God wants us to pray for others...and to stand in the gap for them.
Paul in Ephesians 6 tells us that we are to put on the whole armor of God...and to stand firm and to pray with all kinds of prayers and requests for all the saints, which is what we are: God's holy people. We, the church, are called His saints... We are His people, who have been called out of the darkness, to walk in His Light...
God will reward us for praying, just as Jesus said in Matthew 5:5,6, that if we will go and pray in secret, in a private place, behind closed doors... He will reward us openly... God seeks our fellowship. He draws us to Himself. No one comes to Jesus (of his own accord) but the Father Himself draws us to Himself. Think about that, if you ever think God doesn't care. You didn't come to God on your own, but He drew you. It is contrary to our nature to seek God, because we were born with a sinful, rebellious nature. The proof of God's love for you and that He has chosen you, is that you are wanting to come close to God. That desire was given to you by God. It is your choice to follow Him, but He is always working in our lives to draw us to Himself... (John 6:44)
We always have a choice. We must choose to spend time with Him. Time with God IS the most important thing we can do... There is nothing that matters more, not even what we believe that we are doing FOR Him... We must choose Him, choose to listen to His voice, to spend time to in His presence so that He can teach us and strengthen us and give us the wisdom that we need.
You ARE loved and God is good. He is faithful and will strengthen and protect you from the evil one...II Thess. 3:3 So do not fear. Spend time alone with God and let God help you. Prayer is simply communication with God, talking and being quiet enough to listen to His Spirit on the inside of you, speaking to you, teaching you, even telling you about the things to come... He will help you and when you cannot do it, He will fight the battles for you. He will give you the wisdom and the strength to do what you must do...You ARE loved by God.
He does not want you to be fearful or anxious or worried... The Word of God says in Philippians 4, Rejoice! Do not be anxious or worried about anything...but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, to present your requests to God... and then the PEACE OF GOD which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus... And He tells us to think about good things... not evil things... and the GOD OF PEACE will be with you...
You ARE loved. He knows what you need before you ask Him (Matthew 6:32) but He says to seek Him and His righteousness (His kingdom) and all the things that you need will be given to you... Do not worry about tomorrow, but trust that the God who is with you today, will be there with you tomorrow as well.
Jesus spoke to His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane just as He speaks to us today... calling us to prayer. Can we not tarry in prayer for one hour? Think of all the things that we do for one hour...
He waits for us to come... He can and will show us what to do. We ARE loved by the Father Himself. God Almighty watches over us.
We must choose to seek Him and to call on His name. We are in a battle and we must fight it through the weapons that God provides. Prayer is the highest calling and strongest weapon that we have.
We must choose to walk in reverential fear and holiness for without holiness, the word says that we will not see God. He has called us to holiness and righteousness. James 5 declares that the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man will accomplish much. What a promise!
We must choose to LOVE HIM more than this world... We must choose to spend time in prayer, so that we can know HIM. We must choose to walk in love toward others. Then He will say to us "COME, YOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT... ENTER INTO THE JOY OF YOUR MASTER."
We must choose to pray for our Leaders as the word tells us to in I Timothy 2:1-4, saying, "I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings (presidents, leaders of states, cities, schools, etc.) and all those in authority, that we may live PEACEFUL and QUIET lives in all godliness and holiness...This is good and acceptable and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth"
YOU ARE LOVED!
