The Resting Place

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee,

and show thee great and mighty things which

thou knowest not."

Jeremiah 33:3

God loves it when His children pray and seek His face. And He loves when we worship Him, for adoration is the foundation upon which all other prayer rests. Adoration finds the Christian entering into peace and comfort that can be found nowhere else but in Him. It is the cry of the restless heart finding His arms.

You might say, but others think it is unnecessary to pray, to call on God for anything. We need not pray because God already knows what's going to take place even before it happens, and it would be a waste of His time and ours to pray about something. About anything.

Well, that's just preposterous! Another trick of the evil one. Funny the things he wants you to accept as fact. So much scripture teaches us that we are to pray. Why, the disciples even asked the Lord Jesus to teach them to pray. Let's remove, once and for all, yet another absurd, cult-like teaching from our list by way of the infallible and Holy Scriptures. 

The Prophet Samuel prayed! As a matter of fact, it was he who said, "God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way." Did you ever notice the Old Testament prophets always provided, as we used to say, "Value Added"? I can't believe I just said that. I have been retired from Mortgage Banking since 2004. Some things just roll off the tongue.  Not only would Samuel pray for Israel. He would also teach them, which was something of great value to them. Samuel was wise; he was smart; he was educated; and he was obedient. You might say he was sort of like the Dean of Students in Israel. He traveled from place to place, praying for God's people, teaching them to value time spent in prayer with a Holy God, and teaching them how to live godly. 

Isaiah in that great "everlasting Salvation" chapter (55) where he cried, "Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price..."  continued in verse 6 by saying, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near."  This is the invitation, the introduction to the abundant supply, the blessing, the satisfaction in Christ our Savior, who paid sin's price! Isaiah was imploring the people of God to come to the Fountain, to the endless supply. And how do you "call upon Him" without praying to Him?

Does the heart beat fiercely when you dare to step between the ones you love and the "bridge that is out"? Perhaps they've taken a wrong turn. Error concerning the scriptures is abominable. How will it be with us when we come to the end of the way and we have failed to step into the gap? We've failed to make a difference in the life that looked to us for rescue. We failed to "cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1).

In Luke 22, on the night of the last Passover, when Jesus was yet serving His disciples, predicting that Peter would deny Him, Peter in his flesh refused to accept that!  Jesus said, "Simon, Simon... Satan hath desired thee that he might sift thee as wheat. But I have prayed for thee..."! What? "I have prayed for thee that your faith fail not..."
And Peter assured Jesus that he would go with Him "into prison, and to death."

I think not! Why? Because Peter was about to deny Christ.  Of course, he didn't catch the Savior off-guard. And Jesus spoke something to him that day that Peter might not have understood in the moment. He said, "When you are converted... What did that mean? Did Peter have to get saved all over again. Of course not! Well, Peter, you looked back, you denied me; you turned and according to the scriptures in this very passage, Jesus told him he would be "converted." He would reverse his course, not in salvation, but in life.

At the end of that chapter, Peter had to go out and weep bitterly (v.62). He was still learning. But he would pray with exceeding power and trust with exceeding fervor the Risen Lord in the days and years to follow.

Does this sound familiar? How many times have you failed in your walk with Christ? Yet He loves you still. He forgives you still. He walks and talks with you still.

When He teaches us to pray, He is also teaching us great biblical principles. Our free moral agency drives our prayer life. We are not omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, nor are we immutable. These are attributes of our Holy God. He is all-knowing, yet our asking is essential in prayer. We must ask God! We can be sorry for our sins, but we still have to ask for forgiveness. I John 1:9:  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And we cannot harbor sin in our hearts, "for the Lord will not hear us."  Imagine a Christian going through life, trying to be right with the Lord, and not confessing those sins "that doth so easily beset us."

"God wants us to articulate our needs as one of the conditions of prevailing prayer." 

Many men from both Old and New economies have prayed and have taught us their principles of prayer. We embrace them all and thank God that men of old, led by the Spirit of God penned the Words that we treasure.

Remember this...

For now Satan is alive and busy—earth and air the scene of his seemingly endless activity. He is "prince of the powers of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). He still accesses the throne of God and is called "the accuser of the brethren" (Rev. 12:10). He sifts and tests carnal believers day and night before the Throne of God. Avoid him at every turn. As young Timothy, remain true to the Scriptures.

Know always that Christ advocates for us and that Satan is immensely limited.

Christ intervenes and rebukes Satan on our behalf. Praise God!
Where would we be in this dispensation of grace without the knowledge that we can approach a Holy God and that He will meet us at the point of our need—every time!

Based on fathomless scriptures, can you eliminate the powerless rule of the false system of theology that encourages a prayer-less life? One that states "there is no need to pray because God already knows what's going to happen." We do not have heavenly permission to put words in God's mouth!

Besides, He would much rather know that the Restless Heart has found it's resting place?

Luke  22:31-32, I John 2:1; Philippians 4:6; James 1:5 (Yes, we can even ask for wisdom!)

Jane Bennett Gaddy