Written by: John Sernaque
Dear Reader,
Books / Pr - Prayer (2002) / Chapter 2—Our Need Of Prayer Chapter 2—Our Need Of Prayer
Jesus Urged the Necessity of Prayer—He [Jesus] urged upon men the necessity of prayer, repentance, confession, and the abandonment of sin. He taught them honesty, forbearance, mercy, and compassion, enjoining upon them to love not only those who loved them, but those who hated them, who treated them despitefully. In this He was revealing to them the character of the Father, who is long-suffering, merciful, and gracious, slow to anger, and full of goodness and truth.—(Christian Education, 74.) {Pr 19.2}
Prayer a Necessity to Daniel—
Daniel was subjected to the severest temptations that can assail the youth of today; yet he was true to the religious instruction received in early life. He was surrounded with influences calculated to subvert those who would vacillate between principle and inclination; yet the word of God presents him as a faultless character. Daniel dared not trust to his own moral power. Prayer was to him a necessity. He made God his strength, and the fear of God was continually before him in all the transactions of his life.—(Fundamentals of Christian Education, 78.) {Pr 19.3}
From the beginning of time, men were taught to understand the necessity of prayer. Jesus heard their prayer and was always there to answer. Daniel understood the need to pray as well, and the fear of God was continually before him. The fear of God is to hate evil. Daniel knew that the source of strength to overcome sin came not from himself, but from God. Jesus took on humanity and urged all to pray, confess, and repent of their sins. He taught them how to love all that they may reflect the character of God. He did this for me, and He did this for you. Jesus stands at your door and knocks. Do you hear His voice and will you let Him in? It is my prayer that you will.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
We thank You for giving us the power of prayer. For teaching us how to commune with You and receive Your wisdom and understanding. For revealing to us Your character, that we may be like You and receive the fruit of the Spirit, who is long-suffering, merciful, and gracious, slow to anger, and full of goodness and truth. For being our source of strength to overcome evil. We thank You for giving us the privilege, the honor, and opportunity to come before You, just as we are, as sinners, and still receive Your love and grace. For giving us Your example of loving all, even those that hate us. For teaching us that we are to love the sinner, but hate the sin. We thank You for sending all the prophets before us, and Daniel, who is presented to us as a faultless character. They were hated by men, but continued to deliver Your message of truth. We thank You, our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, who was hated the most, even by professed men of God, and paid with His life the ultimate price to cleanse the world from sin, defeating Satan at Calvary. We pray that we may be Your witnesses and reflect Your light unto this sinful world. We pray that we may help in finding the lost and point them to the foot of Your throne, where grace does abound. We pray for Your help while we go about doing Your business. Help us to reach those who are living in sin, but do not know how to overcome their sinful ways. Help us to utilize all the talents You have blessed us with to serve You, whether it be as a pastor, preacher, teacher, evangelist, or medical missionary. Let us fulfill Your will for us in our life. 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.
