For a condensed version of Jonathan Edwards’ call to prayer go to http://www.sbaoc.org/ , click on “BLOG,” and then “a call to prayer.” James 5:16: The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
“We have as much of the Spirit of God as we desire.” That may sound untrue or crazy, but examine your heart and think about it. It may be true that we may seek God for self-interests or we may seek God for religious interests and think we have great desires for God. But what may not be obvious to us is that we desire a great amount of God for self and rather than desire to repent of a great amount of self. Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all that he had and give to the poor (Luke 18:22), yet He commands us to repent of our selves. We must give up all rights to ourselves and all we have. We must give up all rights to our thoughts, affections, choices, and everything else to submit to His lordship. We must give up all that the life of Christ would dwell in us as fully as He pleases. Our desire for God is measured by our desire to repent of the things of self and die to self. Do we really desire God?
True prayer is hard because utter submission is hard. The heart cannot come to God full of self and the world. Sure we can utter religious sounding words in a “prayer time,” but that is not prayer. In order to be in the presence of God seeking His face, pleasure, and will, we must repent of seeking our own pleasure and will. But usually those are the things we are praying for. To go to the throne of grace to receive grace requires at least two things. First, we must turn from any hope in our own worth and merit and anything but Christ. Only the name of Christ will be heard there. Second, we are to ask for nothing but grace which is always to His glory. God will give nothing that does not come by way of grace and by definition grace can only be given to the manifestation of His glory.
To truly pray for grace, the inward part of man must deny self at the root. When the Lord looked upon the world in Genesis, He was grieved because He “saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5-6). He still sees every heart on earth today and we must know that God looks upon our hearts when we “pray” and not our words alone. Regardless of the words of our lips God knows our true prayer and that has to do with the purposes, intents, and desires of our hearts. If I am praying for revival with my lips, and indeed I may desire revival in my heart in some way, yet if the reason that I desire revival in my heart is for self-centered (can be religious) motives, my prayer before God is idolatrous.
Luke 14:25 – Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. 34 “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35 “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Let’s apply Luke 14 to prayer. If we love anyone or anything that is not out of a love for Christ, we don’t seek Him in prayer. If we are not bearing our cross and following Him, we are not seeking Him in prayer. If we will not count the cost, we are not seeking Him in prayer. If we won’t give up all rights to self and our possessions, we will not seek Him in prayer. If we cannot even meet the basic measure Jesus gave for discipleship in our hearts, then our prayers are no better than a manure pile and are thrown out. We have as much of God as we truly desire of Him in the depths of our hearts. Do we have ears to hear? Are our prayers like useless salt because they are full of desires for self and love of self? God commands us to give up all to be His disciple. Is anything less expected for true prayer? Have we truly denied self? If not, we pray for self rather than God. The “seed” of prayer can be choked by the thorns of the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth. If so, prayer becomes unfruitful. The invitation and command to pray also invites and commands us to deny the inner self. Shall we pray?
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment