A Journey To Victorious Praying
Week 6
The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray,
the less we desire to pray.
It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and
prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when
we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer.
- George Mueller
Our faith and our prayer life will only be as strong as our devotion is to reading God's
word. As it is written by Dr. Thrasher, "The secret to Mueller's faith cannot be traced
back to his background, but rather in the grace of God that taught him infinite value of
communion with his heavenly Father and the use of a key spiritual discipline." (pg. 79)
It is easy to get off track and read book after book, doing study after study, listening to
sermon after sermon, but the most important part of our prayer journey must be God's
word.
We need to do an inventory of our daily routine. Are we more concerned about getting
things done? Do we tend to pray for a few moments and then start our day? As George
Mueller says, "...I have always made it a rule never to begin work until I have had a good
season with God and his Word." (pg. 80)
Let's now look at Romans 10:17: "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the
word of Christ." This Scriptures gives us insight as to the importance of meditating on
His Word.
R.A Torrey said "the prayer that is born of meditation upon the Word of God is the
prayer that soars upward most easily to God's listening ears." (pg. 80-81)
We must for a moment linger on the following Scriptures: Jos. 1:8-9, Ps. 1:2-3, and Jas.
1:25.
One reason I believe that we struggle with allowing God's Word to direct us is that we
are then giving up all control in our prayer life. We may not always like the answer we
get when we open up the Bible.
Meditation is taking seriously Jesus' word, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in
you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." (Jn. 15:7, pg. 84)
Dr. Thrashers writes, "Without prayer the study of Scripture can turn into a merely
intellectual exercise. Prayer without Scripture will lack needed motivation and
guidance." (pg. 85)
We must be willing to earnestly seek God as we study his Word through prayer that the
Holy Spirit guides us to the truths, which are found throughout the Scriptures. This only
happens when we allow the Scripture to encourage us and motivate us to pray. Look at
how God's promise to David in 2 Sam. 7:27 encouraged him to pray. (pg. 86)
Application:
It is our weakness that not only draws us to the Lord, causing us to depend on the Holy
Spirit in prayer, but also to go to God's word to show us how to express our hearts in
prayer. (pg. 87)
Therefore, today and throughout this study, we must be willing to admit to our
weaknesses so that we can draw near to the Lord in prayer.