7/18/2022 • Desk of Dennis Piller • Written by David Shek
First Prayer, Last Prayer, and the In-Between Prayers
After the catastrophe in the garden. God came out to walk with his children
But they hid from him. Adam finally replied in prayer;
“I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” Genesis 3:10
You might say Adam wasn't asking God for anything in this conversation. Why would you call this a prayer? If that’s your concept of prayer, my dear brothers and sisters, you might want to reevaluate your prayer life. Our prayers are conversations with God and should include everything we want to say to God, including any thought in our minds.
Just think what you could be saying to God:
● If you help me get this huge promotion and big raise, I’ll start to tithe; or
● Why did the Zone summer program last for only five days? I need a break from having my children home every day already;
● Why am I not as good-looking as Tom Cruise? BTW, Tom Cruise just turned 60 a few weeks ago.
My Silly Prayers 🙂
You might think these are silly prayers. What was your first prayer to God? I don’t remember mine.
Many of your first prayers might have been silly as Adam’s was. God knew Adam was naked. God knew he was hiding. God asked “Where are you?” after mankind’s first sin to confront him with the new reality and possibly offer him the opportunity to confess and repent. However, Adam went on to blame the woman for his own sin.
God Hears and Answers
Thank the Lord our God! He is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” (Psalm 103:8) Even in announcing his judgment after the Fall of mankind, he promised salvation! Immediately, God said to the serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
Right there, God brought Adam and Eve, the new sinners, back to his side and promised a Savior, the offspring of a woman who would ultimately conquer sin and death!
No matter how silly our prayers might be, say them to God.
God hears them and will answer us with his mercy.
The Last Prayer
However, we cannot keep saying silly prayers all our lives. As we follow Jesus closer, we learn a better way to pray. Let’s take a look at the very last prayer recorded in the Bible. Revelation 22:20-21 says, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”
After seeing all the visions in Revelation, and all the persecutions and sufferings Christians would endure before the end of the world, John hears the Lord’s promise, “Yes, I am coming soon.” And instead of feeling self-pity from all the persecutions and sufferings before him, responded, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”
This Is How You Should Pray
Prayer is more than asking God for what we want in our lives. Yes, the Lord Jesus did say, “ Ask and it will be given to you .” (Matthew 7:7) But he also said, “ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete .” (John 16:24)
“In someone’s name” means on that person’s behalf. Jesus says, “ This is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven .” (Matthew 6:9f)
The purpose of our prayer is that God’s name is glorified… his kingdom come, and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God wants to bless us with abundant gifts, but he has so much more for us than temporal blessings. He wants us to reign with him forever.
In Philippians 3:20, the apostle Paul reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
All the Prayers in Between
Now that we know about the first and last prayers in the Bible let us consider what to say in all our prayers in between. What exactly should we pray for every day? Pastor Mike taught us to pray in the model of the Tabernacle. Pastor Brian the Prayer of Jabez. I’d like to share with you what I have been doing for almost 50 years. Please raise your open palm. God has given us five fingers on each hand. I’ve been counting my fingers when I pray.
Thumb: Praise
When we raise our thumbs, “thumbs up” we tell people we like what we see. The first topic of my prayer is to tell God I acknowledge him as God almighty. I want to tell him about my feelings for him. When we go to a concert, we clap our hands to tell the artists we like what we see in them. But every time we clap our hands, we punish ourselves. We hit one of our hands with our other hands. After paying a hefty price for the concert tickets, we inflict pain on ourselves to tell these artists we like it. 🙂
God is infinitely greater than any artist. How much more should we tell God that we like what we see in him. Before asking God for anything, tell God we adore him and want to glorify him. Praise the Lord! We should “enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise”
Tomorrow David will finish this series about how I pray using my other 4 fingers
Mercy Me – Best News Ever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acbcKrnnJAk
