“Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6)
“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Both of these texts from Paul’s writings remind us of our need to stay in touch with Jesus. Prayer is our means of communication with Jesus, but it is also our means of having daily fellowship with Him. God created us in His image so that we would remember that He wants to be part of our lives. We can stay in touch with Him or drift into worldly living. Why do we need to stay in touch with Jesus? We need to stay in touch with Jesus because He is the source of our strength. The Bible teaches us that we are not strong enough to face Satan and the world on our own. We need the strength that is far above our own. Prayer is a means of exercising our spiritual muscles. Physical exercise is important, because it gives our body strength that we would not have without it. Prayer is what I call “spiritual exercise.” The more we pray and depend on the Lord for our strength, the stronger our faith becomes. We should be as concerned about our spiritual fitness as we are about our physical fitness. Paul dealt with this in 1 Timothy 4:7-8: “But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself rather unto godliness. 8. For bodily exercise profits little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” Paul did not say that we shouldn’t exercise our bodies, but that we should be more interested in exercising our faith. I personally think that both are important, but the spiritual exercise of prayer is the most important. In fact, I have discovered that I can pray and exercise my spiritual muscles while I am exercising my physical muscles. We need to stay in touch with Jesus because we have needs that He alone can meet. I don’t think we realize the seriousness of our spiritual and physical needs. We are met with temptations day after day after day that seek to drag us down and steal the victory that we have in Jesus. There is no way on earth that we can meet Satan daily without the weapon of prayer at our disposal. Jesus knows our needs even before we pray, but those needs are not met until we take them to Him. Jesus is waiting for us to pray and to seek His wisdom and guidance in the maze of temptations that we face in life. We need to take everything to the Lord in prayer. There is no need too small, and certainly no need too large for Jesus to meet. We just need to “take it to the Lord in prayer,” as the old hymn reminds us. We need to stay in touch with Jesus because He loves us and wants the best for us. I don’t think a lot of people realize the depth of love that Jesus has for them. I don’t think that most people realize that Jesus wants the best for them. They have a negative view of Jesus, and think that He is working against them instead of for them. I would hate to have this view of Jesus. I am reminded that He loves me in spite of myself – we call it grace. We can take everything to Jesus in prayer. You probably have thoughts that you don’t want anyone to know that you have. I’ve got news for you; Jesus already knows those thoughts and is waiting to help you with them. What He wants us to do is to confess our sins to Him and repent of them. When we take our worst thoughts and deeds to Jesus, He is ready and willing to forgive. Perhaps you think that your sins can’t be forgiven. If Jesus could forgive the thief on the cross, He can forgive you. The old hymn is really true: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Take it to the Lord in prayer, whatever “it” is. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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