| Prayer |
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Holding the Rope
We 'Hold the Ropes' for Those Who Labor on the Front Lines
Many years ago, one of my teachers presented a word study from which he concluded that “prayer is asking.”
Certainly asking is an important part of prayer. Jesus taught, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Mt 7:7), and Paul
exhorted, “let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6).
But at a deeper level, way beyond asking, prayer is a means of communing with God. In an astounding act of
grace, God has created a need for our fellowship, and prayer is one of the ways we nurture intimacy with him.
Jesus gives it away when he says, “Your Heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask him”—but ask
him anyhow! (Mt 6:8-13). That is why theologian Helmut Thielicke said, “The one who would pray, really pray,
must reach for the hand of God, not just the pennies in his hand.”
And so the heart and soul of prayer is simply coming into the presence of God. Edward Schillebeeckx says it
this way: “In a revealed religion, silence with God has value in itself and for its own sake, just because God is
God. Failure to recognize the value of mere being with God, as the beloved, without doing anything, is to gouge
the heart out of Christianity.” (Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning, page 57)
One of the vital spiritual disciplines that sustains the ministry of MsP is the act of entering the presence of God
on behalf of our missionaries, their families, Support Partners, their families and the hundreds of our
missionaries serving the LORD in India and Africa. As we pray, we ‘hold the ropes’ for those who labor on the
front lines where the spiritual bullets fly. Our need is expressed by the Apostle Paul: “And pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all
the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly
make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it
fearlessly, as I should.” (Eph 6:18-20)
---
[© 2006 Jonathan B Edwards, Director of Member (Care) - Courtesy: CAM]
We 'Hold the Ropes' for Those Who Labor on the Front Lines
Many years ago, one of my teachers presented a word study from which he concluded that “prayer is asking.”
Certainly asking is an important part of prayer. Jesus taught, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Mt 7:7), and Paul
exhorted, “let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6).
But at a deeper level, way beyond asking, prayer is a means of communing with God. In an astounding act of
grace, God has created a need for our fellowship, and prayer is one of the ways we nurture intimacy with him.
Jesus gives it away when he says, “Your Heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask him”—but ask
him anyhow! (Mt 6:8-13). That is why theologian Helmut Thielicke said, “The one who would pray, really pray,
must reach for the hand of God, not just the pennies in his hand.”
And so the heart and soul of prayer is simply coming into the presence of God. Edward Schillebeeckx says it
this way: “In a revealed religion, silence with God has value in itself and for its own sake, just because God is
God. Failure to recognize the value of mere being with God, as the beloved, without doing anything, is to gouge
the heart out of Christianity.” (Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning, page 57)
One of the vital spiritual disciplines that sustains the ministry of MsP is the act of entering the presence of God
on behalf of our missionaries, their families, Support Partners, their families and the hundreds of our
missionaries serving the LORD in India and Africa. As we pray, we ‘hold the ropes’ for those who labor on the
front lines where the spiritual bullets fly. Our need is expressed by the Apostle Paul: “And pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all
the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly
make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it
fearlessly, as I should.” (Eph 6:18-20)
---
[© 2006 Jonathan B Edwards, Director of Member (Care) - Courtesy: CAM]
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