Written by: John Sernaque
Dear Reader.
Books / Pr - Prayer (2002) / Chapter 7—Prayer And Obedience
Prayer Is Heaven’s Plan for Success Against Sin—There are many who, though striving to obey God’s commandments, have little peace or joy. This lack in their experience is the result of a failure to exercise faith. They walk as it were in a salt land, a parched wilderness. They claim little, when they might claim much; for there is no limit to the promises of God. Such ones do not correctly represent the sanctification that comes through obedience to the truth. The Lord would have all His sons and daughters happy, peaceful, and obedient. Through the exercise of faith the believer comes into possession of these blessings. Through faith, every deficiency of character may be supplied, every defilement cleansed, every fault corrected, every excellence developed. {Pr 64.4}
Prayer is heaven is ordained means of success in the conflict with sin and the development of Christian character. The divine influences that come in answer to the prayer of faith will accomplish in the soul of the suppliant all for which he pleads. For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit, for a Christlike temper, for wisdom and strength to do His work, for any gift He has promised, we may ask; and the promise is, “Ye shall receive.”(The Acts of the Apostles, 563, 564.) {Pr 65.1}
Faith is a necessary element in prayer. We must not look at the things that are seen, for they are temporal. We must look at the things that are not seen, for they are eternal. To see high into heaven and reach the heavenly glory, we must humbly lower ourselves down to our knees and pray. God has promised that if we ask, we shall receive. Pray for that peace and joy that only God can give, not as man gives. Exercise faith in prayer to receive God’s blessings in abundance. Seek His face diligently and you will learn that there is no limit to the promises of God.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
We come to the foot of Your throne in praise and thanksgiving. We thank You for all of Your wonderful promises available for us to claim every day. We cannot use our intellect to procure them; they are a gift from You. We claim all Your promises, for Your promises are sure. We pray for peace and joy in our lives’, not peace that man gives, but the peace that only You can give from heaven above. We pray for Your wisdom and understanding to do the work You have appointed us to do. We pray for strength and courage to go forward even when we know not where You are taking us. We place all our faith and trust in You, we surrender our entire lives’ into Your hands. We pray that You continue to hold us with Your strong arm, never letting us go. We pray no one plucks us out of Your right hand of power. We pray for Your help to exercise and increase our faith. We pray for the experience of a living faith. We pray no one deceives us into believing the lies of Satan, who is constantly on the prowl for his next victim.
We pray for Your protection while we help protect those who are struggling with sin. Help us all to overcome sin and remain obedient to Your law and to the testimony, and speak according to this word. Help us to diligently seek Your face and remain in prayer, which is heaven’s plan for our success against sin and development of a Christian character. Sanctify us through obedience to Your truth. Take off our filthy rags and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Pray for us as You prayed for Peter and make an utterance on our behalf to the Father as sweet incense. We pray to honor and glorify Your name, and let not our will, but let Thy will be done. We thank You for hearing and answering our prayers, in the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
