God calls us to pray, but only on His terms. If we want our prayers to be fruitful, we must understand the conditions God has set for approaching Him in prayer. Today’s reading from If Men Will Pray can be found on pages 29, 30:
“If men will pray, God will do wondrous, amazing works in our midst, bringing revival to His people,
renewal to churches, and awakening to our nation and world.
“But there are conditions attached to our praying. First, God calls men to be holy and righteous if they want their prayers to prevail with Him. James reminds us that the effective, fervent prayers of a righteous man are those which will avail much with the Lord. Paul says we must lift up holy hands in prayer to the Lord. That is, men who hope their prayers might move God to do great things must come to Him cleansed of sin and pure in their intentions.
“If we harbor sin in our hearts the Lord will not hear our prayers. So the place our prayers to God should begin is in confession of and repentance from sin.
“Perhaps we think we have no sin from which to repent? To believe such is to deceive ourselves, and even to call God a liar. If we would only take the time to listen as the Spirit searches our hearts and minds, we would soon enough discover plenty lurking in our souls to disgust the Lord and, hopefully, us.
“If we want our prayers to avail with the Lord, we must offer them out of lives cleansed of all known sin.”
For reflection or discussion
1. What’s the difference between confession and repentance? Why are both necessary?
2. Only the righteousness of Jesus will satisfy God’s conditions for prayer. How should knowing that guide our prayers?
Paul tells us that we do not know how to pray as we should. For this reason, God has made clear the conditions that should guide us as we come to Him in prayer, beginning with making sure there is no blockage of sin keeping our prayers from reaching Him. Share today’s podcast with a friend, then meet to discuss it. You can order If Men Will Pray from The Ailbe Bookstore.
T. M. Moore
