"Dear Prayer, we've come to worship you today. There is none like you. You are mighty. You are our only saviour. You are dependable. You are glorious. How excellent are you, Prayer."
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I bet that sounds awkward. But it seems to be the reality of things. We all must have heard these lines: "Just do a month of prayer and fasting. It works all the time. It has never failed." "These kinds of prayers attracts divine intervention."
Shouldn't one start asking if one's faith is in prayers or God himself who created the concept of prayer? Do we actually think that all we have in our lives is as a result of our prayers?
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I remember twelve years ago, I attempted a three-day fast to intercede for a friend of my mum. I had seen the sadness in her eyes a couple of times; she was barren. I felt for her. Even though, the fasting was 'kwashiokor', the best I could do was to fast and pray; as I believed: the more the prayers, the more the results and the more effective and spiritual. Maybe I also thought she didn't pray enough, that was why the situation persisted. Although right now l don't wish I knew better. That was just the extent of my understanding necessary for that phase.
Thinking everything was dependent on my prayers lingered as a matter of belief. Trust me; that's a lot of pressure. If things aren't working well in my life, it simply meant that I wasn't praying enough. I believe a lot of persons have this same ideology. It is a lot of burden on a man to believe that his entire life's path is dependent on his level of prayer. This births the tendency to be somewhat fearful and pour our faith in prayers, making it a god in a way, taking our focus off the Father and relying on what he has made, more.
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"Prayer save me please!!" How many times do we attempt to pray our way out of spiritual maturing processes? Is it not the reason why there are more 'breakthrough' than 'break-me' prayers? Hasn't it more or less been subconsciously made to look like alchohol, sex, drugs; something to 'escape' dire situations God uses in building his beloved? The truth is that some things are fixed. No matter how well we pray, fast and hit the wall, they can't happen until the appointed time. You can't possibly seed your way out of it. It is a necessity. Have you ever been in a situation where things just keep falling in place; working amazingly well, especially in a time when you weren't even praying enough? This is God making us understand that he does things for us because of his faithfulness and not what we think we do. It is a humbling and a liberating fact. The fact that some who don't give two cents about the essence of prayer, who live far 'better lives' compared to some of us, is enough to restructure our mindset concerning this beautiful concept.
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"Let's go and meet the lecturer," I said continually, until my friend eventually decided to follow me, after having made excuses; especially using "I am still praying about it" as one of them. We needed to resolve a problem with a certain course. I guess he was afraid to. That was years ago. The error was resolved eventually. There are times God is screaming "Go!" but we use prayers as cover up not to face those mountains squarely, forgetting that prayer is only one of the steps of faith needed in defeating whatever is in front of us. We shouldn't be afraid to take that step. Praying is not an escape route from taking responsibility. It isn't a form of 'high-ness.'
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"Are you na saying we should discard prayers?" Of course not. Rather, our faith should remain fully in God and that expressed in our prayers. Christianity is about rest. Rest is not laxity or being lackadaisical. Rest is operating from a position of total assurance and confidence in God himself. It was from that understanding I got to really understand what it means to fellowship with the love of God. He is sovereign. God is far more interested in having our needs met than we would ever have them be, ourselves. Jesus said if man in his flaws knows how to give good gifts to his children, how much more will our heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
Those insights enable praying from a proper mindset without idolizing it or being scared.
Prayer is fellowship. It is a continual conformance of ourselves into his glorious image. It is aligning ourselves to God's will and not trying to manipulate him into ours. He is not a genie but our loving Father who knows what is best for us at every phase. I know now that if I am not praying like I ought to, he orchastrates situations both within and without to align me to. He doesn't leave me to perish. He said he will never leave nor forsake us. That's the most beautiful assurances one can ever get. We are overcomers.
#copied#