THEY PRAISE but WILL NOT PRAY - Wilkerson
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
by David Wilkerson
Christ Is Made A Stranger When People Praise Him, But Will Not
Pray To Him!
We praise a Christ to whom we will not pray! We have become a
praising people, but not a praying people. For many of God's
people the prayer closet is a relic of the past. "Why ask God for
what He has already promised? Just get hold of the promises and
simply command deliverances!"We no longer want Christ as much
as we want what He can do for us. We want an escape from pain
and suffering. We want our troubles to vanish. And we are so
caught up in our escape from pain, we lose the true meaning of
the Cross. We refuse crosses and losses - no Gethsemane for
us! No nights of agony! We don't even know this suffering,
bleeding, resurrected Christ!
We want His healing power. We want His promises of prosperity.
We want His protection. We want more of this earth's goods. We
want His happiness. But we really don't want Him alone!
The Church once confessed its sins - now it confesses its rights
How many of us would serve Him if He offered nothing but Himself?
No healing. No success. No prosperity. No worldly blessings. No
miracles, signs, or wonders. What if - once again we had to take
joyfully the spoiling of our goods? What if - instead of clear sailing
and problem-free living, we faced shipwreck, fears within and
fightings without? What if -instead of painless living, we suffered
cruel mockings, stoning, bloodshed - being sawn asunder? What
if - instead of our beautiful homes and cars, we had to wander
about in deserts in sheepskins, hiding in dens and caves? What
if - instead of prosperity, we were destitute, afflicted, and
tormented? And the only better thing provided for us was Christ?
Very few of God's people pray anymore! They are too busy working
for Jesus to talk to Him! Ministers especially have become so busy
doing kingdom work, they have little or no time left to pray. There
is time to visit, to build, to travel, time to vacation, to attend
meetings, time for recreation, reading, counseling - but no time to pray!
Preachers who do not pray become promoters. They become
frustrated building contractors. When they lose touch with God,
they lose touch with their people and their needs. Preachers who
don't pray have egos that spin out of control. They want their own
way. They substitute sweat for unction (anointing).
Evangelists who do not pray become stars, storytellers. They
lack humility, so they manipulate crowds through emotional
gimmicks. The cry of many pastors is, "Oh, God, where can I
find an evangelist who doesn't care about money, or who is not
promoting something? One who can bring heaven down and make
Christ real! Oh, God - give me a praying man to bring my
congregation to its knees!" The shame of this generation is that
we have too many talented men of God and only a few who have
touched God in prayer.
There is even less praying in the congregation! I'm 100% for
getting prayer back in our public schools! But that's not God's
real problem! His problem is getting prayer back in our homes!
His problem is to get His own chosen people to pray! And you
are a phony if you fight for school prayer and neglect secret-
closet praying yourself!
Do we pray? Oh, yes! When we need something. We have the
formula down pat - "in the name of Jesus." All we need Him for
is to counter sign our petition checks before the Father.
I am weary of hearing people say, "This is such a busy age - I
have no time to pray. I'd like to, but I don't have time." No! It's
not lack of time; it is a lack of desire. We make time for what
we really want to do. Look at our Christian young people! Wasting
hours of time playing Pac-Man, Galaxy War, goofing off, bored,
restless, looking for some action! But no time to pray! No time
for Jesus! Oh, God! Somehow! Some way! Get this generation
on its knees. Not just the Lord's Prayer, but a daily communion with Christ .
Our Savior, who has the care and concern for multiplied universes,
has the time to pray just for you! He takes the time to intercede
for you before the throne of God (Heb. 7:25), and you say you do
not have time to pray to Him!
We work feverishly for a Christ we ignore. We will go anywhere,
do anything, in His name. But we will not pray. We will sing in a
choir. We will visit the sick and the prisoners. But we will not
pray. We will counsel the hurt and needy; we will stay up all
night to comfort a friend, but we will not pray. We will fight
corruption! We will crusade for morality! We will stand up
against nuclear weapons! But we will not pray!
Most of all, we don't pray because we really don't believe it
works. Prayer is a bloody battleground! It is where victories are
won! A place to die to self! A place where a holy God exposes
secret sin! No wonder Satan tries to hinder prayer! A praying
man sends a shudder through hell. That man or woman is
marked because Satan knows prayer is the power that crushes
his kingdom. Satan is not afraid of power-hungry saints, but he
trembles at the sound of a praying saint!
~Source-