and dirty talk was forbidden on TV and radio, now it is common place and even applauded. Where once adultery, immorality and divorce were shameful, now it is accepted as the norm, even among those who say they are Christians. Today pornography is everywhere; you can’t go anywhere or do anything without seeing it. Yes, we (all people) have a great need for God and for moral purity. For this reason, prayer is needed—earnest prayer is needed!
Secondly, we should pray with earnestness because it is the way Jesus prayed and the way He would want…
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When I was young, I vividly remember sitting in church during prayer time, looking around, seeing how people were praying. I remember especially my mother, how she seemed to be very sincere, and even at times crying. I think she was the one who demonstrated to me what earnest prayer was. But I also think that many go through life just faking it, pretending to pray. Why? Because they don’t have a relationship with God. They either aren’t a real Christian, or they just haven’t developed a relationship with Him.
The following is a study I did a long time ago on what Earnestness in prayer isNOT.
Earnestness in prayer is not prayer that is without sincerity, seriousness, and intensity; hence, it is not prayer that is phony, flippant, and indifferent. Earnest prayer is not prayer that does not recognize prayer needs or the…
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Agonizomai. This word means to struggle, to wrestle with, to contend or compete with an adversary. In Colossians 1:28-29 we see that Paul labored and struggled (agonizomai) with all the energy of God, which was working (energeo) in him, to admonish and teach everyone with all wisdom, with the goal to present everyone perfect in Christ. So here, whereas some people struggle just with their own personal problems, Paul struggled and worked (with the power of God behind him) in behalf of others.
And we can believe that, as he struggled to admonish and teach, the real struggle was with the devil (Eph. 6:10-13), and his weapon against him was prayer. For this reason, we can say that earnestness in prayer is working and struggling in prayer (by the mighty power of God) against the forces of evil. And we do it with the goal…
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This is my second installment of four on this study of earnest prayer—which are excerpts from my book Principles of Prayer.
Eklenesteron. This word has basically the same meaning as ektenos, except with this word the intensity of earnestness is greater. The word appears in the New Testament only in Luke 22:44, where it describes the way Jesus prayed just before His trial and crucifixion: “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Here it seems that the reason why He prayed so earnestly was because He was so grieved and distressed over the thought of His crucifixion—where he would suffer and pay a horrible penalty for the sin of the whole world. But take note that His prayers were not weak as to feel sorry for Himself. No, His prayers were strong. As…
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If you are having some difficulty knowing how to abide in the Word, or knowing how abiding works to bring about desire, here are five steps to follow that I think will be helpful.
Contemplate. Before I pray I always find it helpful to read something from the Bible and to think about its meaning. Think about what God has said to you from the Bible, but also what He says to you in nature—think on and remember the wonders He has done (1 Chron. 16:11). As you read the gospels, think of Jesus. Think of all His qualities and what He has done for you. Eventually you will find yourself longing for God.
Reckon. Reckon (know and believe) that He will never leave you, and that you are a member of His body. Reckon that His life flows through you as the living sap that…
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Desire is the beginning and the basis of prayer. We cannot pray at all without desire. Now if you want to really deepen your prayer life, you must deepen your desire in prayer. Here are five ways to do it.
1. Pray for desire. Since prayers are somewhat meaningless without desire, if you have just a little desire, I think it would be wise to focus that desire in praying for more desire. While you are praying you may discover that your lack of desire is even worse than you thought—because you may not feel much like praying at all, for anything! If that’s the case, it may be that God is already at work in you to answer your prayer. He is creating in you what is necessary to have desire—recognition of your need, which is your first step to achieve it.
Your next step is to focus your…
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M. Bounds has said, “It is the ardor created by desire that burns its way to the throne of mercy and gains its plea.” Again, Bounds said of desire, “This holy and fervid flame in the soul awakens the interests of heaven, attracts the attention of God, and places at the disposal of those who exercise it, the exhaustless riches of Divine grace.” Thus desire not only helps me pray, but it helps my prayers reach God.
But we must not think that what Bounds is suggesting is that we can manipulate God by our desire. No, God is in no way surprised by our desire or feels manipulated. In fact, He waits for us to come to Him with desire—that desire that He has already planted within our heart.
Moreover, when we come to Him with holy desire for certain things, we have the promises of God assuring…
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These few lines were written about twenty years ago in chapter seven of my book, Prayer A to Z and later put in my Studying Prayer blog. Enjoy.
When we desire and seek God, He brings us into a love relationship with Him—a relationship of a son or daughter to a father. As our Father He desires to give us all the things we need. As a son or daughter we naturally desire to receive from Him what He desires to give us. And this is the beginning of what we call prayer. It is reallythe basis of prayer.
Some Hebrew and Greek words can be translated as either desire,prayer, or request. For example, I looked up the word desire in my Vine’s Expository Dictionary and found that two Greek words, eratao and aiteo, are sometimes translated as desire, but most often as ask or request. We could also come from the other end. That is, if you look up all the Greek words for prayer, there are two words, deomi and deesis…
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Stephen Nielsen 