A Chair for Jesus

by David Massey

When you think of prayer, what do you think about? I used to think prayer is for very spiritual
people, the kind who can pray eloquently in public. I believed that there was a formula – a
certain procedure – and only one correct way to pray. In short, prayer was intimidating to
me. Years ago, I heard the following true story and it changed my prayer life from that day
on.

A pastor of a large church in a Midwest town received a phone call from a lady who
was somewhat distraught. This lady had been taking care of her elderly father in
her home for several years. Her father was unable to get out of bed, and she had to
care for all his physical needs -- but he was mentally very alert. It seems the father
had heard the pastor on the radio for the past several years, and had become quite
fond of his teaching. The daughter told the pastor that her father wanted to meet with
him, as they were unchurched and had no pastor to call upon. The pastor went to
the daughter’s house and was led down the hall to the father’s bedroom. The kind
elderly gentleman’s face beamed upon meeting the pastor, as he invited him to sit
down and chat. As the pastor moved toward a wooden ladderback chair to sit down,

DEVOTIONS
the gentleman said “Umm… sorry, Pastor, no one can sit in that chair; please sit over
here.” The pastor thought that was odd until the man said “You see, Pastor, that chair
is for Jesus. When I pray, Jesus is sitting in that chair, and we have conversations. I
pray, and then I listen for the quiet, still voice of our Lord.” That hit me between the
eyes. Prayer is a conversation with our Lord. No fancy fluff, no rules, no boundaries
-- just simple conversation.

As Psalms 62:8 tells us, “Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your hearts to Him, for
God is our refuge.”

A few weeks later, the pastor received a phone call from the daughter, saying her father
had died, and she asked him to serve at the funeral. As she was hanging up, she said “You
know, Pastor, my dad died in a strange way. We found him kneeling down, with his head
lying in that old wooden chair.”

“Dear Lord, thank You for being an accessible God, for allowing us Your full attention
anytime, anywhere and anyplace. Thank You for inviting us to pour our hearts out to You.
Lord, help us to be more faithful in our prayer lives, In Jesus’ precious name we pray.
Amen.”

Difficult Prayers
by David Massey

Two of the supreme passages regarding prayer are 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and
Philippians 4:6.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for
you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and
thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far
more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and
minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

But do they work in the downpour of the storms of life? Can you really apply them to your
daily walk with Christ? In the middle of despair or desperation, they seem utopian.

In times of troubles, my questions to God come fast and furious. Like Lieutenant Dan in
the movie “Forest Gump,” I shout and cry out to God when the storms hit. “What are You
doing to me, God? Why me? Come on God, I really don’t need a pop quiz on life right now.
1
Where are You, God? Are You real? Do You care?” I am shouting out so much and feeling
so sorry for myself that God is silent. Even if God tried to speak to me, I would not listen.
When we are in the midst of difficult circumstances, we need to move from focusing on
ourselves, toward focusing on God and His word, so His work can begin in a powerful way.

What has made the above passages become real to me in difficult circumstances? It’s
really simple. I have done what the passages told me to do. They instruct us to give thanks
in all circumstances and don’t worry. I thanked God for what I was going through. It was
the most difficult prayer I have ever prayed. I thanked Him for all my problems, praying
continually. The faith came back more quickly, and is stronger than ever. Along with faith
came joy.

Unfortunately, some people misunderstand this. They believe God wants us to pretend
all is well, when it is not. But God does not want us to deny reality; He wants to help us
discover what is redemptive in it.

The Psalmist faces reality:

DEVOTIONS
“My soul thirsts for You; my flesh yearns for You; In a dry and weary land where there is no
water” (Ps. 63:1a).

“But only three verses later, he is praising God: “So I will bless You as long as I live”
(Ps. 63:4b).

What are some hard prayers that you need to pray today? Do you need to thank God
for an illness, a family member who is troubled, or financial difficulties? Thank God
for that friend, spouse or family member who has wronged you in the past, or for the
disappointment of not being promoted at work. Thank God for caring so much for you that
He places tests along the way to mold you into all that He wants you to become.

“Father, I am so grateful to have a God like You. It is a blessing to be able to pour my heart
out to You at anytime. It is great to have a patient and loving God Who understands my
frustrations when life is not going like I want. You understand because You know the end
from the beginning. Help me to thank you for _____. Please open my eyes and heart to
see what You are teaching me. I thank You especially for our Savior and Your Son, Christ.
In His name, Amen.”

A Leader’s Prayer Life

by Rick Warren

You can learn a lot about a person by the kind of prayer he prays. For instance, a selfish
prayer indicates a selfish spirit. Have you ever heard a prayer that sounds like a Christmas
list – I want this, and I want that? Some people try to impress you with their prayers, yet
they come off as arrogant and prideful.

For leaders, there’s a model prayer in the first chapter of the book of Nehemiah.
Remember Nehemiah? When he first heard about the downfall of Jerusalem, he prayed
for four months.

This was not just a casual prayer. It gives us a pattern for successful praying. If you want
to know how to pray, you should study the book of Nehemiah – particularly this prayer.

Here are four secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah:

1. Base your request on God’s character.

Pray like you know God will answer you: “I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because
of who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a loving God. You are
a wonderful God. You can handle this problem, God!”

2
Nehemiah approaches God and says, “God, I want you to do something back over in
Jerusalem. Verse 5 says, “O Lord God of Heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps
his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his command.” Nehemiah said
three things about God:

1. You’re great – that’s God’s position.

2. You’re awesome – that shows his power.
3. You keep your promises – God’s covenant.

The first thing Nehemiah did was to acknowledge who God is. That’s what praise is.
Acknowledge who God is and his greatness. He starts off by getting the right perspective.
In starting to have answered prayer, say, “God, I want you to answer because of who you
are. You’ve given us all of these things, these promises. You are a faithful God, a loving
God, a merciful God” – all these things the Bible tells us he is. Base your request on God’s
character.

2. Confess the sin in my life.

After Nehemiah based his prayer on who God is, he confessed his sins. He says, “We’ve
sinned.” Look at how many times he uses the word “I” and “we.” He says “I confess ...
myself ... my father’s house ... we have acted wickedly ... we have not obeyed.” It wasn’t
Nehemiah’s fault they went into captivity. He wasn’t even born when this happened 70

DEVOTIONS
years earlier. He was most likely born in captivity. Yet he is including himself in the national
sins. He says, “I’ve been a part of the problem.”

There is personal confession and there is national confession. This is something we don’t
know anything about. We don’t have a corporate sense in America today. We are very
individualistic. We’re taught to confess my sins. When was the last time you confessed the
sins of the nation? Or the sins of your family? Or your church? Or your friends? Our society
has taught us we’re only responsible for ourselves. And that’s just not true! You are your
brother’s keeper. We are all in this together.

Leaders accept the blame, but losers pass the buck. If you want to be a leader, you accept
the blame, and share the credit. Losers are always accusers and excusers. They’re always
making excuses why things didn’t or couldn’t happen. It’s always somebody else’s fault.
Leaders accept the blame.

3. Claim the promises of God.

Nehemiah is praying to the Lord and saying, “I want you to remember what you told your
servant Moses.” Can you imagine saying, “remember” to God? He’s reminding God what
he had said in the past. “God, you warned us through Moses that if we were unfaithful we
would loose the land of Israel. But you also promised that if we repent, you’d give it back
to us.” All through the Bible you find God’s people reminding God about what he said he
wants to do. David did it. Abraham did it. Moses did it. All the prophets did it. “God, I want
to remind You of one of Your promises ...” Then they’d share it.

Does God have to be reminded? No. Does he forget what he’s promised? No. Then why
do we do this? Because it helps us remember what God has promised. Nothing pleases
God more that when you remind God of one of his promises.

Do kids ever forget a promise? Never. So you have to be very careful about making them.
The Bible says we’re imperfect fathers, and if we imperfect fathers know that we need to
fulfill our promises to our kids, how much more does a perfect Father, a heavenly Father,
intend to keep the promises he’s made in his Word.

4. Be very specific in what I ask for.

If you want specific answers to prayer you need to make specific requests. If you make
general prayers, how will you know if they are answered?

Nehemiah is not hesitant to pray for success. He’s very bold in his praying. Have you
ever prayed, “Lord, make me successful!” If you haven’t, why haven’t you? What is the
alternative? A failure? There is nothing wrong with praying for success if what you’re doing
is ultimately for the glory of God. Pray boldly. Pray that God will make you successful in life
for the glory of God. That’s what Nehemiah did. This is a valid prayer. Give me success!

If you can’t ask God to make you a success at what you’re doing, you should be doing
something else. God doesn’t want you to waste your life.