Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The Muslim and the Bible ideas of prayer to God are poles apart. Nothing in the Bible prescribes a rigid regime of bowing five times a day toward any place on earth. The prophet Daniel opened his windows toward Jerusalem and "kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God," but it was under special circumstances (6:10); and David says, "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud" (Psalm 55:17). But the Bible imposes on us no such detailed physical exercise. Rather, it teaches us, "Thank God without ceasing," and "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 2:13; 5:17). Jesus says, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch ... abide[s] in the vine" (John 15:4).
Abiding thus in Christ means a heart-union with Him that keeps one always in an attitude of prayer. This is the direct result of understanding that the character of God is "love," or agape. "Abide in Christ" and immediately your heart responds to God as your true Father. When the Father threw His arms around His Son at His baptism in the River Jordan and said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17), He threw His arms around the human race at the same time and "adopted" us "in Christ."
Paul said, "The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, ... having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, .. to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:3-6). Understand this, believe it, and lo, something happens in your soul: you "have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15). Therefore, "because ye are sons [and daughters], God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6). "Abba" is the heart cry of a child; if you find that cry in your heart, rejoice. The Spirit says you have been "adopted."
This is worlds beyond groveling before a demanding Deity. Jesus says that prayer is a secret fellowship with His Father. He even says that praying "in the corners of the streets" is hypocrisy (Matt. 6:5). "When you pray, go into your closet and shut your door" is the idea (vs. 6), and for sure, lift your heart to God as to "our Father in heaven."
Abiding thus in Christ means a heart-union with Him that keeps one always in an attitude of prayer. This is the direct result of understanding that the character of God is "love," or agape. "Abide in Christ" and immediately your heart responds to God as your true Father. When the Father threw His arms around His Son at His baptism in the River Jordan and said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17), He threw His arms around the human race at the same time and "adopted" us "in Christ."
Paul said, "The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, ... having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, .. to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:3-6). Understand this, believe it, and lo, something happens in your soul: you "have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15). Therefore, "because ye are sons [and daughters], God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6). "Abba" is the heart cry of a child; if you find that cry in your heart, rejoice. The Spirit says you have been "adopted."
This is worlds beyond groveling before a demanding Deity. Jesus says that prayer is a secret fellowship with His Father. He even says that praying "in the corners of the streets" is hypocrisy (Matt. 6:5). "When you pray, go into your closet and shut your door" is the idea (vs. 6), and for sure, lift your heart to God as to "our Father in heaven."
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 5, 2002.
Copyright © 2014 by "Dial Daily Bread."
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