[Christian Advice] Why Do We Have to Cry Out in Prayer?
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August 19, 2012 |
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Q: I have thought for a long time that silent prayer is holy and reverent before God. But in the Bible God tells us to cry out in prayer. Why do we have to cry out in prayer?
A: Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know." God promises to answer us when we call out to Him in prayer. This is because we can't have idle thoughts and get drowsy and we can give prayer from our hearts when we call to Him and cry out in prayer.
Of course, when we pray just before the service or at home at night we should pray quietly not to cause troubles for our neighbors. Bur except for such cases, we should cry out in prayer. It is God's will.
Crying out in prayer: God is pleased with it and answers it
In Luke 22:44, we can see that Jesus cries out in prayer. How fervently did He pray until His sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground?
The Bible tells us about many forefathers of faith besides Jesus who called to God in prayer. When the forefathers of faith like Moses, Samuel, and Stephen did so, God answered them. (Exodus 15:22-25; Numbers Chapter 12; 1 Samuel 7:7-10; Acts 7:54-60)
When the son of the widow in Zarephath died, Elijah called to the LORD and the son was revived as written in 1 Kings 17:17-24. Jonah also cried out from the stomach of the fish and came to life again (Jonah Chapter 2). A blind beggar named Bartimaeus was blessed to gain eyesight by crying out to Jesus (Mark 10:46-52).
Crying out in prayer shows that we have an earnest heart such that we pray with a loud voice. Through such prayer, we will be filled with the Holy Spirit and the enemy devil and Satan will be driven away. Furthermore, we can receive answers and experience spiritual things. Then, we can become Jesus Christ's true witnesses and even manifest the works of the Holy Spirit.
Crying out in prayer: A key to receiving answers according to God's law
The first man Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and he was cursed due to his disobedience, so all men came to eat fruit from the ground only by toil (Genesis 3:17-19). Of course, they were set free from all curses by the Lord's crucifixion and resurrection, but still they can eat only when they labor with sweat as long as they are in the flesh. So 2 Thessalonians 3:10 says, "If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either." That's why when we pray we should pray as fervently as we sweat.
And we have one more thing to remember. God knows the depths of our hearts, but angels don't know. That's why we should pray making sound that comes out of our mouths. This is because angels listen to our prayer and deliver it to archangels and the archangels gather the aroma of our prayers and put it in the censer of prayer around God's throne. That is, when we cry out in prayer, it is offered up to God's throne and we can receive the answer from Him.
The spiritual meaning of "When you pray, go into your inner room"
Some people might ask why we must cry out in payer although Matthew 6:6 reads, "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret." But we should understand its spiritual meaning because the Bible was written in the inspiration of the Spirit.
Jesus prayed on the mountain all night as recorded in Luke 6:12 and He prayed in a secluded place in the morning as written in Mark 1:35. He didn't pray in an inner room. Daniel prayed with the windows open in the direction of Jerusalem (Daniel 6:10), Peter prayed on the roof (Acts 10:9), and Apostle Paul prayed in the place of prayer (Acts 16:13-16). They did so to cry out in prayer with all their hearts and minds.
Then, what did Jesus mean when He told us to go into our inner rooms and pray? Here in the Bible, "A room" spiritually symbolizes the heart of man. We can cut off ourselves from the external environment when we close the door of an inner room which is secluded and quiet. Likewise, we should cut off ourselves from all idle thoughts, worries, and anxiety and pray with all our hearts.
This message of Jesus made people wary of the way of prayer given by Pharisees and priests who prayed with loud voices on the street to boast of themselves. Jesus wanted to teach people that God won't accept such prayers through this message. In other words, He told us to pray from the bottom of our hearts.
Therefore, because God knows our inner hearts and circumstances and can give everything we ask as the master of all things, but pray to God with our hearts and minds and not flaunt that we pray a lot.
Biblical Terminology - What is to speak in tongues?
As written in 1 Corinthians 14:5, God wants all His children to be able to speak in tongues that were one of the Holy Spirit's gifts written in 1 Corinthians 12:10. When we speak in tongues, we speak secrets by God's Spirit. So the enemy devil and Satan can't bother our prayer and the prayer is helpful for our spiritual growth.
In the prayer in tongues, the Holy Spirit Himself living in us intercedes for us, so we can ask God even what we don't know and what we need the most in His sight. Thus, we can receive answers quickly. We also receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, so we can overcome tiredness of our physical body and drive away or stop trials and afflictions through the prayer.
Also, we can communicate with God more clearly and even know what will happen in the future to the extent that we achieve a spiritual heart since the Holy Spirit searches the depths of God. In this way, hope for Heaven will be given to us all the more greatly and we will become full of faith when we pray in tongues. So our souls will be prosperous.
However, when we pray only in tongues our mind is unfruitful as said in 1 Corinthians 14:14. That's why we pray both with the spirit and the mind. Praying in tongues is to pray with the spirit so it asks just for soul's prosperity. But praying with the mind includes to seek the kingdom and the righteousness of God first and to ask for heart desires like solutions to problems in family, work places, businesses, etc. Therefore, we hope you will be a more powerful Christian by praying both in tongues and with the mind.
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