"Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. " Jeremiah 33:3

Monday, October 31, 2011

"And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?" Matthew 16:26 NLT

If our prayers reflect what is really important to us then we might learn that we are totally consumed by the temporal things of the world. Temporal; pertaining to or concerned with the present life or this world; worldly: temporal joys. Secular, lay, or civil, as opposed to ecclesiastical.

There is nothing inherently wrong with praying about worldly needs. After all Jesus in teaching His disciples to pray said; "Give us each day our daily bread." Luke 11:3.

Yet His prayer began by acknowledging the Father and His holiness, asking that His kingdom come to earth, and that God's will be done. He taught that we are to pray for forgiveness of our sins and we ourselves are to always, at all times to forgive those who sin against us. He also prayed that we would not be led into temptation, but that we would be delivered from all evil. These are kingdom values, these are God's heart revealed to us regarding what is important to Him in prayer!

Clearly what is important to God has to do with eternal matters much more than temporal. Are we placing too much value on what we need vs what God desires for us in this life?

God has revealed what prayers are pleasing to Him in His Word;

1. Exodus 33:13-14; Moses asked of God; show me Your ways.

2. Nehemiah 1:4-7; Nehemiah fasted, wept, prayed day and night for God to hear his prayer confessing the sins of God's people, and his own sins. He prayed for God's mercy to be upon him as he went before King Artaxerxes.

3. 2 Samuel 2:1-4; David inquired of the Lord before he made a move. He was specific in his inquiry and he went according to the word of the Lord.

4. Psalm 51:1-17; David's prayer is a result of godly sorrow that leads to genuine repentance. Life applications abound in this psalm for every truly repentant child of God.

5. Daniel 9:1-19; Daniel fasted, seeking God in prayer, confessing the sins of His people and appealing to God's mercy, for Daniel knew he couldn't appeal to God based on his righteousness. Great life application for us, our petitions can never be based on what we deserve, God forbid, but always on the mercy of God! Such prayer is very pleasing in God's sight, honest, persistent, fervent prayer is rewarded see; Daniel 9:20-23.

6. Ephesians 1:16-19; Paul's prayer for believers, spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. That we may know the hope of our calling, what are the riches of God's glorious inheritance, what is the immeasurable greatness of His power!

7. Ephesians 3:16-19; Paul prays that believers may be strengthened through the power of the Holy Spirit, that we may know what is the breadth, length, heighth and depth of the love of Christ, that we may be filled with all the fullness of God!

8. Philippians 1:9-11; Paul prays that our love may abound more and more, with all knowledge and discernment, so that we choose that which is excellent, to be pure and blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ!

9. Colossians 1:9-11; Paul prays the we may be filled with the knowledge of God's will so that we will walk in a manner worthy of Him, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Strengthened with all power according to His glorious might!

10. 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 2 Thessalonians 1:11; May God sanctify us completely, and may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless. May our God make you worthy of His calling and fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power so that the Lord Jesus is glorified in you!

Read the title scripture again Matthew 16:26. "And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?"

Does it really matter if someone gets healed if they don't know the Lord Jesus as Savior? Is a job interview more important than a person's soul? Which is more important where you live or where you will spend eternity if you died before you finished reading this sentence?

Temporal needs are to be prayed for but let's adjust our prayer requests to line up with what is important to God as revealed in His Word.

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