One Who Prays
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 10983 |
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November 13, 2011 |
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 "And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem." (Luke 2:36-38)
Anna had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, and she then lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She lived 84 years with only fasting and prayers without putting anything else in her mind. She loved God and offered up such pure and thick aroma of prayers to God that just by seeing the baby Jesus she could recognize Him as the Savior. Also, can you imagine the kind of glory would she enjoy in Heaven!
When God calls her 'the one who prays' and gives her a splendid pattern of prayer on her robe, all citizens of Heaven will commemorate her life. They will recognize she is worthy to have that name and show their love and respect toward her.
To long only for this kind of glory, to pray for the kingdom and the righteousness of God, and to receive recognition as 'the ones who pray', what kinds of aroma of prayer should we offer?
First, you have to get rid of evil in heart and pray in goodness.
Our prayer must be a pleasing aroma to God; the kind of aroma that can move His heart. God is goodness itself. To please God who is goodness itself, our prayer has to be a profession of goodness coming out from a good heart. But if we have evil in our hearts, we will pray with evil to that same extent.
Suppose there is a person who prays like, "God, let my husband repent and receive salvation, even if it means he has to break his leg." She is praying for the salvation of a soul. But, in the light of the truth, how evil and foolish this prayer is! There is another person praying with words like, "God, bless my shop, and send me all the next-door shop's customers and I will give You a lot of church construction offering and increased charitable offerings." This prayer cannot be stored as a pleasant aroma before God since the prayer seeks his own benefit.
Also, prayers in despair, complaint, and sorrow are not prayers in goodness. What if you pray saying, "Other people easily receive blessings and testify, but I always live in hardships, so I feel sad. Quickly bless me and let me give You glory"? Or, "That person came to the church after I did, but she changed quickly and earned recognition and became a leader. But my inner heart and heart-field are not so good. I am so sad because I am changing very slowly. I have not been elected as a leader although I prayed and fasted. Let me change into spirit to be recognized by others and be faithful for the kingdom of God."
Those who are praying like this might think they have the desire to give God glory by receiving blessings and to be faithful to God's kingdom. But the fact is that their prayers are in impatience. They are praying with their selfish desire to be recognized and blessed quickly. They are praying out of sorrow and resentment without having any faith, due to the evil in their heart.
If you do not have any evil, you will offer up professions of thanks and joy in all situations. You will never say anything that might disappoint God. Only when you pray according to the good will of God can God accept the aroma of your prayer and answer your prayer. To the extent that we pray with complaining and in despair and sorrow, we cannot give prayers of goodness to God. Therefore, it is very important to cast away evil and put goodness in our hearts.
Secondly, you have to pray as the Holy Spirit guides you by relying on the Lord.
Without the grace of God we cannot do anything. Even prayer is not something we do on our own. We can pray only with the grace and strength given by the Lord. Those who rely on the Lord in prayer can continue their prayers without blockage. If you rely on your thoughts and your strength, you will run out of things to pray for and you will be physically tired after a period of time.
If you have had faith for some time, when the prayer point is given to you to pray for church construction, you might even quote from the Bible and pray with eloquence. But if that is just daily habitual prayer of repetition of what you have learned, it can't be a prayer with beautiful aroma. It is just as if you play a recording of your voice. Prayer must be offered from an earnest heart, with the contents that God needs to hear by the works of the Holy Spirit from moment to moment.
Saying the same thing over and over habitually and praying in the Holy Spirit are so different. You will be inspired by the Holy Spirit if you listen to His voice and try to seek the will of God. God will manage the contents and flow of your prayer, so the contents of the prayer will spring up from you.
For example, when you pray for the church construction, such as the Canaan Sanctuary, the Holy Spirit will let you know what kind of focus you should have each time you pray. Then, you can also receive the inspiration on the details about what to pray for in that focused area. Like this, you have to rely on the Lord and pray by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Then, you can offer up beautiful aroma of prayer.
Thirdly, you have to have spiritual love to offer prayer with beautiful aroma.
You can pray with all your heart only when you have love. Mary Magdalene loved Jesus who healed all her diseases and gave her a new life that was more than her own life. What kind of heart do you think Mary Magdalene had when she was praying while Jesus was ministering on this earth?
Mary knew very well that Jesus could not eat well or sleep well as He was visiting many places to teach the people. She knew He faced many threats and sufferings. While Jesus was doing His ministry day by day, how earnestly she must have prayed for Jesus! Because she prayed with love, her prayer became beautiful aroma and it must have been comfort and strength to Jesus.
You should pray with your love for the Father God, the church, your shepherd, and for the souls like Mary did. You should have burning fire in you if you think of the souls who are dying without knowing the gospel, and your heart should be torn apart if you think of the souls who commit sins.
Many people said they love God and the church to some extent. And if that love is really true, you will not just love God, the Lord and the church. You will also love your family members, relatives, neighbors, and everyone around you. It doesn't mean you should love your family and relatives with fleshly affection. It really means you should check whether you are really acting with spiritual love.
Do you get uncomfortable when things do not go as you want or when you don't like something? Do you cause difficulty for others? Do you work faithfully in all aspects, seek others' benefit first, and sacrifice yourself and serve others? You have to check them and quickly cultivate your heart into spiritual love.
When others see you, they should be saying, "She is really like 'one who prays'. She has generosity and love. She is humble and meek and lovable." Only then can you be recognized that your profession of love for God, the church, and the souls is true. Only the tearful prayers and earnest crying out with love can be offered up to God as thick aroma.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Do you offer prayer that is acceptable to God with a beautiful aroma like Anna? You must pray in goodness without evil heart, pray by the guidance of the Holy Spirit relying on the Lord, and pray with spiritual love and finally with a beautiful aroma. In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that, in the heavenly kingdom in the future, all the heavenly citizens and angels will recognize you saying, "She is such a precious one. She has done a great deal for the kingdom of God by storing up limitless aroma of prayer."
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