When I try to pray while walking, or in the car, I use the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6 9-13) to organize my thoughts, and am often astonished again by its richness. Forgiving aught against any as a condition for receiving the Lord’s forgiveness, for instance.
“Do not bring us to the test,” the Lord instructs us to pray. Would he instruct us to pray this if testing were inevitable? Is it possible that one might be spared soul-wringing and heart-wrenching testing if one prays to avoid it?
And then, the lovely sentence, “Deliver us from evil.” Would Jesus instruct us to pray to be delivered from evil if he did not intend to deliver those who requested deliverance? So deliverance from evil is a strong probability for those who pray for it.
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I am reminded of Jabez’s outrageous prayer, “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. (1 Chron 4:10)
Be free from pain? What a huge prayer! And it was granted simply because Jabez asked.
I feel sad I have not asked more that I might not be led into temptation, not be brought to the test and that I might be delivered from evil and “be free from pain”. But these are prayers I will assiduously pray for the rest of my life.
Isn’t it scary to think that the life we lead might just bear a faint resemblance to the life we could have had if we prayed more?
Oh, what grace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer
But it is never too late to ask God to wrap our lives in his protection. And I am going to ask him to right now!
Thank you for this. I found it very encouraging. I am just learning to understand fully who I am in Christ and what this means for my prayer life. Thank you for stimulating my thoughts on this further. God bless you.
Thanks so much, Lynda, and welcome to my blog.
Grace itself is an outrageous concept for our human minds to grasp. This prayer from Jabez reveals the sheer simplicity and wonder of faith and grace in action. Such trust. Such amazing love. A beautiful reflection, Anita. These thoughts require further meditation. I think I’ll join you. Let’s dare to pray with outrageous believing faith that expects God to hear and answer in ways we cannot miss! Bless you for your ministry 🙂
Thanks much, Joy 🙂
“Outrageous” is indeed the word I am tempted to use for that prayer of Jabez. I have struggled to reconcile it with the rest of Scripture, especially Paul’s comment about sharing the sufferings of Christ, and many other verses. When I think back on the amazing things God has done to make something beautiful out of the brokenness in my life, how could I ask to go back to my previous state of blissful ignorance? God has arranged it so that the arrow of time cannot be reversed. He doesn’t erase my past, but redeems it. Making all things new does not mean that they are identical to the former things.
And yet… there is a self-righteous, prideful part of me that rejects grace, in my mistaken thinking that I am doing something good in choosing to suffer unnecessarily. When I place myself on the altar instead of accepting the sacrifice of Jesus on my behalf, I’m taking the role of antichrist. So it’s good to be reminded of these parts of the Lord’s Prayer! Thank you, Anita, for another insightful essay.
In his Narnia books, C.S. Lewis repeatedly says, “All get what they seek.” I wonder if Jabez’s prayer ‘that I might be free from pain,” was granted because that is what he asked. “Whatever you ask in my name,….” “ask anything in my name.” I must admit I do, cowardly, ask, like Jabez “that I might be free from pain.”
And, similarly, I wonder if we would have more protection over our lives if we prayed with faith to be delivered from evil. That is something else I want to pray regularly (please remind me God:-)
Wow! Love it Anita as always. I’m reading your blogs from across the “pond” in Anniston, Alabama. I frequently share quotes from your blog with my church as I preach. The last three paragraphs really stood out with me. Keep up the good work!
Oh, thank you so much for your encouragement, Ron!
encouraging thoughts Anita.
Thanks so much, Holly!