Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Before You Ask
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. (Matthew 6:7-8)
Many people think their prayers won’t work if they don’t utter them clearly enough, or fail to explain to God exactly what they mean, or don’t speak loudly enough to him with sufficient earnestness. But when this happens, prayer becomes so exaggerated that our Savior even forbids it.
Obviously Jesus does not want to discourage us from praying. His point is that when we pray we must have a sense of proportion. Once we have prayed, we must be quiet. We need to be like the farmer who has sown his seed. Help will come only when you are quiet in faith. Also in your sickness or with other needs, learn to be still and look to the Kingdom of God.
We can share our needs with the Father in a few words, without making a fuss, and rest assured that God already knows what we need and what he will do to help us. We don’t have to explain our requests in great detail to God, or try and make quite sure that he knows our needs. God knows about even the smallest matters and takes them straight into his heart. We can turn to him by glancing Heavenward, with no words at all. We can do this even when we pray about something concrete and tangible, or about something that specifically troubles us. We may realize that what we thought we needed is actually not necessary and that we can find a way right in the midst of how things are now.
This doesn’t mean that we just let things happen – as if everything will come of its own accord without our longing for it. Nor should we just cast a brief and hurried request at God’s feet. When this happens, we too easily lose sight of God, assume that everything comes to us without his help, and we forget to thank him. Then we cease to have a believing heart and are consequently not true children of God.
Jesus said, “Before you ask him.” Therefore we do need to make our requests known to him, otherwise many things will not be given that could have been given. It never displeases God when we come to him with our heartfelt requests. A real child asks for everything, knowing God has an ear for him. We should bring all our burdens and needs to him, for at the very least this helps to make us ever more aware that in all things God is the giver.
God always has our interest in mind. He carries our various needs with fatherly concern, eagerly waiting for us to come to him. He has not forgotten us. And when we feel tempted to think so, then all the more we should remember that he knows it all and cares for us. In fact, he knows much more about us and our needs than we do. Simple, childlike prayer is enough to move his heart, give you something out of the fullness of his compassion, and save you from all sorts of fear and trouble.
(Johann Christoph Blumhardt)
(The God Who Heals, Words of Hope for a Time of Sickness)
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Julia
Praying for Unity
I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word; that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you; that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one: I in them, and you in me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23)
Holy Father, we lift before you today the scattered followers of Jesus Christ. In the same way that Jesus prayed, not just for the disciples who stood in front of him as he prayed, but for all who would believe in him through their message, so we too, do not limit our prayers just to the Christians around us. Lord, there are millions of us now, divided by language, creed, and customs. Our divisions have brought us shame and have hindered the advance of the gospel.
Father, make us one. In the same way that you and your Son are one, would you make us one? We don’t understand your unity, how two can be one, and how the Holy Spirit added to that makes the three still one. But in some ways that is reassuring, because we also don’t understand how you can make all of us one. It’s obvious though, Lord, that our unity is somehow rooted in your very unity as God. That gives us hope.
Father, in a way that is beyond our comprehension, you dwell in Jesus and Jesus dwells in you. That astonishing unity is what you desire for us by inviting us as believers in Jesus to come to dwell in you. We confess our desire for that as well. We want to live in you. We want to continually experience your presence, your oneness.
We are beginning to see that dwelling in you in unity is so amazing that it literally declares to a watching world that you truly did send Jesus into the world. We need a supernatural work of your Holy Spirit to break down our divisions and to bring us together into your presence. We long to see the day when the world wakes up to the realization of your awesome love that prompted you to send Jesus into the world. Father, make us one that this day might come soon.
Father, as you and your Son are one, your presence in him and his presence in you, we pray the presence of your Spirit in us will make us one with you and your Son. And if we are one with you and your Son, then we certainly become one with each other. You are not divided, Lord. Forgive us for our actions and attitudes that have appeared to divide the Body of Christ.
Would you give us the passion for unity that you and your Son have? Help us to see how important this issue is to the proclamation of the gospel. You have loved us as you love your Son. Please teach us to love each other in that way – people who are different from us in so many ways yet who are still a part of your body. Bring us to complete unity that the world may know of your astounding love.
We ask in Jesus’s name,
Amen.
(Harvest Prayer)