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Is Prayer as Effective as Dialing 911?"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, withthanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcendsall understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in ChristJesus."Philippians 4:6 "In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell youthe truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name."John 16:23Putting Absolute Hope in PrayerPrayer is mentioned so often in Scripture, as the link between man and God,between creature and his Creator. In Scripture God promises to respond to theurgent calls of His children. In Psalm 91:15,16 the psalmist confirms thiswonderful promise, "Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; Iwill protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I willanswer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him. With long life willI satisfy him and show him my salvation." All the giants of the Christian faithconfirm that prayer is a crucial component in walking with Christ. They witness byexperience how many mighty miracles came about by fervent prayer. "The children ofGod are not left alone and defenceless. Prayer moves the arm of Omnipotence.Prayer has subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped themouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire- we shall know what it means whenwe hear the reports of the martyrs who died for our faith." E.G. White, Christ'sObject Lessons, p.172. "Let all who are afflicted or injured or unjustly used, cryto God. Turn away from those hearts of steel, and make your requests known to yourMaker. Never is one repulsed who come to Him with a humble heart. Not one sincereprayer is lost. Amid the anthems of the celestial choir, God hears the cries ofthe weakest human being. We pour out our heart's desire in our closets, we breathea prayer as we walk by the way, and our words reach the throne of the Monarch ofthe universe. They may be inaudible to any human ear, but they cannot die awayinto silence, nor can they be lost through the activities of business that aregoing on. Nothing can drown the soul's desire. It rises above the din of thestreet, above the confusion of the multitude, to the heavenly courts. It is God towhom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard." E.G. White, Christ's ObjectLessons, p.174.Prayer is Most Powerful in a PackageSo here I sit, alone, surrounded by my set of insurmountable circumstances, and Iwonder if the prayers I pray will practically relieve or release me from all Ihave to face. I have prayed so many prayers before and there seems to be noanswer. Surely if I put my absolute hope in prayer, I need some immediate relief.When I lift up my aching or joyful heart to heaven, there are a few prerequisitesthat I need to fully understand and accept in order to be able to have thisabsolute hope that my prayer is heard, and that my prayer will be answered in away that will be the very best for me in the long term. These prerequisites tomaking prayer really practical and really powerful have been written in detail inother articles, but they are summarized below as follows. (Please click on eachone to study the subject in full):1. Complete ForgivenessBefore bringing any request to God, the petitioner needs to go through a time ofthorough forgiveness--forgiveness from God to him or her, for sins that they have
 
committed, and then forgiving all people that have wronged them, hurt them, orcaused any anger or bitterness. Forgiveness is the password to be able to linkinto the Divine Mainframe. Without it, our prayers are superficial and shallow,and we are easily distracted and disorientated.2. Fully Accepting the Creator's Spoken or Written WordAfter or even during prayer, Satan will flash thoughts of doubt and distrust intoour minds. Can God really be trusted? Will He really even hear my prayer? I'm fartoo sinful to have my prayer answered. These thoughts, and many more, will be laidaside when we get a clear picture of who we are really praying to--a God whocreated and now controls the universe by the word of His mouth. Wow! That'samazing! So if I happen to doubt Him, I look at His creation below, or at theendless heavens above, and I re-establish my complete confidence in His capacityto take complete control.3. Waiting On GodOnce I have firmly fixed the concept of the Creator and Controller of the universein my mind, I now learn to unconditionally wait on God. I find out that thiswaiting demands a unique intimacy and oneness with God in the present, and thisrelieves me from fear or fretting about the future. I look at people mentioned inthe Bible, like Joseph, who waited on God for 12 years or more, and I see how Godworked in his life to bring him to the perfect place God wanted him, because heremained loyal to God, one day at a time.The True Purpose of PrayerNow that I have linked my prayers to the prerequisites that support and strengthenmy prayers, I take a closer look at what the specific purpose of prayer should be.Generally, prayer is a checklist of requests that I bring before God. A checklistthat more often than not revolves around my short sighted needs and, very often,demands. The following are what the true purpose of prayer really is:1. Getting to Know GodOswald Chambers, in his inspiring devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest, inthe reading for April 27, states that "God wants you to be in a much closerrelationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts--He wants you to get toknow Him . . There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship withGod, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you . . . Jesussaid, "Ask, and it will be given you . . ." Matthew 7:7. Ask God for what youwant and do not be concerned about asking for the wrong thing, because as you drawever closer to Him, you will cease asking for things altogether. "Your Fatherknows the things you have need of before you ask Him." Matthew 6:8. Then whyshould you ask? So that you may get to know Him . . . Are you prepared to askyourself what it is you want from God and why you want it? God always ignores yourpresent level of completeness in favor of your ultimate future completeness. He isnot concerned about making you blessed and happy right now, but He's continuallyworking out His ultimate perfection for you--"that they may be one just as We areone. . ." (John 17:22)." A perfect way to illustrate this point is by comparing myrelationship I have now with my step-father today, as compared to the relationshipI had with him twenty years ago. When I was in my teen years, I rebelled againstmy mother getting married to my step-father. After they got married, I kept adistance from him, and would only be associated with him when it came to gettingthings from him. I would demand clothes, schooling, free lodging, and money fromhim. He would have to ask me repeatedly to do things around the house, many ofwhich I ignored or did half heartedly. As I matured, and saw all he had done for
 
me, and all the problems he worked through for me and the family, I changed myshort sighted attitude. I started reaching out to him in a helpful, loving, andcaring manner. The result was unbelievable. The closer our relationship became,the less we had to ask each other. The more we did for each other, without asking,the closer our relationship became, and the more time we spent together inunselfish giving. Today, we hardly have to ask each other anything. We are soclose that we know what the other person needs by simple togetherness. As wecommunicate, so I pick up, between the lines, the small needs that he has, and hepicks up mine. Before either of us get to the point where we have to ask, theother person has already stepped out and met that need. Jesus says, "In that dayyou will no longer ask me anything." (John 16:23). Which day is "that day?" It isthe day that we get to know God so intimately, and have such a great love betweenGod and us, that we won't have to ask Him anything, and He won't have to ask usanything. "The purpose of prayer is that we get a hold of God, not theanswer."(Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, February 7). In the longperiods of time that we spend with Him daily, alone, quiet, meditating, speakingback and forth, us in prayer and God through His still small voice and through HisWord--we will know the requests coming from each other. There will be no need toask, there will be no need for long checklists of petitions, and there will be noneed to wrestle with God for the things we think we need. We will just know thatHe will take care of us, and bring us to the perfect point in His long termpurposes, and see to every natural need along the way.2. Shutting Out SatanIf you have read the section on "The War for Control of Your Thoughts," you wouldhave seen that the only way Satan can bring you to sin, or bring you to getdepressed, or bring you to feel totally alone, totally helpless, and totallyworthless, is by flashing thought images into your mind that will lead to one ofthese negative aspects. Our minds are filled with either good or bad thoughts thatcome from either Satan, ourselves or from God. Those from Satan or ourselves arealways bad thoughts, but those from God are always good thoughts. Prayer is indeedthe "sealing of our thoughts" into God's throne room. When we are in a state ofprayer, Satan cannot flash any alluring thought into our minds. No wonder Pauladmonishes us to "Pray without ceasing."1 Thessalonians 5:17. Prayer is when ourthoughts are totally focused, totally concentrated, and totally channeled on andtoward God. Satan has no inroads when our thoughts are so intensely riveted onGod. Satan is the main reason for all our despair, all our despondency, and allour discouragement. He is the one who keeps thoughts of revenge and hatred lockedinto our minds from the past, he is the one who tells us we aren't worth anythingand reminds us of our many failures. He is the one who holds us captive by ourweaknesses and then accuses us for failing over and over, bringing totaldesperation and dejection. By constant prayer, we "take captive every thought, andmake it obedient to Christ Jesus." 2 Corinthians 10:5.3. Removing Self FocusThe way most people pray is very self-centered and self-focused. This is not theideal way to pray, as mentioned above in paragraph 1. In this section, on the truepurpose of prayer, the most important objective to be reached by prayer, is tobecome totally intimate and one with God. As you and I put unconditional trust inthe Master and Supreme Creator and Controller of the universe, through prayer, weforget the petty particulars of our petitions, and wallow in the wonder of who Hereally is and will accomplish and achieve. Our focus moves away from our physical,emotional and mental needs, and concentrates on giving and receiving forgiveness,or thankfulness for the countless gifts which God lavishes on us daily, and on theneeds of others. Satan's greatest weapon against each one of us is to get uslocked into looking and lingering on the "sad and sorry" state of our souls. Well,
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