Comfort from prayer

We can gain comfort from real deep prayer, by speaking to God concerning the things that are really in our heart. If we want things that are right things, and we want them for the right reasons, if it is God?s will He will grant us what we ask. In the book of Matthew7:7-8 it says, ?Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.? Verse 11, ?If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him.? We ask amiss, and so we receive not.

Let us remember Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:8-28. Hannah had no children as the other wife of her husband. Hannah wanted just one child. Her husband said, ?Am I not better to you than ten sons?? However, Hannah saw but one way out of her sadness. She went into the temple to pray earnestly to God. She thought that she was alone, but Eli the priest was there. The important thing was, that God heard her prayer. It is written, ?She was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said that if God would give her a boy, she would give him to the Lord all the days of his life.

Eli the priest thought that she was drunk because she spoke from the heart and only her lips moved. Eli told her that she was drunk but she said ?No, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk no strong drink, but have poured out my heart before the Lord?.

Eli then knew that she was sincere and said, ?Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant you your petition that you have asked of Him.? Hannah had that great faith that God would answer her prayer and we are told that she went home and did eat and she was no longer sad. And the simple words are, ?The Lord remembered her ?. Her son Samuel became one of the greatest judges of Israel and found favour with God. When she took him to the temple she said to Eli, ?For this child I prayed: and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord. And they worshipped the Lord there.?

James 5:16 says, ?The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain.? We have many examples in the Bible of those whose prayers were answered in dramatic ways and we can be assured that if we pray for the right things and our words are for the glory of God and not for selfish things, God will answer our prayers. If then we consider the worthies of old whose lives are written for our example, we can gain strength and comfort in the days that remain, and hold fast until the end.

We ought to communicate to God through His beloved Son who for our sake died shamefully on the cross. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, always prayed to the Father for comfort and strength. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 Paul says, ?Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.?

We can comfort each other knowing that they with us will share the glories of the Kingdom, and we shall live and reign on the earth with Jesus who will be King over all the nations. The future is worth working for because we are told that in that day, not only shall we be given eternal life, but that ?The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.? Verse 7, ?He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.?

Revelation 22:12: ?Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.?
 

Bro. Joseph Oppong (Shama Junction, Ghana)