Sometimes prayer becomes a ritual to make us feel better. Sometimes God does not answer our prayers because they go against His will. Sometimes God says we pray in vain because we ask with selfish motives.
Sometimes God tells us to stop praying for someone because He has already heard the many other prayers and knows the outcome.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 "17 pray without ceasing,"
God tells us to pray without ceasing, but this is not necessarily praying for the same things or the same people all the time. We are to maintain an attitude of prayer about everything, but not necessarily many times over and over again for the same things.
Paul stopped praying for the thorn in his flesh because after three times he realized it was God's will for him to have the thorn.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 "7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.…"
Jeremiah 7:16 “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you."
The modern idea that we should never stop praying for family members is not Biblical. We pray as we are led by the Holy Spirit, not just according to our own desires, but we pray for God's Will.
Never allow the pressure of others to bring guilt upon you to pray about something if you are not led to do so. Our culture says many unbiblical things and places pressure and guilt on us all to do what they beleive is right in their own eyes.
Sometimes, continuing to pray when it is not the Holy Spirit leading you to do so, you may be praying against God's Will.
Jesus Christ prayed in the will of the Father the following:
Matthew 26:39
Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Matthew 26:42
A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”
If we are led by the Holy Spirit, what to pray, we will not be worried about how many times we utter the same prayer.
Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
Romans 8:26 "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words."
Do not fall into the trap of being pressured by what the "Christian culture" is doing or teaching; be led by the Holy Spirit, and you will not go wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment