Freedom is Good News Part 91
/“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe …” (Acts 2:42)
We picked up this scripture in our previous article as we began to examine ourselves to see if we were “all in” when it came to wholeheartedly serving our God. We touched on the first three items: the apostles teaching, fellowship and the breaking of bread, in that article but saved the fourth item, prayer, for today. So let’s consider the concept of a “prayer life”.
If we begin by looking into the Old Testament for the word prayer, we will find the first use of the word in Genesis 20:7. God tells the king of Gerar that Abraham is a prophet and he will “pray for you and you will live”. We find in verse 17 of this same chapter that “Abraham did pray to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife … so they could have children again”. This first use of the word prayer expresses the idea of interceding on behalf of another. We may use this type of prayer when we find that someone near and dear to us has become ill or has lost a job, etc. and we intercede with God for them.
Another type of prayer may be for ourselves because we have sinned before our God and we need forgiveness. We find this type of prayer in what many consider the book of prayers, i.e. the book of Psalms. In Psalm 51 (of David) we read, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your lovingkindness; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” We see an example of both types of prayer in the book of Daniel, chapter 9. Here Daniel is interceding for the people of God who have been exiled to Babylon because of their sins. In verse 4 we read, “I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: ‘O LORD, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. … LORD, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame … .’” In humility, Daniel includes himself here.
In these two prayers – of David and of Daniel – we can almost hear how sincere they are and how from their innermost being they pour out their hearts to God. In this prayer of Daniel we begin to get into a third type of prayer, a prayer of praise and adoration to the great and awesome God who has created all things. In considering this type of prayer, I would like to take you to my favorite prayer in the entirety of the bible. This is a prayer of David in 1 Chronicles 29:10-20, “Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.” David goes on from here with more praise and thanksgiving but I will let you read it for yourself so you may be lifted up with his words. They are good news indeed.