July 31st, 1993 “Pray Always” Mrs. N. Daniel
Luke 22:40-43 “And when he was at the place he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.”
God wants all of us to learn the life of Jesus Christ - to be like Him and to live His life. To learn to be Christ-like, we have to learn prayer. Jesus trained His disciples, and when the time to part with them came, He asked them to pray. Jesus started His life and His ministry with prayer, and ended His ministry with prayer. Only praying people can do God's will. Only they can be obedient to God. They will be dependent to God.
God is our Fathers and He wants His children to do His will. So He taught His disciples many truths from the scriptures about God and His kingdom. He taught them a prayer starting with, “Our Father in heaven…” We have a Father in heaven and we are His children. He is our creator and Father. So we must have a close connection with our Father. Jesus taught His disciples to pray. These children, who belong to God, they must know God's will and do it, since we have only one life to live and glorify God.
Before His crucifixion, Jesus asked His disciples to pray. Praying people will face tribulations and, trials of faith. Jesus said to His disciples, “Pray, lest you fall into temptation.” Jesus had trained them to do God's will, but they failed to pray. Jesus said, “This is the hour of darkness." But they did not pray. So, when the enemy came upon Jesus Christ, they were confused as to what to do. Prayer gives us power to overcome temptations. It is through prayer that we get the help of God, the help of His angels and the help of His Holy Spirit. God has made all provisions necessary for converted people to become Christ-like and also that they may do God's will under all circumstances. Jesus prayed in that dark hour, and angels came and strengthened Him. But, the disciples were scattered.
We are taught in the house of God, that we must pray always. We should not lose that sacred connection with God. To do God's will is a great blessing. Praying people are a power and their prayer is a power. To do God’s will is not easy. Because Jesus prayed for His disciples, they were able to do God's will. Through the promise of the Father that the Holy Spirit would abide with them, they later lived Christ-like lives.
I
know through experience that angels want to come to our gatherings together for
prayer and for fasting prayer. So I can very well understand that an angel came
and strengthened Jesus in prayer. I have seen that God still sends His angels
to strengthen us in prayer. When I was getting ready to go down for fasting
prayer in
God wants all the converted people to become Christ-like and to do His will. We have to be God-conscious. Praying people should be God-conscious, or God-connected always. Only then we can do God’s will. After Jesus finished His prayer, Satan wanted to make it ineffective by allowing physical weakness to overpower Him right there. Satan wanted to subdue Jesus. So we have to discern whether Satan is talking to us, or Jesus is talking to us. Jesus got victory in prayer during those forty days in the wilderness before the commencement of His ministry. “Get thee behind me Satan”, He said, and Satan left. Then, angels came and ministered unto Him. When we have to overcome these devils which want to make us unfit for God’s will, we have to resist them with the Word of God. Therefore, we should read the Bible carefully and meditate on it. Then God will give us that discerning spirit. Then our minds will also be ready to discard our own will and our own thoughts, when they are discerned as such.
How are we going to discern between our will and God's will? Here also we need heaven’s help. Here the power of prayer comes into operation. God will give us understanding as to which is our will. So, to do God's will, unless we are in an abiding contact with heaven through prayer, we can fail. That is what Jesus said. “Pray, lest you fall in the time of temptation.” Jesus set an example of victory for us. He wanted to do God's will. He came into this world for that. Yet, He found it very hard to take our sins on Himself. But He always had heaven with Him. He said, “I talk only what God wants me to talk, and do only what God wants me to do. I am doing on earth what I see God working at in heaven.” He had such close oneness with heaven. Therefore, when they were nailing Him to the cross, He could pray that beautiful final prayer for those wicked people, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Satan will keep going round and round us to snatch the Word of God we have heard in the retreat and to nullify the prayer we have made during the month of June. July was a month of praise; we have had many praise meetings and now we want to have a number of meetings to win souls. Let us read the Word of God very carefully and see how the children of God overcome Satan in the past. We have to read the Word of God carefully everyday, because we have to defeat Satan with the Word of God. We should not be careless in our prayer-life. God wants us to spend a substantial slice of time in prayer.
Some are following God with their family and working at a job. How do such find power to glorify God by resisting the daily temptations and being witnesses to others? I followed God with a growing family, and holding a teacher's job. God said, “Give me at least one-tenth of your time.” So, one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening, and half an hour at lunch-time, made the one-tenth that the Lord spoke about. I was able to overcome. When God called us into full-time ministry, that one-tenth would not do. We had to spend more time with the Lord. Jesus prayed very early in the morning, and in the evenings, and at night. That is how He secured Himself in victory over the attacks of the devil.
Jesus said, “I give you My Holy Spirit. I will send you My Holy Spirit to abide with you and to guide you into all truth.” So, the Holy Spirit of God will also help us to do God's will. God's will is that all of us be conformed to the image of His Son. We live but once on this earth. He gives us power; He gives us heavenly help. He is love, and He has made provision, and arranged for complete protection for us. We should not be afraid. If we follow the footsteps of Christ, we can do the ministry just as Jesus Christ did, and God will be glorified in our lives. God bless you all!