Dependent Prayer

Weekly Update – January 30th, 2025 

In Luke 6:12 we see the dependency that Jesus had upon his father.  He spent all night in prayer seeking out the next step in his ministry as he prepared to choose his 12 disciples.  It wasn’t as if we see a denial of any of Jesus’ attributes here with his dependency upon God, but, as we all should be, Jesus lived dependent upon the Holy Spirit.  The clearest way that dependency upon the Holy Spirit is displayed is through prayer. 

This passage wonderfully points to a core value of ours as a church.  As our vision states, we desire to see our families, our community and our world transformed by the power of God.  One of the key ways that we can strive towards this end is through dependent prayer.  Here is what we say about dependent prayer as our core value:

We long to be a prayerful church that depends on God to work through the Holy Spirit in us and among us.  When we approach him in prayer, we display this desire as well as his worth and our need.  God is sovereignly in control over the course of history and every event on this earth.  Through prayer, God uses us to bring about his plan to his people.  As a church we depend on him through prayer as we seek him individually and corporately.

Here then is why this core value is important to us as a church:

First, we must pray because prayer is vital to seeing people transformed by Christ.  Charles Spurgeon once said that “We shall never see much change for the better in our churches in general till the prayer meeting occupies a higher place in the esteem of Christians,” What Spurgeon is saying here is that if we plan on seeing any sort of movement from the Lord, then prayer ought to be held in utmost regard.  We desperately need churches to unite in the kind of prayer that the Spirit may use to produce any sort of gospel fruit.  Now the truth is that God doesn’t need us to accomplish his will. But he has so ordained his will to be accomplished through the prayers of his people.  Again this is not because he needs us, but he has done this because he loves us and he desires to show us his power through our prayers. 

Second, we must pray because prayer is about more than just our comforts.  It is estimated that around 90 percent of all people pray on a daily basis. What most of these people pray for are for personal desires such as good health, parking spaces close to stores, good friendships and strength through difficult circumstances.  In and of itself these are fine prayers to pray.  God desires to hear our every need regardless of what it is.  But stopping there neglects the fullness of what prayer is meant to be.  As one writer says, “Prayer is not meant to be a domestic intercom to give us more comforts down in the den.  Prayer is meant to be a wartime walkie talkie to receive more supplies for the battlefield.”  Paul realized that he was in the midst of a war.  This war wasn’t “against flesh and blood, but it was against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).  Pray for every need that comes to mind, but also remember that our lives are in the midst of a spiritual war and the gospel of truth explained through the word of God is our weapon.  Pray that this weapon would be effective.

Third, we must pray because prayer is vital for our faith.  In 2 Thessalonians 3:5, Paul prays for these young believers asking the Lord to “direct their hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.”  For our faith and the faith of those around us to be sustained, we must daily depend upon the Lord in prayer.  The way that prayer strengthens our faith in this manner is by reminding us that God is ultimately bigger than any problem and only he is sufficient to respond.  Plus, prayer keeps our hearts in tune with the greater purposes of God on this earth.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ who has committed your life to him and his purposes, I urge you to pray daily and to do so fervently.  Jesus did!  For as he lived his life guided by the Holy Spirit, prayer was essential for him.  May we too be a people who find ourselves devoted to prayer (Col. 4:2) as we live dependently upon the Lord. As we do so, may we then trust God to direct our every step, provide for every need, and ultimately use us as his church to bring about his purposes in transforming our families, our community and our world. 

Serving Him with You,
Pastor Michael Nelson