Have you ever sat in a prayer service where just about every request goes something like this?
Pray for Aunt Lullabelle, she's got severe constipation.
Pray for Bobby Lee, he's got a bone spur.
Pray for the Gregory family, they just can't seem to stop having kids
Pray for Bella Mae, she's got another headache tonight.
And then that prayer request Grandma Jones mentions that makes everybody turn red with embarrassment.
Pray for Doodle Jo, she's got an ingrown toenail
Have you ever wondered why prayer meetings are like that?
It's like they don't know what to pray for, and so the whole prayer meeting turns into a big gossip session disguised as a prayer meeting.
Well, the Bible states very clearly in Romans 8:26, "...we know not what we should pray for as we ought..."
You see, prayer is another one of those
spiritual practices. It's amazing how capable a human is at sitting in front of a TV, or texting on a phone, or playing a game of golf. But when it comes to something like prayer, suddenly, we're at a loss.
The Bible says that we need to
Walk in the Spirit. One way to do that is prayer. In fact, the Bible says in Ephesians 6:18, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit."
Prayer is something that we feel is necessary, and it something we want to do, but
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
We
must understand that it
did not say,
The spirit is strong, but the flesh is weak. It simply said that it was
willing. Paul talks in depth about this struggle with the flesh and the spirit in Romans 7. Prayer is a spiritual thing, and the flesh will
never consent to it. We must seek our Senior Partner as Christians to aid us in prayer.
Look at what Romans 8:26 says in it's entirety, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
Isn't that good news? We
don't know how to pray, the Bible declares this! We just need to
acknowledge this humbly and admit to it. And then seek the Holy Spirit's help when it comes to prayer. You'll be amazed at the difference it makes in a prayer meeting.
So
fan the flame, and pray that God will send revival, save souls, and keep us free from sin that the world may see Jesus!
