July 29, 2024
THE STAND
Subject: PRAYER
BROTHERS, PRAY FOR US!
Those were the words of the Apostle Paul, penned by him under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the Thessalonians (Chapter 5).
The Apostle Paul, like every good Christian, was a great believer in prayer. He advocated prayer, praying by every believer, and as our Lord told us, to pray WITHOUT CEASING. That is, always, in everything, in fact to live in a state and with an attitude of prayer. That of course is communication with our Lord and with our Father every day in every way.
Paul said PRAY FOR US. The us to whom Paul referred were ministers of the gospel, apostles, missionaries, teachers, all those entrusted with special callings on behalf of Jesus Christ and His precious gospel.
The US, were those especially called by our Lord to be special ministers of the gospel, endowed with special gifts, inspired in a somewhat different way by the Holy Spirit, and in conjunction with this higher calling, required to live by the very highest possible standards of Christian conduct, lifestyle, words and deeds. The lives of these special ministers not only had to be exemplary, but above reproach.
Ours, said Paul to his Thessalonian brothers, was a special calling to be about the business of eternity, an eternal business, the business of seeing and helping to effectuate the salvation of souls. There is no higher calling, Paul knew that, and the burden which ensued, and he pleaded for prayer, fervent prayer from his Thessalonian brothers, Thessalonian believers. BROTHERS, PRAY FOR US!
We the ministers, said Paul, carry a heavy responsibility, very, very heavy. There is no margin for error. We must be constantly on the watch for every opportunity to witness for the gospel. We have no days off. We are always about this eternal business.
As such, we the special ministers, are special targets of evil and the evil ones. Enemies of the gospel are on constant watch for any weakness, any faults we may have, any opportunity to bring us down. They watch for anything which can produce temptation, and lapse in conduct unbecoming of our calling. This barrage of the devil never lets up, never stops, and whether emotional, discouragement, depression, worry, or doubt, or actual deeds of misconduct themselves, we, the special ministers of the gospel, are constantly under attack.
No matter, says Paul, we are blessed beyond words to have had this sacred calling.
They, the apostles, were weak like us, ordinary Christians, but perhaps they enjoyed a special awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit, guiding and protecting, and producing a special sensitivity to higher conduct in word and deed as required by the calling. For them, the apostles, all such temptations, trials, and tribulations were worth it for this calling was life, all of life, and they would respond with their best at all times. They were, these special ministers of the gospel:
EARTHEN VESSELS IN WHICH GOD PLACED THE VERY SPECIAL GOSPEL TREASURES!
The Apostle Paul knew that he needed more than his very own prayers, as efficacious as they may be. Paul wanted and needed the intercession of his brothers, his fellow believers in prayer. He needed to be assured that they stood with him before the Lord, believed in His message, which of course was the very blessed message of the gospel itself, and that they, his Thessalonian brothers, prayed for him, and prayed for him without ceasing. There is nothing more powerful than the effectual prayer of a fervent Christian believer, A BROTHER IN PRAYER.
So, we today pray for our very own ministers of the gospel, the true gospel. And we pray for our missionaries who spread that gospel, and our teachers who teach that gospel, our Christian leaders. We pray that they may stay under the guidance, influence, and protection of the Holy Spirit, never to become false prophets or preach that gospel with manmade insight but only the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Such a prayer for them works wonders.
That prayer for them and so much more, can be public prayer, in church, with others, fully verbalized and out loud. God, our Heavenly Father, hears those prayers of a true believer, the Brothers of Paul in Thessalonica and everywhere and will answer in accordance with His will. If we, the supplicants, really mean what we pray and it comes from the very bottom of our hearts, God will hear and will answer whatever His will, and whatever His timetable may be.
But the words we use in prayer should be our words, the words we know that will accurately reflect what we think, and feel, and best verbalize the petition we wish to make to our beloved Lord, our Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It matters not whether the words are eloquent, even grammatically correct. If the words come from our heart, and to God, and they adequately reflect for us what we want and think, that is more than enough for GOD THE FATHER who hears, and translates, and understands no matter what. So often we think that we are heard for the many words we use, the more the better.
But, that is not the case, not at all. Our Lord has clearly told us that we will never be heard, our prayers will never be answered if it is a matter of more or better words.
Prayers are only answered when they come from the sincerity, the passion of that individual heart. For, says our Lord Jesus Christ, our Father knows what we need before we even ask. That very same Father God hears the murmurings, needs without words, in our hearts and souls and can be ready to act and answer even without words. Less is more.
So, we enter the closet of prayer, all alone, with our God, with our Lord Jesus Christ, praying for the intercession of the Holy Spirit, and we ask, we seek, we knock, knowing and believing that there will be an answer, a finding, and an opening, divinely instigated.
So, brothers and sisters, pray for them, the ministers of the gospel, as they did for Paul of old. Pray without ceasing, lovingly, passionately, fervently, and pray especially for those with the highest of callings from our Lord, that they be strengthened, not stumble, careful always in word and deed to prayerfully promote the blessed, soul-saving gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
