Jesus stood by the tomb.
He wept.
Lazarus, his good friend, had been dead for four days. Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha, and a crowd of mourners waited to see what Jesus would do.
Jesus prayed. "Father, thank you that you have heard me" (John 10:41). Then He did the impossible. He called Lazarus back to life.
Earlier Jesus had taught a simple lesson - when you pray the Father will reward you. Why? Because He hears you pray. Religious teachings often complicate the simple act of prayer. For example, I have a booklet that tells how to pray perfect prayers - each of the nine points it offers begin with the letter "P." The insinuation is if you follow this plan God will answer your prayers.
Jesus taught the simplicity of prayer. We see this in the first few verses of Matthew 6. His teaching boils down to three simple things:
Jesus taught the simplicity of prayer. We see this in the first few verses of Matthew 6. His teaching boils down to three simple things:
God sees us
God hears us
God answers us
God hears us
God answers us
We don't need the "right" words. We don't need a team of pray-ers. We don't need to be "somebody" in the religious world. We can pray as simply as Jesus did - "Father, I know that you hear me."
Nobody has God's ear more than you do.
Talk to the Father from your heart. He hears you. And nothing is impossible to Him.
Nobody has God's ear more than you do.
Talk to the Father from your heart. He hears you. And nothing is impossible to Him.
Rose McCormick Brandon writes books and articles, teaches Bible
studies and writing classes, speaks at churches, libraries, historical societies and museums. Visit her website. Contact her at: rosembrandon@yahoo.ca. Visit her blog on Canada’s British Home Children.
3 comments:
Hmmm - Rose, you cut to the chase and say so much in few words! (I smile! As you will by now be well aware, I'm certainly not a man of few words ;) ) Thank you for drawing my thoughts down to the profoundly essential elements of this deep and inexhaustible realm of the Spirit and prayer. ~~+~~
Well, the Bible does say to offer up all kinds of prayer. So I guess that includes the long-winded ones too. Lol. I think prayer can be daunting for some people, and finding out that it can be short and to-the-point is a great relief. You're always a blessing, Peter, whether you use few or many words.
Well - Bless You, too! (I just about "Rose" to the point of brevity there. Lol.) ~+~
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