Spiritual Prayer God Wants
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August 16, 2015 |
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 "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
Some people say, "I prayed to God but there was no answer." But we should remember that we can receive answers only when we offer up spiritual prayer that pleases God and is acceptable to Him. We cannot receive answers unconditionally just because we pray.
Then, what kind of prayer is spiritual prayer that brings down answers from God and pleases Him?
First of all, it is a prayer of joy.
Here the 'joy' is not the kind of joy that you have when there is something to be joyful about and you lose it when things go bad. This joy never changes in any kind of situation; it just wells up from the depth of your heart.
Many people rejoice when they have something good to rejoice about, but they lose that joy so easily, when things do not go as they want, or when they encounter difficulties. But believers with true faith are different. When they are faced with hardship, they may worry for a moment, but by thinking of God's love they can rejoice from the heart again. It's because they have the Lord's grace and God's love who has given them the kingdom of heaven.
True joy is the evidence that we have faith. If we truly believe in the Lord and God, this joy won't disappear. You may mourn for dying souls, and also mourn in repentance to cast off sins and untruths. If you mourn spiritually, grace comes upon you and you receive new strength to cast off sins and fulfill your duties. But if you mourn in a fleshly way, you lose heart and become tired. You lose strength even more with your fleshly thoughts.
Some of you may think, 'That person is recognized and loved, but I am not. I haven't received blessings.' Then, you are just lamenting about your situation. In a corner of your heart you have disappointment and resentment towards God or other people. Romans 8:6 reads, "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace." If you have this kind of thought and mindset, you will lose joy and become tired more and more.
Therefore, you should have hopeful thinking like, 'If I become renewed more and accumulate prayer of my heart more, I will receive answers soon.' When we joyfully offer up spiritual prayer that God can take delight in, His answers and blessings will come upon us.
Secondly, it is a prayer of thanksgiving.
People are thankful when they have something that has benefitted them, but they are not thankful when the opposite is the case. But if you are sure of the grace of salvation, then you will be full of thanks. 'How thankful it is that I know God and I can kneel down before Him! What a thankful thing it is that I can open my mouth to honor God with my voice and pray!' Your thanks will not cease.
Romans 5:4 says, "...and perseverance [produces] proven character; and proven character, hope." As said, even in any kind of difficulty, those who rely on God will give thanks in hope.
On the other hand, if you are not satisfied with God's grace but look at the world, you cannot be thankful. You may envy those who live with great wealth and get disappointed. Sometimes, you may lose your thanks because you are not loved as much as others. In this case, you have to ask for God's strength even more earnestly. You should pray like this, "Thank you for letting me discover my shortcomings. I cannot renew myself by my strength but I will by God's power. Help me, please."
Do you remember when you first accepted the Lord, received the Holy Spirit, and ran with the joy of the first love? If now that joy and thanks have cooled down, you should find the reason within yourself.
In your daily lives, you may go through many things and meet with many people. Then, if you cannot keep your heart, you may get irritated when things become difficult. You may speak words that hurt others' feelings. You may misunderstand and judge others. If you accumulate flesh little by little in this way, your fullness of the Spirit will cool down little by little. At the same time joy and thanks will leave you too. Even if you want to think of the grace of salvation and love of God, you become insensitive. However, if you try your best each moment to cultivate sanctification and goodness, then the joy and thanks will never leave you. This is true of the kind of person who really longs for spirit.
We should offer up such spiritual prayer of faith and fragrant prayer that can please God.
Thirdly, it is continuous prayer.
Even if you attend the prayer meetings every day, only when God acknowledges that He has received the aroma of your prayers, does it then mean that you pray continually.
To offer up such prayer, you have to pray with joy and thanks. You should not pray with many worries of this world. The aroma of spiritual prayer is accepted by God, and then He will inspire you by the Holy Spirit in prayer and show you the way to solve your problems. But if you just keep worries or concerns of this world in prayer, or pray in disappointment or sadness, then you cannot receive strength to pray fervently. Suppose a person gives you advice. Discomforted, you may think, 'He is no better than me. How could he point me out?' Also, some people think, 'I have evil in me, so I can't offer up prayer of goodness. Only when my heart is good can I pray in goodness.'
But, although you have not cast off all evil yet, you at least know the truth. You should try to change your thoughts into good thoughts every moment to the extent that you know goodness as knowledge. When God sees your effort, He will give you more strength in prayer. Let's say a deaconess had a quarrel with her husband and prayed in church. In this situation, each one's prayer will be different. One may feel very sorry before God, and moreover she cannot even repent and just loses strength. Even if she prays, she just speaks in meaningless repetitions. Another person may lament about her situations, which is not really repentance. She may even talk about what she hates about her husband. This prayer cannot be fragrance before God.
In this situation, you should admit that all the causes lie within yourself. If you really long for goodness, you should pray looking back on yourself. Then, you will be able to pray for your husband in goodness such as, "God, I can overcome this situation by prayer but my husband doesn't have faith. How painful it must be for my husband! Let him also have faith and reach a good heavenly dwelling place. Have mercy on him." You can pray for your husband with tears.
When you pray this way, you will be able to begin the prayer to find your evil by the Holy Spirit's work. Also, you can pray fervently with strength from above to cast off the untruth that you have discovered.
Then, you can pray in thanks with tears as follows: "Thank God for Your love, holding my hands all the time and not forsaking me." If you offer this kind of inspirational prayer, your heart will be filled with the deep love of God. To the extent that love comes into your heart you will receive strength. Then, you will be able to make up your mind to cast off evil and actually cast off evil.
When you pray with this kind of heart, your prayer for God's kingdom will be stored as the beautiful aroma of prayer. At the same time, day by day your heart will also be changed into a good heart. This way, I hope you will continuously accumulate the aroma of prayer of goodness that is acceptable to God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is the will of God for us to rejoice always, give thanks in everything, and pray without ceasing. If we just keep this one part of the Word, it means we are doing the will of God, and we will receive great blessings. There won't be any problems that cannot be solved in your life. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will offer up spiritual prayer, receive answers, and enjoy glory and honor in Heaven.
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