City Life Starter

The Word: …Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10.

By Blesson Selvanesan

Prayer is an essential component of Christianity. It is a two-way communication between mankind and God. Jesus himself spent a lot of time in prayer with Heavenly Father and taught the importance of prayer. He taught his disciples how to pray. We call this ‘the Lord’s Prayer’. It is interesting to note that after praising God the father, Jesus said “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. So, the larger question is do we want things happen to us as we wish, or do we want God to do His will in our lives? It is possible that our wishes and God’s will aligns, and he may choose to answer our prayers. Do all our prayers align with God’s will? Or Will it bring glory to God?

Application: As we communicate with God, we expect God to respond and communicate with us. Often, he does answers our prayers. However, there are some desperate situations when we cry out to God and we hear a loud silence. There are many biblical reasons why God will deny or delay our requests. Sometimes we make God in to a cosmic genie who does everything we ask for instantly. Imagine all the population of this world asking hundreds of things in prayer and God saying ‘yes’ to everything. The world would be chaotic. God’s will for us is to live in communion and fellowship with him. Sometimes God makes us go through difficult situations so that we will learn patience, endurance and trust.

We see numerous instances were prayers were not answered. Joseph, Daniel, Job etc. prayed and prayed earnestly. They had no idea why they were being dragged into those difficult situations. I am not sure how many times they cried out to God in prayer. God did answer ultimately them, but in His own time and in His own way. I remember teaching a fourth-grade boy; we will have long conversations before his exams. He knows it is coming and dreaded the very thought of it. I was teaching, explaining and training him to face his challenge. He asked me ‘Sir, I am nervous and scared of tests at school, then why do they force us to write tests?’ I smiled at him and encouraged him to continue studying and did not give him a reply. After some time, he looked at me again and said, ‘Idea sir, I have an idea, you know everything in the book, why don’t you write the exams instead of me?’ All of us are like this child asking God to face the tests instead of us…but we forget that the very purpose of the test is to move forward to a higher realm. God is not helplessly watching us go through difficult situations, neither is he an evil person feeling happy in our struggles, but He is busy training us to face the challenges. He is beside us encouraging and empowering us to face it as we fellowship with him in prayer. It is His will for us to become strong to be in His presence for all of eternity.

Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, teach us how to pray. Let your kingdom come and let your will be done in our lives. Often, we disguise our wishes as our prayers. As an omniscient and omnipotent God, you know what is good for us. Help us to pray so that we will grow in fellowship with you. In Jesus Name. Amen