The Object of Prayer
The Object of Prayer (by Tim Klink of Prison Discipleship Ministry)
Our prayers are to be directed to God the Father. He is the One we are to have fellowship with, and He is the One who responds to our prayers. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made prayer possible by His sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sin. Without the blood of Jesus being applied to our sin, we would never be permitted to be in the presence of God the Father. Without the shed blood of Jesus on our behalf there could be no prayer or fellowship with the all-holy God. That is the reason why when we pray, believers end their prayer with “in Jesus’ name we pray.” That isn’t just something that signals the end of our prayer, but it is a statement of the authority by which we are coming into the presence of the holiness of God. Without Jesus, our prayer could not be even considered.
The Holy Spirit has been given to every believer as a Helper to guide us into all things that Jesus taught, and that the Word of God teaches. He also takes our prayer, not the one that we say out loud, but the one that comes from our heart, and “transforms” it into the spiritual form that can be properly presented to God.
Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Take a few moments and think about Who the object of our prayer really is. He is the One who took some totally worthless dust (not dirt; dust – Genesis 2:7), and formed a human being with all of the intricate “parts” that work properly, and then breathed into it His own breath, and what began as something worthless became a living soul; the most valuable thing in the entire universe. That is the God who invites us, in all of our doubt, all of our failure, all of our fear, and all of our sin to have fellowship with Him.
We know prayer is the most important thing in our relationship with God because it is the hardest thing to do. Satan does everything he can to distract you, but God still says, “Come unto me.”
Pray! God is waiting to hear from you.