As I sat down at my keyboard to type up my blog this week, two thoughts persisted in my mind. First, I thought a second bowl of Frosted Flakes was probably a bit overkill, but still an acceptable decision. (Hey, it was the morning. I don't plan these things, they just happen.) Second, I had a hard time thinking of anything that I could write or say better than Oswald Chambers said last week.
For the uninitiated, Oswald Chambers was an evangelist who is best known for his daily devotional "My Utmost for His Highest." I try to read it every day if I can. The wording is sometimes a little out of style, but it's still as relevant today as ever in history. It's incredibly readable and worth your time if you've never checked it out.
I came across this entry last week. It reads like a few quick tips on how and why to pray, like a sort of devotional Buzzfeed article. Prayer is one of those subjects that can feel utterly impossible to ever wrap your arms around, but Chambers writes succinctly enough that it makes sense without having to read an entire treatise. A former teacher and evangelist, he's a great coach to study on the practical aspects of the spiritual life.
Don't take my word for it. Check it out.
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August 6th - The Cross in Prayer
"At that day ye shall ask in My name."
-John 16:26.
We are too much given to thinking of the Cross as something we have to get through; we get through it only in order to get into it. The Cross stands for one thing only for us—a complete and entire and absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is nothing in which this identification is realized more than in prayer.
“Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Then why ask? The idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from God; prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God. If we pray because we want answers, we will get huffed with God. The answers come every time, but not always in the way we expect, and our spiritual huff shows a refusal to identify ourselves with Our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove God answers prayer; we are here to be living monuments of God’s grace.
“I say not that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth you.” Have you reached such an intimacy with God that the Lord Jesus Christ’s life of prayer is the only explanation of your life of prayer? Has Our Lord’s vicarious life become your vital life? “At that day” you will be so identified with Jesus that there will be no distinction.
When prayer seems to be unanswered, beware of trying to fix the blame on someone else. That is always a snare of Satan. You will find there is a reason which is a deep instruction to you, not to anyone else.
