I'm talking about prayer in this post. More specifically, I'm talking about those kinds of prayers that I hear all of the time known as prayer requests. For example, people praying for healing, praying for safe journeys, praying for rain, even praying for a good night's sleep. What's the point of asking God for those things? In all of my many prayers during my 22 years of Christianity, I have never really experienced those kinds of prayers being answered (edit: in a supernatural sense). Praying for a good night's sleep, for example, just seems silly because I can pray that every night before I go to bed but I still have some restless nights. I could also NOT pray that every night and probably have the same number of restless nights! In other words, I don't really see a SUPERNATURAL answer to prayer. It's more like a very NATURAL answer, which is, some nights I sleep well and other nights I don't! Why should I pray if the result is going to be the same either way? Sure, when it seems like God answers "yes" and I get a good night's rest, that's something that I can praise God for. But when I pray so sincerely to get some rest and then my child starts puking at 10:00 PM and I have to stay up until 2-3 AM taking care of her, plus the other child is crying on and off and I have to wake up at 5:00 AM, THAT MAKES ME WONDER WHY I SHOULD EVER ASK GOD FOR A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP AGAIN. (It's okay to have a laugh at that story.) But really, what's the point of praying for things daily if it doesn't seem to ever make a difference anyway?
It really depends at what stage of the Christian life you are.
The Christian life is not a life meant to secure safety, salvation, entry into Heaven. The Christian life is the life planned by God for man towards being a blessing to the world, by harnessing it:
Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
Genesis 22:18
"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
Genesis 26:24
The LORD appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham."
Acts 10:1-6
1At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
At the correct time, in sending Christ, God put into action His plan of making man be a blessing to the world.
Now, believers could be baptised into Christ.
That means they could experience explanations about God’s word:
Acts 19:1-7
1It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. 2He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” 3And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. 7There were in all about twelve men.
So if you are convinced that God’s purpose for man was for them to be a blessing to the world, if you have repented from your opinion that the purpose of life was to be comfortable, be selfish, then God will baptise you into Christ. Like He did Cornelius.
What this does is that it will give you revelations about Scripture which will bless you and those who gather with you, to build each other up, wash each others feet.
From the Exodus until John the Baptist, believers were baptised into Moses. What this did is that it gives them revelations, manna from Heaven, water from the Rock, about how God is able and willing to bless them and those who gather with them, to build each other up, wash each others feet.
These revelations are important, because man does not live by bread alone, but by every teaching that comes forth from God.
That’s why Jesus asked us to pray for daily bread.
Of course if someone is caught up with the cares of the world, then he or she is not going to benefit from these teachings:
Matthew 13:18-23
18“Hear then the parable of the sower. 19“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.20“The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22“And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23“And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
1 Corinthians 7:32-34
32But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; 33but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, 34and his interests are divided.
Luke 12:22-31
22And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. 23“For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24“Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! 25“And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? 26“If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? 27“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 28“But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! 29“And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. 30“For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. 31“But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
