Praying Heaven Down

For far too many Christians prayer is a last ditch effort. When all else fails, they pray. But this is fundamentally a form of hypocrisy and unbelief. Does God rule the world perfectly? Has Jesus Christ been raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of God the Father? Does the prayer of the righteous avail much? The Scriptures over and over again declare that all of these things are true. Our God is not a stoic hermit in the sky, isolated from our lives and the history of this world. Our God has become one of us in Jesus Christ. He was tempted in all ways like us and understands the frailty of human life. He experienced all of the pressures and challenges of life though he was without sin. And now this same God-man is in heaven and there he is our advocate with the Father; he is our defense attorney, our lawyer, our constant defender. And the Scriptures say that He ever intercedes on our behalf. What we do here in worship is centrally an act of prayer. Our songs are prayers, our readings and sermon are before God and in his presence and therefore prayers, our prayers are prayers, the Lord’s Supper is a ritual action which pleads the blood of Christ before God for us and for the world. All that we do here is prayer before the throne of Grace. If this is the center of our world, if worship is the most important thing any Christian can do (and it is), then our lives must be characterized by prayer. If you only pray when things get tough, you are a hypocrite and a coward. But God gives more grace. Drop your unbelief now, drop your hypocrisy, repent, and come and worship. Come and enter into our prayers now and then go and live lives characterized by prayer. Only then can we begin to approach perhaps what the apostle meant when he said pray always and on all occasions; pray without ceasing. Prayer for a Christian is like breathing. It is your life, your strength, and your comfort. And God promises to hear, and to answer for your good and His glory. So come, worship the Lord.