Prayer-Our Spiritual
Ballast
Sailboats are
designed on the principle that there must be more This principle is also a law of life. A
sailboat without ballast is safe only when it is tied to the dock in harbour.
People without a ballast are stable only when life is safe and unchanging. Prayer is our spiritual ballast when it comes
to navigating life. The Bible is God’s
compass which points us in the right direction but only a living relationship
with our Lord, nurtured and deepened by prayer will keep us upright in the
storm.
Hebrews
4:14-16.. “we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus
the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess… Let us approach the
throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to
help us in our time of need.”
When we pray, we
pray to the living God, who ahs become like us; Jesus became human and he
understands and identifies with us. But Jesus also cares for us, empowers u and
intervenes on our behalf. We are given three encouragements to come to Him in
prayer, because He is our completely capable High Priest.
1)
Knowing who the great high priest really is; Jesus- who
meets the deepest needs of every heart and fits every human need; He is the
answer to all our questions, the satisfaction of all our wants, the bread for
all our hunger, the light in our darkens, the strength in our weakness and the
medicine for our sickness, the life for our death. (p.74).
2)
Understanding this High Priest- Jesus offered prayers
and petitions with loud cries and tears to God who could save him from death;
Jesus suffered pain, exhaustion and hunger. He experienced grief, fear, shame,
rejection, aloneness, misunderstanding and opposition, mistreatment and
misrepresentation, adulation and animosity. Jesus experienced what we do—he
understands.
3)
Gracious High Priest—let us keep drawing near to the
presence of God; the throne of grace where God dwells and grace characterizes
the One who sits on the throne. We are to approach the throne of grace “with
confidence”.
Pray- to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our
time of need.
Effective prayer relies upon the willing power of God. We
have a confidence inspired by the work of Jesus. When we pray we come to the
throne of grace with our need to find God who responds. We align ourselves with
God’s purposes and find ourselves gaining a perspective on reality that
reorders our entire understanding of life. When we pray we draw close to God in
humility and dependence and begin to discover life as stated by James 4:6-8.
God opposes the proud, but gives grace o the humble, Submit yourselves then to
God Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will
come near to you. (p.67-80)
.”
REFLECTION:
How strong is your prayer connection with God? Would you consider your prayer a
ballast that is in a sailboat and can return the boat upright? Does your prayer
time include “I wants” more than Thank you. How strong is your prayer life
today?
In
reading Hebrews 4 does knowing Jesus experience a human life like ours bring
you closer to God the Father? How? Why?
PRAYER
Holy God as we reflect on Jesus as the great High priest
enable us to realize who he really is. Show us your way, your life and enable
us to holy on to you. Amen.
This reflection is based upon some
ideas offered by Gary Inrig in his book, True North: Discovering God’s Way
in a Changing World, Discovery House
Publishers, 2002; ch.4
Canadian Bible Society presents
“Bible Week” resources for October and November 2014.This is a seven day focus
on God’s Word for churches and individuals. Each day, walk through a short
devotion designed to help you appreciate God’s Word and to take action. To
register for free go to biblesociety.ca/bible-week.
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