The nature of prayer.

By Ron van Leerdam

This is the first month of 2025 already gone!
Do you ever get worried or anxious about the future?
Is your heart at times troubled as you contemplate what lies ahead?
What does Jesus teach us to do?

Do not worry.
Trust in God!

Do you have times when you wake in the middle of
the night and can’t sleep?
You toss and turn and all sorts of things fill your head?
I was reminded of an old hymn I learned a long time ago.

“In sweet communion, Lord, with you
I constantly abide;
my hand you hold within your own
to keep me near your side.

Your counsel through my earthly way
shall guide me and control,
and then to glory afterward
you will receive my soul.”

How do we commune with God?
Through prayer.
We get up in the morning saying, Good morning Lord.
Thank you for a new day.
And often our thoughts and prayers of praise arise to the Lord as we behold His glory, majesty and wisdom as we see the things He has made.
The sunrise, the rain, the growth in our garden, the beauty of the flowers, the animals and we look on our children and grandchildren and give the Lord thanks.

As we consider the nature of prayer;
The foundation of prayer is faith.

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly
seek Him. Would a child ask a parent who does not exist for something?
Never.
Would a child ask for something from their mum or dad which they do not believe they have any hope of receiving?

No!

Yet our God calls His children to ask, and they
will receive all that is according to His will.
This need for open, honest communication with God is central in the teaching of this part of the catechism.

https://www.heidelberg-catechism.com/en/lords-days/45.html

Why is praying – talking with God necessary for Christians?
Because it is the chief part of the thankfulness which God requires of us.
God gives His grace and Holy Spirit ONLY to those who pray continually and groan inwardly, asking God for these gifts and thanking Him for them.
Every good gift comes from God.

He promises to give to those who ask Him all
they need physically & spiritually.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25-34

We all have been taught this at one time or another.
However, we regularly need to be reminded of this truth.

What is prayer? It is talking with our one true God, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.

It is communing with God.
It is time spent in building our relationship with our
Father – Abba – God.

He is the creator of all things visible and invisible.
Too often we find our spiritual walk being carried along by the activities we are involved in and not by prayer.
This something we need to watch.
What happens when we neglect our relationship with the Lord because we are so busy doing work in the church or whatever?
The result is we are not working in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord has promised only to give his grace and
Spirit to those who pray continually.
History tells us that whenever there has been a great
work of God it has been preceded by prayer.
God gives his people an overwhelming conviction and
desire to intercede before the throne of grace.
The Bible teaches that God only gives to those who ask Him.
God in His sovereign grace gives His people the faith
to take Him at His word and so pray.

I remember Prof. Alistair McEwen speaking about
what happened in the Welsh Revival in Britain.
It was preceded by a time of fervent prayer.
What we have to consider is: Is this true?
If it is true that God only pours out His blessings
upon those who pray earnestly for the Lord to work
through us, then what are we going to do?

Spurgen, the great preacher in England, who experienced much blessing on his work and ministry put it this way.
“Prayer is like the tendons that move the
hand of God.”

As God’s people pray, God works His mighty acts of grace.
Australia is hurting.
Everyday the news tells something is desperately wrong.
What are the messages given by the media?
Too often they tell us that right is wrong and that your own truth is truth.
It is so contrary to what Jesus declared,
“I am the way the truth and the life.”
There are dozens of signs pointing to the fact that
the soul of our nation is sick.
It has lost both its direction and hope.
Confidence in authority is at its lowest.
Respect for authority has gone.
Violence increases, and no-one feels safe.
Dishonesty is rewarded.
Families are suffering.
Everyone does what is right in his own eyes.
What is the church doing?
Activism will not turn this nation around.
The government initiates one program after another.
Do these programs really help?
Will throwing one dollar or one billion dollars at a
problem fix the problems we face?
Governments only deal with the symptoms, not the
root cause of our nations problem.

Can you tell me what the problem is?

Who has the solution for the problem of SIN?
For God so loved the world that He sent His one
and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish but have everlasting life.
God does not wish that any should perish.

Our heavenly Father has shown Himself to be a
God of love and grace who seeks the lost.
There are none who are too bad.
The Lord Jesus went to the tax-collector, the prostitute, the leper and gave them the gift of eternal life.
The sick who reached out in faith were healed.
Remember the faith of the woman who had the bleeding problem:
‘If I reach out and touch the garment of Jesus I will be made well.’
Now if God does answer His people when they pray, what does He want us to do for this nation?
‘Pray for your leaders.’
Pray for those in our families who are walking down the wide easy road that leads to death?
By faith we reach out to God in prayer:
The prophet Isaiah speaks of this.

“I have posted watchmen on your walls, O
Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night.
You who call upon the Lord, give yourselves no
rest, and give Him (God) no rest till He establishes
Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” Isaiah 62.6-7

Give yourselves no rest, Give God no rest.
Plead with him, call on His Name, entreat Him to
bless the people he has made in His own image.

Let’s not give up on asking God until He blesses.
This brings to mind the struggle of Jacob with the
angel of the Lord.
“I will not let you go till you bless me.”
Prayer is a fervent, holy communication with the
Living God filled with thanksgiving.

The Lord promises us, ask and you will receive, yet
we also pray, ‘Your will be done!’
I am mindful of what has been said before,
“Either we grow as a church or we die.”
This is a real dilemma, a problem we have.
Are there no more people God has chosen to be His own?
Are there no people for whom we can pray and ask our God, the maker of heaven and earth to come to faith and receive eternal life?
I believe God has chosen many.
I believe God wants us to pray for them.
I also know that God does not only use programs. God uses people who are dedicated to Him.
God ONLY uses people who pray continually and groan inwardly, those who want and ask God to give His grace and Holy Spirit to them.

I don’t know what your prayer life is like. God knows! I encourage you to pray faithfully. We can easily allow – this is what Satan wants – our life to be so busy that we don’t spend that time in communion with God, pleading for His blessing.
It is not a disadvantage to have a good number of retired people in the church.

They have time to spend in prayer.

They can uphold the whole congregation before the
throne of grace, asking God to bless us as His people
that we may be an instrument of grace to those we
meet.

Don’t give yourself any rest, and don’t give God any rest until the Lord Jesus comes again.
What do we need if we as a congregation are going to be a real blessing to each other and to those who do not know the Lord Jesus?

Can you give me some answers?

Who can supply those needs?
Our God who made the heavens and the earth.
Let us ASK Him.
Let us not give ourselves any rest and not give God any rest until he answers us. History also teaches us that before a revival God’s people experienced a real conviction of the Holiness of God and their own sin. They earnestly repented of their sin. If there is sin which is stopping us being a channel of God’s grace, let us repent and ask God to make us more like Jesus.
Our nation does not need programs.

Our nation needs God’s people who are fair-dinkum in
loving their neighbour as Jesus has.
God’s people asking the Living God to work through
His people making us a channel of His peace, grace.
The Apostle Paul wrote again and again to his brothers and sisters,
PRAY FOR ME SO THAT I MAY BOLDLY PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL. Pray for me.
Pray for one another so that God will use us.

May we have the same sort of love and compassion
for our land and its people that Jesus had.
He wept over his people because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
I am convinced that if we humble ourselves and pray,

God will not let our prayers go unanswered.
Pray at home, meet together for prayer, and let’s
take God at His word – giving him no rest.

When we struggle to know what we ought to pray, we go back to the
prayer Jesus taught his disciples.

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

 “This, then, is how you should pray:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:5-15

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philipians 4:4-9

AMEN.