An Answer

Even though I was already late today with my post it has come to be that I am even later than I thought I was going to be due to a small problem that I encountered tonight.  I was sitting on my hide-a-bed tonight playing a game, just wasting time until I began to write and lo and behold I spotted a mole, which caused me some concern; so I spent the better part of the next two hours hunting that thing down.  Yes, I am glad to say that I caught it and set it free into the great unknown of the backyard.  I did draw a little blood on it with the end of a broom handle, which I am hoping it will have a full recovery from. 

Onward now to the task at hand.  

A couple of weeks ago asked a question: "What is the great work of the saints?"  I received four answers but am going to only focus on one of them tonight: "Prayer."  If you would like to take a look at the other answers you will find them under the blog heading "A Question" on 7/1.  

Prayer is the answer I was looking for and maybe you will disagree with me, and that's fine, but I want us to think about this for awhile.  God gives many commands throughout Scripture, some of which were mentioned in the other answers, and it may seem that one of those ought to take precedence over prayer, but I am inclined to say that the other things that were mentioned are not able to be done, as God would have them be, without prayer.

Consider this, if you will.  Just before the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray they had seen Him do some marvelous things and they recognized that prayer was a vital part of the power in His earthly ministry; so they said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray."  What follows is the Lord's Prayer.

Del Tackett, in the Focus on the Family series The Truth Project, in the opening session, says something along the lines of if he knew how closely God was listening to our prayers how often he would find himself praying.

The Apostle says to, "Pray contiually."

Prayer is that vital source of communication that God has given to us to stay in communion with Him.  Without prayer, where would we be?

I have heard it said that intercessory prayer could very well be one of the greatest works that Christians have been given and I wholeheartedly agree.  We can tell someone about Christ until we're blue in the face, but unless the Holy Spirit changes their heart our words fall stone.  God, though, listens to the cries of His children and does indeed answer our prayers.  How many stories have you heard of someone praying for a lost person for years and years and seeing God answer their prayer by saving that person much later in life.  

It is through prayer that we come to know the heart of God and it is only through and by prayer that we are going to be able to know what He wants us to do and it through prayer that we are given the strength to carry on.  

There is much more that can be said about prayer, but I hope that my thoughts have at least given you something to think and reflect upon.          

By the way, I'm sorry I missed last week. I was camping and didn't get something written to have posted by someone else or something before I left.