Write2Ignite

Scripture references: Psalm 5:1-3, Psalm 88:13, Hebrews 4:16

“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.”

As I was asking the Lord about what I should write here in this post, I felt Him lay on my heart the above quote by Samuel Chadwick, which can be applied to us Christian writers. For me, writing is not a hobby or a career, but a ministry. I’m given the opportunity to pen words of truth and life. And these words can be used by the Holy Spirit to minister to the broken and hurting hearts as they read my books or articles. So prayer is essential in every aspect of the writing journey. Today, I’d like to expand on the idea that I briefly touched in my previous post: what’s your perspective on prayer?

Even if you don’t follow US politics, you’re probably aware of the campaign slogan used by Barack Obama: Yes we can! These three little words have much relevance in what I’m going to unpack here.

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16). We are made righteous in Christ, so our prayers directed towards God are powerful. Our prayers are supernatural, which means they supersede the natural order and physical world. This is why a child of God can pray without the issue of time or space to limit his/her requests. You don’t know what impact your prayers had, are having or will have on people or situations. It’s possible to pray for entire generations after our own because God isn’t limited by time (Psalm 105:1-2, 8, Psalm 102:18-22, Psalm 145:4-13).

Since we serve a big God who is not limited by anything and answers “whatever is in His will” (John 14:14), this should embolden us to expand the scope of our prayer requests. Don’t just pray for your own needs. Or the needs of your friends and family. Pray for the people whom you haven’t even met yet, specifically for their salvation! Pray for your city, your nation and your generation! You can even begin to pray for children in the next generation to be raised up even if they’re not born yet! Why don’t you pray for the books and articles you write to impact not only this generation but the generations after you? There’s no limits with God. Faith is forward looking.

In addition, when we pray, we’re coming into God’s presence and approaching His throne of grace. Prayer is a privilege and shouldn’t be treated lightly. Neither should we shrink back in fear because we have His favour. Unlike kings in history where people had to seek an audience with and go through special protocols to even get through the palace, the King of Kings listens when His children pray. For this reason, prayer time is perhaps the most wonderful opportunity a child of God has to stand in the throne room and lay down his/her requests before Him. What’s your attitude when you approach the King of Kings?

When David spoke of waiting on God, he came with expectant faith to answer his requests because he knew Whose Presence he entered. In Psalm 5:3 NKJV, it says “I will direct my prayers to You and I will look up.” The action of looking up in expectation is one that David understood. He didn’t look around at his circumstances but he fixed his eyes on his God. David didn’t have the right to become a child of God because he was still living under the law.

My brothers and sisters, we’re living in a different time from David. We’re heirs of the promise by faith and thus have even greater access to the Father who gives good gifts to those who ask Him. This is the confidence we can have that our prayers have been heard. God is the best listener there is. We can thank Him for His answers even before seeing the results! We can press into the throne room any time of the day with no restrictions. Yes we can! Let’s pray bold prayers and press in. In Christ, God’s answer to us is Yes and Amen!