When a Father Prays

6/21/2020  When a Father Prays                Luke 18:1-8
 
This being Father’s Day, what better way to acknowledge a dad than when he prays.  Men in general and especially dads are fixers by nature.  They like to fix things, build things, work with their hands to accomplish a task, and the best task that a man a father can do is to fold his hands in prayer.  A father’s desire is to fix whatever is broken, be it a material thing, a relationship, or whatever it is that is lacking.  And there are things that simply cannot be fixed except through prayer.   From Sunday’s sermon we know that prayer is a conversation with God and to know that your father prays for you, what better love can there be?  Prayer is lifting up our loved ones to God, asking him to act in their lives for their needs and hurts. Parents whose children are hurting… pray for them.  Pastor George gave us points in his message to Pray with Consistency – don’t ever give up; and Pray with Creativity – change things up, a different place, use written prayer, or however the Spirit guides you to come and pray.  We heard that we are to keep praying until prayer is answered or prayer is changed.  To persevere just like The Parable of the Persistent Widow from Sunday’s scripture passage in Luke, to always pray and not lose heart, God is listening and acting even when it seems that he isn’t.
 
In one of the video’s that we viewed this week in RNM from Todd Wagner, “Gifts I’d Give my Children”  he states that there never is a wrong place or a wrong time to start praying.  Prayer is evidence that we believe in God’s Word.  Todd says that we should first bring ourselves before God to ask God as stated in Psalm 130:23-24, Search me O God and know my thoughts.  And see if there be any grievous way in me.  Asking God to allow you to examine yourself, to see yourself rightly.  Then ask  that answers to prayer brings transformation in you so that you are satisfied with God alone and not with the world. Psalm 80:14;  And to pray with authenticity, God wants it, ask ‘ Lord Help me’. Philippians 4:6-7,8.  We first need to be right with God so that we can bring the prayers of our loved ones before him.
 
James Banks in his video on Praying with Jesus, talks about prayer being a privilege.  To turn your worries into prayers. He says that most of us feel inadequate to pray, and the Disciples felt the same way, they even asked:  Lord, teach us to pray.  Prayer is so important to Jesus that he is still praying for us now,  he continues to intercede for us.   James says that somethings will only happen when we pray.  There are battles in our lives or the lives of our loved ones that only God can win.  When your kids hurt, you hurt.  We need faith to keep asking, keep believing, persist, take His Word, pray promises back to God (Matthew 15:28) The best way to love someone is to pray for them, just like Jesus does for us continually.   God’s mercies are new every morning, Banks says we never know when our prayer will be answered, it just may be today! 
 
James Banks talked about how sometimes moms and dads hold on to things that their children give them, art projects, papers, gifts, those things that we hold on to because of the love a parent has for a child.  A gift from a child says I Love You. Pray is our gift to God and to think that God feels that way about us, to hold onto our gifts of prayer.  He referenced Revelation 5:8 “…they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” That’s us-God’s people.  Our prayers are incense to God. Prayers mean so much to God that He keeps them before him in golden bowls. Prayers that are precious to him, of people who prayed throughout history, he keeps, that they are actually incense in heaven.  He loves us so much that he treasures those moments with us, and he chooses to have our prayers around him continuously. Our prayers before him all the time.   As Pastor George said to keep praying ‘til our prayers are answered or until they are changed… we are to pray taking time in prayer… waiting with God, waiting isn’t easy but an important part of prayer…to persist.  As we pray, we draw closer to God, we learn to how to keep company with God.  In prayer, says Banks, we are in preparation for eternity with him.   James Banks says in prayer we declare our dependence on him, his promises, his timing.  It’s through prayer -that moves the hand- that moves the world. 
 
Kathie Lipp in Praying for your Kids give us suggestions to aid us in praying for our kids.  Start a prayer journal for each kid, write specific needs for each, write gratitude expressed for them, find scripture you can claim for your kids and pray that back to God.  Pray for character development for our children.  Ask what do you want me to be praying about for this child?  Make praying for your kids a daily priority.  Where we see hopelessness, God see hope.  Keep asking for results.  Jesus says in John 14: 13-14, ask in my name. 
 
A father’s love, a father’s prayer – when a father prays moves God.  Father’s how important are your prayers! 
Happy Father’s Day to the men who move and act in another’s life for Christ’s sake. Amen
 
Larry & Darlene