Dear Friends in Christ:

We are already one month into 2005 and so many things are happening! Although there is much turmoil and suffering throughout the world we know that the Spirit of God is at work to restore and renew the lives of people. And the most exciting part about it is that we get to be involved. There are many ways to be involved with God’s great plan of salvation for mankind but the number one way is through prayer. More good has been done in this world by prayer than by any other means. James 5:16b tells us that, “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Just think of it. Scripture tells us that it only takes one righteous person to create change. How? By prayer. And thank God we’ve got more than one Christian in this land to call upon the name of the Lord. My intention this month is to stir you up to pray. Why? Because the Bible says it works. It works because God is a good and gracious God who is eager to show mercy and send help in time of need (Psalm 145:8-9 and Hebrews 4:16).

The Bible has so much to say about the subject of prayer and we could never cover all of it in one letter but I want to point out some truths from the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 7 verses 7-8. Jesus tells us, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” We are instructed to ask, seek, and knock. These may all seem like the same thing at face value but I think that we have a progression of prayer here. In other words, asking leads to seeking and then seeking ultimately leads to knocking.

Asking is prayer in its’ simplest form. This is the starting point. We come to God with a need in our life and ask for His blessing. Jesus told us that we would receive whatever we ask of the Father when we ask in the name of Jesus (John 16:23-24). Our motivation at this point is usually our own needs and desires. And as we begin to see God move in our behalf through our asking the natural progression is to then begin to seek God through prayer. We appreciate what God has done and we begin to fall in love with God and we want to spend time in His presence. This is what I mean by seeking. Just like David reveals in Psalm 27:4 prayer now becomes an intimate encounter with the God who loves us. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Our asking results in receiving and then our receiving produces in us an appreciation for God which then inspires in us a seeking after Him.

The final phase of this progression then leads to knocking which implies a vigorous and urgent desire. As we spend time with God in worship and fellowship (John 4:23-24) His desires begin to grow within us. This is the way love works. The deeper our love grows for someone the more we desire the things that please and bless them. Our seeking after God changes us in such a way that we begin to experience a genuine heartfelt desire for the very things that God desires. This leads us to a different level of prayer that is known as intercession. A good example of this is found in Romans 10:1 where Paul tells us that his desire and prayer for Israel is for their salvation. In Ezekiel 22:30 God is looking for someone to stand in the gap, someone to intercede, so that He can bring blessing rather than judgement. When Jesus saw the multitudes in Matthew 9:36-38 He was moved to pray for laborers to gather the harvest.

In asking we pray out of love for ourselves, in seeking we pray out of love for God, and in intercession we pray out of love for others. One is not better than the other. Each one is valid and necessary. We just don’t want to do one and leave the other undone. There are valuable things at each step of the progression. Let’s allow the fullness of this process to take place in our lives. And it all begins with praying. Don’t let a day go by without asking, seeking, and knocking. Jeremiah 33:3 remains one of the greatest promises from God, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

For His Name,

John Merola