All I Can Do Is Pray 
Monday, February 27, 2006, 08:20 PM
“There is nothing I can do to help you. All I can do is pray.” How many times have you said that? ALL I can do is pray??? What???!! This is saying that we are doing next to nothing when we pray. We are at a lose as to what to do for the person so as a last resort we will pray.

What it boils down to is that we want to do it ourselves. We want to do something profound. We want to say something that is uplifting and will fix the problem. We want to physically be the big shot that has all of the answers to the problem. We want glory and praise. We are saying we have a greater ability then the creator of the whole universe to fix the problem. And when we can’t as a last resort we will turn it over to God in prayer. I am extremely guilty in this. Are you?

Now, don’t get me wrong. We do have a compassionate heart and truly do desire to be of help to others but sin is mixed in there with the compassion. Wanting to help is always good but leaving God out until we see you can not do it ourselves is not good. God must increase and we must decrease (John 3:30). If anything ever points to us and not to God it does not bring us honor (John 7:18). Our motives are to always be to God’s glory. Ask yourself, “is this glorifying God or me” (I Cor.10: 31)?

Prayer should be our first move (Phil. 4:6). We should ask God how we can help the person and then go help. Our prayers are the most useful and powerful things we can do for someone. The prayer of a righteous person will availith much (James 5:16).

The definition of righteousness is not sinlessness. The definition of righteousness is: (Phil.3: 8,9) “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things, I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” We can not be good enough to be righteous. Our righteousness comes from God. When we trust in Christ we are made righteous (James 5:16). When God declares us not guilty of our sins we are righteous. God declares us perfect because of Christ taking our sins on the cross (II Cor. 5:21). Our sins are poured into Christ and Christ’s righteousness is poured into us. We are righteous because of faith and faith alone (Rom.1: 17). The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous (I Pet.3: 12). God made a trade with us. He gave us His perfection through Christ and He received our worthlessness. We sure came out on the gravy end of that deal. Have you thanked Him yet?

When we do pray, we may want God to be our servant and comply with our demands. A family member is very sick and we pray for health. They die. God did not follow our plan. He had His own plans. Our presumption was that if we prayed hard enough God would grant our desire. So, we go off the deep end when He does not do our bidding. There is a difference between presumption and faith. Faith accepts God’s answer. Presumption wants its own way.

Our prayers are the keys that unlocks our faith. Effective prayer needs the right attitude. We need to completely depend on God and accept whatever He knows is best even though we are not able to see what good can come from it. When we ask we must ask knowing we may not get our hearts desire for that person. But when we ask in faith we will accept God’s answer. And His comfort will be there for us. Our prayers should say that we totally rely on God and trust His answers. And when we do He will fill us with His peace (Ps.29: 11). We will grieve but our grief will be carried by Christ. And we will experience comfort in our grief

I Kings 8:56-60, Life Application Bible footnote gives a good guideline for prayer. It says: pray for God’s presence, for the desire to do God’s will, for help with each days needs, for the desire and the ability to obey God and for the spread of God’s kingdom to the whole world.

“And may the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus”(Phil.4: 7).

You can reach Nancy at:
Crossing the GAP
PO Box 384
Marshall, IL
62441
art@nancysgallery.com
Are Your Prayers Answered? 
Monday, February 20, 2006, 08:19 PM
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God” (Phil.4: 6). To be anxious is worry. Worry is doubt. When we doubt we are not trusting in God’s answer, timetable and wisdom. When doubt occurs, think back to how God has answered your prayers in the past. This will strengthen your faith and quiet your doubts. The cure for worry is to pray more.

There are times that God does not answer because we are not following God’s guidance for our lives. We live the way we want each day and then go to God when there is a problem. God is ignored until we need Him. A person with this attitude may pray and then go on their own and not wait on God. We should not be surprised when we do not hear from him.

Sometimes God’s answer is “no”. He will shut all the doors to our plans. We prayed and we felt that we were in His will but God is silent. When this happens it means that God has a better plan. He has a greater purpose for our life. It takes much faith to accept His “no” to our request. And it may be years before we know what God’s plan is. God’s timing is perfect. Solomon had to wait for years for God’s answer (II Chr.6; 7:11,12; 8:1).

We may be talking the talk and not walking the walk. Are you a person that speaks gently and kindly or are you a person that gets even? Is your temper in check or do you explode? Do you say you are honest and lie? Do you tell people you are not a thief and steal? Do you read the Bible, look up from the Bible and take His name in vane? If you do these things on a regular basis our answers to our prayers may be a long time coming if at all. We are not only to have a right relationship with God but we are also to have a right relationship with people (I Tim.2: 8). We will all fail at times but that is why Christ went to the cross. We take our failures to Him on the cross knowing that He has paid our sin doubt in full. But this does not give us the license to willfully sin and then run to the cross. “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for the sins is left,” (Heb.10: 26). “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;” (Ps.66: 18). Confession of our sins must be ongoing because we continue to sin. True confession is to want to please God and not our own sinful nature. In our heart we want to stop. And when we have a truly contrite heart God will be there for us. When we cherish our sins we have a wall between God and us. Our attitude is not a desire for our sin but a desire to obey God. God looks at our hearts desire and not at empty words and actions.

Pride is another reason God will not hear our prayers. The world sees pride as a good thing. And it is if it is pride in God. But pride in “self” is destructive and prayers will not be answered. (Luke 18:9-14) Pride causes us to look down on others and view ourselves as above them. It can cause hatred in the heart for others. A person full of pride already knows it all and so they cannot learn anything from anyone including God. A prideful person will never have a prayer answered unless they repent. Humility is very important (I Pet.5: 6; James 4:6).

“You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:2,3). These verses list the most common problems in prayer. We do not ask, we ask for the wrong reasons and we ask for the wrong things. We make up our minds what we want and then we ask for God’s approval.

Are you asking for too little? God is able to give you more than you can imagine. (Eph. 3:20) “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” If we pray in generalities we will never know if our prayers have been answered. Always make very specific prayer requests.

“If our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases Him” (I John 3:21,22). Are you obeying God? Is your conscience clear? If it is you can come to God with confidence knowing your prayers are heard and answered. (Mt.7: 7; 21:22;John 9:31; 15:7) Read and study the Bible. Get in tune with God and our prayer life will coincide with His desires for us.

You can reach Nancy at:
Nancy’s Gallery
611 Archer Ave.
Marshall, IL. 62440
826-6454
art@nancysgallery.com

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