Written by: John Sernaque
Dear Reader,
Books / Pr - Prayer (2002) / Chapter 2—Our Need Of Prayer
Chapter 2—Our Need Of Prayer
Pray as Never Before—Look unto Jesus in simplicity and faith. Gaze upon Jesus until the spirit faints under the excess of light. We do not half pray. We do not half believe. “Ask, and it shall be given you.” Luke 11:9. Pray, believe, strengthen one another. Pray as you never before prayed that the Lord will lay His hand upon you, that you may be able to comprehend the length and breadth and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.—(Testimonies for the Church 7:214.) {Pr 28.5}
Pray, yes, pray as you have never prayed before, that you may not be deluded by Satan’s devices, that you may not be given up to a heedless, careless, vain spirit, and attend to religious duties to quiet your own conscience.—(Testimonies for the Church 2:144.) {Pr 29.1}
Pray Always—“Pray always;” that is, be ever in the spirit of prayer, and then you will be in readiness for your Lord’s coming.—(Testimonies for the Church 5:235.) {Pr 29.2}
Sometimes, without thought or purpose, we pray a mechanical prayer where we half pray and half believe. We get distracted with other thoughts in our minds and our prayers become a thoughtless duty. These type of prayers will go unheard, and our words will fall to the ground. Before coming into God’s presence, ready yourself as you enter onto Holy Ground, consecrate all your energy to this purposeful act, fully believing in faith that your prayer will be heard and answered. Do not let Satan distract you, rather pray as you have never prayed before. Then you will learn of the love of Christ and you will be filled with all the fullness of God.
Our kind and gracious heavenly Father,
We humbly come into Your presence in thanksgiving and praise. We thank You for this honor, privilege, and opportunity that You give us to enter onto Holy Ground. We fully consecrate all our energy to this prayer and we lift it up to You as sweet incense. We pray that You lay Your hand upon us, that we receive the assurance of Your love for us. We pray that You pour out Your Spirit upon us, anoint us with Your glorious light from heaven above. We never know when we will receive this opportunity again, so we cry out to You our most earnest prayer that we will be ready for Your second advent. We pray that You help us, by Your strength, to overcome Satan and all the fiery darts and distractions he throws at us in his attempts to keep us from You. Increase our faith, help us to believe and strengthen one another. We pray that we may learn of You, to be filled with all the fullness of God. Please, take the stony heart out of our flesh and give us a heart of flesh. Shape us and mold us into the Christian we should be, the creature that You created in Your image. Please, forgive us of our sins, and help us overcome our sinful nature, that we would sin no more. We claim Your promise that if we ask, it shall be given unto us. If we, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will You give the Holy Spirit to those that ask. We pray that we may minister unto Your people, right where they are, and share the light You have blessed us with. We pray that we will see You in the clouds, and are translated into the clouds to be with Your heavenly host who will escort us into the heavenly kingdom, to be with You forever and ever. This is our prayer, Dear Lord, in the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
