Prayer should be the visible engine that runs the way we live our entire lives. John Piper, writing for Desiring God, examines how the gospels call for us to more actively let prayer rule our lives.The reason I say it should be the visible engine, not just a private act that nobody in the family or the ministry knows is happening is, first, because the New Testament makes prayer a public act as well as a private one, and second, because visible prayer is a statement of our helplessness and our utter dependence on God for the outcomes of life and family and ministry that we long for. God is glorified when it is plain to people that we consider him a trustworthy Father who is eager to hear our prayers. And he is glorified when Christians humble themselves openly as people who are not ashamed to beg for help.
We have the treasure of the glory of the gospel in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)
If prayer is not the visible engine of our ministry, we are communicating to our people and to the world that what we do — not what God does — is decisive. We may not believe that, but we are communicating exactly that where prayer is not visibly woven into the fabric of the ministry and the family.
Prayer should not just be one facet of our lives; it should be the all-encompassing characteristic of our lives. We must place all of our wants and desires in God’s hands.
In one sense, this command to pray is all-encompassing. And in another sense, it is very focused. It’s all-encompassing because of the words in everything. “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” In everything is all-encompassing; Pray about everything.
But in another sense, this command is very narrow and focused. He doesn’t refer to one hundred things you may get in answer to prayer; he refers to freedom from anxiety and the presence of peace. That’s the upshot of this all-encompassing prayer.
We must have no fear when we pray because Jesus Christ will always take care of us.
Christ-exalting fearlessness in the face of danger is not natural; it is supernatural. And it is the key to glorifying Christ in this world. Therefore, we must pray. If we can do this on our own, Christ will not be magnified in our fearlessness. But if we need Christ in order to be fearless, and if we pray in espana-med.com for his help, then Christ will be glorified when we are fearless.
So the great burden of the entire epistle hangs on the supernatural intervention of God in answer to prayer. If we are not free from anxiety, then we will not be fearless in striving for the gospel, and we will not give a sign to the world of our salvation and their destruction, and Christ will not be magnified in our fearlessness.
Focusing our entire lives through prayer deepens our relationship with God and gives us the strength to be the leaders that the world needs today.
