Matt Price Our prayers need to be focused upon the present, We must trust God today, and leave the morrow entirely with Him. The present is ours; the future belongs to God. Prayer is the task and duty of each recurring day; daily prayer for daily needs. (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)
If we believe God’s word, we are bound to believe that prayer affects God, and affects Him mightily; that prayer avails, and that prayer avails mightily. There are wonders in prayer because there are wonders in God. Prayer has no talismanic influence. It is no mere fetish. It has no so-called powers of magic. It is simply making known our requests to God for things agreeable to His will in the name of Christ. It is just yielding our requests to a Father, who knows all things, who has control of all things, and who is able to do all things. (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)
Sin has consequences; dire consequences. The effect may not be felt today, tomorrow, or in the near future, but we can be certain that unless we repent and stop rebelling from God’s laws we will surely suffer the penalty we justly deserve.
Jeremiah, the author of Lamentations, vividly expresses his despair over his sins and the wickedness of those around him. Before we can truly repent it’s important to have a heart that is grieved over the alienation from God our transgressions cause.
The praying sinner receives mercy because his prayer is grounded on the promise of pardon made by Him whose right it is to pardon guilty sinners. The penitent seeker after God obtains mercy because there is a definite promise of mercy to all who seek the Lord in repentance and faith. (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)
It is the Divine promise of mercy, of forgiveness and of adoption which gives the poor sinner hope. This encourages him to pray. This moves him in distress to cry out, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy upon me.” (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)
While salvation is promised to those who believe, the believing sinner is always a praying sinner. God has no promise of pardon for a prayerless sinner just as He has no promise for the prayerless professor of religion. (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)
We know the end of the story – God wins, there is a new Heaven and a new earth, His people are preserved. Keep this in mind when your heart is filled with anxiety and trepidation about the things of this world. Since God is in control and His love for you is perfect, there is nothing of any real consequence to fear.
It sometimes seems like the unjust and ungodly succeed while the righteous suffer unfairly. Of course God is ultimately in control and, in the light of eternity, He will reward the faithful and condemn those who have brought misery on His people. Remember, however, to let Him be the judge; it’s not a role for us to take since none of us are without our own sins.