Pleading Prayer
I believe in the power of prayer. I believe that prayer calls upon the resources of heaven (aka the supernatural) to help change things here on earth (aka the natural). I believe that prayer doesn’t change my circumstances, only the Lord can do that. Prayer does change my perspective of my circumstances and can change my perspective on The Lord. I had times in my journey with the Lord where I’ve pleaded with Him. This word plead means earnest appeal. I think of pleading to be a bit desperate. In pleading, I’m trying to persuade the Lord to answer my prayer a very specific way. I don’t think the Lord gets frustrated with my pleading prayer, but I do think He helps me grow in my understanding of His heart by being very specific and honest about what I want from Him. I have prayed for miraculous healing and I’ve heard and seen people healed, but I’ve also seen Him answer the pleading differently. I don’t want to see the Lord as a “Santa Claus” or a “help desk”. I want to know Him personally because He is the One Who created me. He wants much more than just a “helping relationship” with Him. He wants to be my Wise Counselor, Trusted Advisor and Intimate Friend.
After Abraham’s death, his son Isaac marries Rebekah at 40 years old. He loves her deeply, but she can’t get pregnant. I love what Isaac does next. Check this out….
20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. (Genesis 25:20-21 NLT)
I am still learning to pray about everything – even the stuff that I can apparently control. There is way more stuff out of my control that affects the things I can control – it’s all connected. I find myself asking the Lord about things that I think I already know the answer to. I think He loves that level of relationship with me and I think that is what He wants.
I was reminded of the story of the “Persistent Widow” that Jesus tells as recorded by Luke. Check this out….
1One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”(Luke 18:1-8 NLT)
I want to pray to the Lord consistently and honestly. If I’m desperate, I will pray and plead with Him. I will be persistent in my pursuit of God to move and act. At the end of my pleading and persistent praying, I will trust Him and His Will for my life and the lives of those I’m praying specifically for. He is still Lord of All and He still knows and sees things that I can’t see. I trust Him.
Pressing On!
Dwayne