Pastor’s Column 1/5/2024

PASTOR’S COLUMN

“So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father , I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” John 11:41-42, NIV

“The Why of Our Our Prayers!”

The fresh untainted start of a New Year could provide us with a wonderful opportunity to think about “why” we really ask for the things we do when we pray. To begin, we must first meditate on the meaning of prayer. I’ve learned the first approach to prayer is to “seek presence with God.’ This means, as many saints and passionate adherents to prayer have said, “responding” to the holiness of God. Paraphrasing the late Dr. R. C. Sproule, “No one can rightly be in the presence of God and not be  changed.” Who knew this better than Jesus our Lord. On that very emotional and grief-stricken occasion when His friend Lazarus had died, Jesus was “told” by his sisters to “do something” about this situation. Their words were as raw as the grief they were experiencing. In fact, Martha gruffly told Jesus “ I know you can ask God for anything, and it will bedone.”  After walking to the burial site where Lazarus had been entombed for four days, the anxious mourners joined the sisters in the demands placed on Jesus. Against the consent of the sisters, Jesus asked some workers to remove the boulder that sealed the grave. In that moment we learn something indispensable about prayer. Jesus spoke to God the Father. He Recognized God’s sovereignty. The point of the prayer was that the people would glorify God, and not Jesus. Lazarus was restored to life, but Jesus wanted them “to believe” the true source of all miracles and blessings. As we chart our course this year, in all that we do may God be glorified and Jesus exalted as our Savior. This is why we pray and this we must do if we are to experience restoration and Jubilee in the days ahead. Like Jesus, our prayers should be that we are blessed so others may know that God “sends,” is “in charge,” and “has the last word!” The answer to your prayers can be a phenomenal witness to the presence and power of God, who is at work in this world. As with Abraham and Sarah, God “can call those things which are not as though they were.”