us. We did it when we were first saved. We know how the words fit together because we pray be fore we eat—but as far as actually praying to the Lord at a consistent, regular, systematic time, we do not know much about it at all. How many of us fail to realize all the promises of God waiting to be bestowed upon us through pray er. "Tremendous power," Philip's says, "is made available through a good man's earnest prayers." The Amplified New Testament has, "The heartfelt continued prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available, dynamic in its working." When we come to Cod, how do we really treat Him in prayer? Do we just sort of brush Him off, mentioning a few person al things that really only center around our own family and indi vidual concerns? The Lord wants to do exceedingly abundantly above, not only what you ask or what you think, but also that which is in accordance with His perfect will. In the original, this verse simply says, "The petition of a righteous man, energized by Cod, availeth much." You see, the power or the effectiveness of our praying, does not depend upon our personal stamina. Rather it is wholly depen dent upon what Cod does for us. It is a great thing to know that when God is going to do some thing wonderful He begins with a difficulty. Think for a moment about those difficult problems you are facing. It maybe problems with people, or money, or your place of employment. Whatever it is, if Cod is going to do something that is impossible, He is going to do some thing extremely wonderful because He is the one who energizes all Page 7
the context of Scriptures here we understand that he must be born again. No man is righteous himself because all have been born sinners into this world. The only righte ousness we can ever possibly ob tain is that which is imputed to us through our Lord Jesus Christ. The second thing about a righteous man is that he is also right with Cod. The Psalmist rightly stated, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." The third thing about a righteous man is not only that he is born again and is right with Cod, but also that he believes Cod is ac tually able to do something about his problem or need. Hebrews 11:6 declares, "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that dili gently seek Him." You see, our faith in the fact that God can achieve is based upon how effec tual and how fervent our prayers really are. There are a number of reasons for a lack of prayer in our lives. First of all, it may be that we are not in fellowship with the Lord. The second thing that impedes our progress as far as spiritual growth is concerned is that we are too busy with temporal things. We have more responsibilities, it seems, the older we get. We are more tired; we do not have the same energy and stamina; it is just not possible to pray as much as we used to — or so we would excuse ourselves into thinking. A third reason for lack of prayer is that we are per haps ignorant of Cod's promises to answer the petitions. In many homes, God is called upon only in "emergency cases." I am afraid that prayer is a lost art for many of
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