PRAYER IS NOT FOR SISSIES – PART II (PRAYER AND LOVE)

WBS.317

PRAYER IS NOT FOR SISSIES – PART II  (PRAYER AND LOVE)

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

* * * * *

The Apostle Paul clearly had a deep understanding of the love of IAUE for he describes  the nature of it in detail in 1 Corinthians 13; and he earnestly prays for the disciples to come to know and understand every dimension of the Master’s love in Ephesians 3:14-19. King Solomon described the love relationship between the Master and his bride in great detail (Song of Solomon); but examining his own life, it is unlikely that the understood what he had written. It was a prophetic song that transcended his own experience. The Apostle John, perhaps more than anyone else recorded in Scripture, understood the love of Yahushua and the love of IAUE. In his own gospel record, five times he refers to himself as the disciple whom Yahushua loved; and he dedicated his first epistle almost entirely to the love of IAUE.

1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not Elohim; for Elohim is love (agape).

1 John 4:16  And we have known and believed the love that Elohim hath to us. Elohim is love (agape); and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in Elohim, and Elohim in him.

Elohim is love. Love is not something IAUE does. It does not describe His personality. It is His very essence. He loves because love is characteristic of His being.

What is love (agape)? How does it differ from other kinds of love? 

Sensual love (eros) when acting on its own is utterly and completely selfish; and it drives men/women to make foolish decisions and stupid judgments. Familial love (storge) is the love experienced between family members; especially parents for their children. This kind of love is also bred of selfishness. It is not impartial; and it is not shared with others. Brotherly love (phileo) is the love experienced between friends, and is also vulnerable to selfishness. Consider how many friendships no longer exist in your life and why they were terminated. It is almost always due to selfishness.

Agape is the only truly selfless love (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Its primary characteristics are that it desires the best for others, and extends the best possible attitudes and behavior towards others. It is others-conscious and others-devoted without regard for itself, without desire for recognition or reward. It does not consider itself first nor measure the prospect of loss in order to benefit others. Agape is not passive. It actively looks to bless others.

Now, let’s take a look at the commandment of the New Covenant.

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

1 Timothy 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

The disciples of Yahushua are to love each other just as Yahushua loved his disciples; and their love is not to stop with just their brothers and sisters in Messiah.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Self is the root of most of man’s problems.  The Kingdom of IAUE solves that problem by removing self from man’s focus; and He uses that, through us, to demonstrate His love for mankind. Agape love is what makes us the light of the world.

So what is the connection between love and prayer?  Remember when the disciple asked Messiah to teach his disciples how to pray?  He taught them to pray like this.

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  11 Give us this day our daily bread.  12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Messiah’s example prayer contains 9 plural pronouns in a simple 5-verse prayer. Nowhere do we find the words, “I” or “me” or “my;” and yet what constitutes the prayers of most Christians?  Typically, they pray for things regarding their own personal life. They pray for their bills to be paid, for their own health, for safety of travel, for a better job, a better car, for Aunt Susan to stop being such a pain in the neck, etc. In fact, their whole mindset is that prayer is asking their Heavenly Father for things, for them. There is no others-consciousness in their prayer life.

True prayer is not for sissies.  The prayer taught in Scripture is not selfish. It is devoted to the well-being and success of others. The prayers in Scripture that are personal are prayers for wisdom so we can know how best to live out His love in our life?

James 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of IAUE, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

We have an excellent illustration of how this works.

Matthew 26:39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

In verse 39, the Master prayed for wisdom regarding his imminent scourging and humiliation and impaling…his death.  In verse 42, he has received the wisdom from His Father and love resigned itself to the coming hardship. Obedience is always the expected result of prayer for wisdom; and love is the manifestation that results in blessing others.

The Master has called us to pray for others. Yes, we can be included in that prayer because he taught us to pray corporately…for the whole Body. Sometimes, that inclusion of ourselves sometimes requires the forfeiture of pride and the loss of self.

Daniel 9:4 And I prayed unto the IAUE my Elohim, and made my confession, and said, O IAUE, the great and dreadful Elohim, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;  5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:  6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

If there was a faithful Hebrew in the Babylonian captivity it would have been Daniel; yet when he prays for the restoration of Israel to Jerusalem, he includes himself in the corporate guilt of the people. When praying for the Body of Messiah, we cannot pray as one not bearing the same responsibility as those for whom we pray. We are not on the outside looking in. What one’s left hand has done one’s right hand shares in the consequence.  Can we begin to see why Messiah’s instruction in prayer made us conscious of the needs of each other?

We are commanded to love one another.  We are commanded to pray.  How can we do one without the other being an integral part?