Every morning in my email inbox I receive a devotional from Charles Spurgeon and I have been receiving it for almost 30 years.  His daily devotional is called Morning and Evening and I have found it to truly be a blessing over and over again.  There are some days when it simply goes over my head or I just do not connect with what he is writing, but then the vast majority of days God uses it to challenge and bless me. I am going to share with you the devotional that I received this past Monday morning.  He addresses the subject of prayer and the goodness, grace and mercy of God. I can so relate to what he has written and I hope that you are able to do the same.  Read it slowly, pondering all that he has written and I am confident that you will be blessed

Your Cold Prayers
Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer. (Psalm 66:20)
In looking back upon the character of our prayers, if we do it honestly, we shall be filled with wonder that God has ever answered them. There may be some who think their prayers worthy of acceptance—as the Pharisee did; but the true Christian, who sees things clearly, must surely weep over his prayers, and if he could retrace his steps he would desire to pray more earnestly.

Reflect also how infrequent have been your prayers unless you have been in trouble, and then you have gone often to the mercy-seat: But when deliverance has come, what happened to your constant supplication? Yet, even though you have stopped praying as you once did, God has not stopped blessing. When you have neglected the mercy-seat, God has not deserted it, but the bright light of His glory has remained visible between the wings of the cherubim. How marvelous that the Lord should pay attention to our intermittent spasms of prayerfulness that ebb and flow with our needs. What a God He is to hear the prayers of those who come to Him when they have pressing concerns but neglect Him when they have received a mercy; who approach Him when they are forced to come but who almost forget to address Him when benefits are plentiful and sorrows are few.

Have you ever really taken the time to think about how we pray? Are you at all ashamed of how you talk to the God of the Universe? Yet, God remains interested in every detail and need of your life! Amazing! Don’t allow your prayer life to go cold. Don’t get entangled in cold prayers and intermittent spasms of prayer. Pray without ceasing! Pray continually! Pray in all circumstances! Pray with worship at the forefront! God would love to hear from you! 

Have you ever really thought about that? Why do YOU pray? Are you in trouble and need help? Is there something that you want? Is it with the intention of helping someone else? Is it for the protection of your loved ones? Is it for the salvation of friends and family? Is it because you have come to the realization that you cannot do anything on your own and the only way you are going to go forward is if God intervenes? All of those are good reasons to pray. I pray for my children and grandchildren all of the time. I pray for my wife several times throughout the day. I pray for those on our prayer list. I pray for those who are hurting and for those who are in need of Jesus. Wouldn’t you agree that all of those are good reasons to pray? I would think so. 

I was reading in 2 Kings about Hezekiah, King of Judah. He was a good king and he was faithful in following God as he led His people. One day he received word from the commander of the army of the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, that the kings plans were to attack Jerusalem just as he had several other kings and take them captive. The commander was very clear in his message to Hezekiah and he delivered it so that all of the men of the city could hear what he was saying. He defied the king and he went on to say that Sennacherib also had a word from the LORD to attack Jerusalem and Judah, so don’t tell me that you “…are depending on the LORD our God.” (18:22) The commander went on to appeal to the people to follow him and to not listen to Hezekiah because he was misleading the people. The Bible tells us that King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the temple.  Wouldn’t you do something similar? He called for Isaiah and asked him to pray too. Isaiah sent word back to Hezekiah and told him: “This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard…” (19:6) He goes on to give Hezekiah God’s plan of how He will deliver the people, however Sennacherib sends another message to Hezekiah and tells him “Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when He says, Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” (19:10) When Hezekiah received that letter, he read it, then went to the temple and spread it out before the LORD, and he prayed.

How did he pray? Take a look at the prayer with me. First, Hezekiah praised God: O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. (v.15) He then asks God to hear and see all that Sennacherib has done. (vv.16-17)  He then makes his request and it is very simple and to the point: Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand. (v.19) Is it a surprise to anyone that Hezekiah asked for deliverance?  I don’t think so. It was a good prayer and a good reason to pray. He was not only praying for himself and his family, but also for all of the people in his kingdom. But WHY pray like this? Why this request? ANSWER: “so that all the kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.” (v.19b) Hezekiah’s prayer may have been prompted because of the circumstances that he found himself in, but his desire was for everyone to know that there is one God. He wanted God to be glorified! That is WHY he prayed!

Is that the reason behind your prayers? Is that the reason behind my prayers? Is that our foremost thought when we pray? Honestly, if we are truly honest, most of us pray for the benefit of ourselves or our loved ones and not for the glory of God. I had the privilege of playing a role in the starting of a church in Peru, Illinois where I also served as the chairman of the building committee for the brand new building that God gave to us. I remember as we were looking for a verse to have inscribed on the cornerstone of the building right at the entrance of the church, there were so many to choose from. We ended up choosing 1Kings 8:60 “so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and there is no other.”  Our hope and prayer was that that might be the motivation behind everything we did or would do in the future. We wanted everything we did to point people to God and only God.

That ought to be the motivation behind everything we do! That ought to be our motivation in our prayers. When we genuinely begin to pray with that motivation, it will change that way that we pray. We will pray trusting that God already knows our needs and that He will provide and care for us. What is it that you are facing today, tomorrow, or next week?  What is it that has your stomach in knots and your anxiety level high? What is it that is heavy on your mind day after day after day? When you pray about that issue or burden, let God know that your desire is that whatever happens, your want your life and your actions to show all the people who are watching, “…that the LORD is God and there is no other.” 

Trust Him!!!