I have liked to consider myself somewhat of a prayer warrior...at least in years past. Recently however I have struggled to pray. I do not taste the sweetness of His presence as I have in the past. Because He is good and he knows that I truly love him and will listen to his correction of my heart of prayer...he has continued to answer my prayers,, sometimes in astounding ways. But the intimacy of the "prayer closet" is gone.
I have been reading a book by O. Hallesby called "Prayer" and have found it to be very helpful. I'm reading a chapter now on the essentials of prayer and he has a section entitled "Praying in Jesus Name" I will be honest. I will be shockingly honest. I have found myself eliminating that addendum to the closing of my prayers. I failed to see the importance or the use of it. I did not understand its significance....and here in this book I have found out why we are to insert the holy Mysterious name of Jesus and what happens when we don't. Our prayer life begins to struggle, to weaken. Our hearts seem to be too sinful to share the intimacy with the Lord that I once had and I felt unworthy of time with HIM.
Mr (or Mrs.) Hallesby explained that dryness of prayer time, and a lack of worthiness all come as a result of our failure to append the name of Jesus into our prayers. It is not a kind of silly format that we are to give to our prayers. It is rather, the understanding for us and the pathway for our prayers to make it to the Father's Throne. This can only come by the holy name of the sinless second person in the Trinity. He took on my sinful heart and bathed it in his blood. It is He that grants entrance to the Father as He wore my sins on His beaten, bloodied back.
It is by His importunate pleading on my behalf that brings my prayer to the Father's eyes and it is with the Love the Father has for Jesus and through Him, for me that brings answers to my pleas as well as intimacy and sweet communion between my heart and that of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is not merely like affixing a stamp on your letter....NO maybe it is exactly that. You may have the most important letter in the world to be mailed...but without a stamp, it is going nowhere. The stamp is essential. Jesus' mysterious Name is equally essential. It is for certain that I will not send my prayers without adequate payment any longer.
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