No Will Without Prayer

“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” (Col 4:12 AV)

 

At last night’s service, the LORD did something for me that I truly needed.  Every once in a while, He will change up my plans and give me something as I enter the pulpit.  This is what happened last night.  Having had a difficult last few weeks, I was totally and completely used up.  There was nothing left in the tank.  It seemed as though all my strength was gone and I was taking some out-of-left-field hits.  The LORD had me prepare a series on the parables of Christ, but I just wasn’t feeling it.  As I pondered my present condition and what it was that I needed to hear, the sweat drops of blood which Christ shed as he wrestled over the will of the Father came to mind.  The thought arose that if Jesus shed blood and sweat over submission to the will of the Father, what makes me think I would easily submit to it myself?  Then the Holy Spirit guided me in Luke 22 and revealed to me four ways in which the LORD assists as we agonize over what it is He wants us to do.  This is not the point of our devotions other than to point out that fervent prayer and being in the will of God cannot be separated.  To stand in the perfect and complete will of God requires fervent prayer.  Making decisions without agonizing over them in prayer often leads to incorrect choices.  Even if we think we are acting in our best interests and the LORD might be in it, unless we are fervently praying, then any choice we make cannot be guaranteed to be the right one.

In our text, it is the fervent prayer of one saint that benefitted a church full of them.  On the mount of Olivet, it was the agonizing prayer of our Savior that resulted in Him standing perfect and complete in the will of the Father.  Make no mistake.  Whether it is the prayer of others or the prayer we offer up, the will of God cannot be known nor done without someone offering fervent and agonizing prayer.  My grandchildren have started school. Two of them are homeschooled.  Another goes to a Christian school.  Having educated their fathers, I knew what their teachers were in for.  One, in particular, has not yet reaped what he sowed.  He was a difficult student, to say the least.  If he didn’t get something quickly and easily, he was frustrated and bordered on anger.  A constant demand on my attention, he never gave me a moment’s peace.  Even though I had two other sons to teach, he seemed to think his questions and struggles were the most important.  Although a challenge to me, it worked.  All he had to do was to throw a fit.  He didn’t have a come apart because of having to do the work.  He lost it because he couldn’t get it.  He was the kind of kid who was used to things coming easy.  So, when we worked on a subject matter that wasn’t his gift, he got a bit upset.  He pestered me until we worked it through and found a way to understand what it was he was trying to learn.  He never gave up.  He wanted to be correct.  He wanted to conform.  But it took a Herculean effort sometimes.

The LORD really spoke to my heart and challenged me to be more fervent in my desire to conform to His will.  He affirmed it would not be easy.  I am not worse or better than anyone else.  We all struggle with obedience and faith.  We all arrive at times in our lives when the will of God doesn’t seem so attractive.  We all want to do what we want to do.  We all want life to be to our own pleasing.  Sacrifice and conformity are not part of our vocabulary.  We are all alike.  If Jesus agonized over God’s will, it stands to reason that if we are not agonizing over God’s will, it probably isn’t His will.  Prayer is the key here.  Conforming to the will of God and a vibrant prayer life go hand in hand.  They cannot be separated out.  If we are going to find and conform to God’s perfect will for our lives, there needs to be a blood headband somewhere.  If God is going to have His perfect will and way in our lives, there needs to be serious prayer meetings going on.  May the LORD bring us to that point – if He can!