Move men by prayer

Hudson Taylor, a famous missionary from a bygone era said; "Move men, by God, through prayer alone" This statement was more than likely used in the capacity of obtaining fundsfor his missionary work. Another famous missionary of that bygone era was George Mueller, who never lacked food and supplies to feed and care for numerous orphans in the many orphanages he started in England. Both of these men were great men of prayer.

We have a heavenly Father who through the grace given to us through Jesus Christ is listening for our prayers. We belong to a sovereign God and He is listening for our prayers. We need to be close to Jesus Christ, He is our Savior and Lord, He is listening for our prayers. We have trouble all around us, through the activities of Satan, through the oppression of the world, and the vileness of our own flesh, God is listening for our prayers. To be a Christian is to be a person of prayer. To be a Christian and not pray is to come on, let's just be honest about it, is not to be a Christian at all, if you don't pray, you are not a Christian. A Christian has the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit give us a desire to have holy communion with the Father, if you don't have a desire to pray, something is wrong. The normal course of living in a fallen world will lead the unsaved to try the rescue offered by the world, but the Christian seeks the rescue offered in God.

Let my prayers be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.  Psalm 141:2

We can sense the intimacy here, the communion between God and the renewed soul of the child of God.

These I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.  Isaiah 56:7

This chapter in Isaiah is speaking about foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord and to be His servants... again we sense the communion that God desires and which, the one joined to him, also desires. We want to know this great, awesome, dreadful, loving God. The LORD says He will make us joyful in His house of prayer. Our church activities are to be full of prayers, do our churches look like houses of prayer? Do we prayer, not just the pastor, but all of us together, the leaders, the congregation including the children. That was and still is the reason many churches include the Lord's prayer, and a prayer of confession, and other prayers so we will all be praying together. Not a cold heartless repetition of words, but a laying of our souls on the altar of God, seeking that genuine communion with Him.

And when he had taken the scroll, the living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:8

We get a picture of the Lamb on the throne and the elders and all the heavenly host worshipping Him, and part of that worship is aroma wafting in from the bowls full of incense - that aroma is Christ-scented are it would not be pleasing to the Father, it is the Spirit prompted prayers of the saints of God, all His people's prayers, being used in the worship service of the Lamb. It does not say the bowls were half-full, but full of prayers. Do you have any prayers in the bowls?

Are there difficult things going on in your life? in your own heart? and not just to think about prayers for ourselves but what about funds for the work of Christ that is going on in your church, your city, state. The mission work that is going on throughout the world. Fill some of those bowls of incense with your heartfelt, fervent prayers for the work of Christ in China, in the Muslim nations throughout the world, fill those bowls with prayers not just for yourself, but fill it with tearful prayers for your friends or family member who don't know the Lord and are on their way to hell. Fill those bowls with prayers for your neighbors, your co-workers, your pastor, your wife, your husband, your children, the leaders of the world. Lets move men, by God, through prayer alone.