Opportunities to pray
What started as perfect is now ingrained in sin
When God was done making all of Creation, it was perfect. Everything was just as He intended. Today, it is easy to see that things aren’t like they began in the Garden.
However, we cannot simply say that things have unexpectedly gone bad. This is no accident, because God is sovereign forever. He is not scrambling to fix something gone unexpectedly out of control. True, He is out to fix something, and it is in fact often hurtful and chaotic. But, it is never out of His control.
Creation is an arena soaked in sin
The sinful world is a means to an end. God is creating a group of people who will be Saved from their hopeless loss to sin, making them into a family who personally know Him and have come to obey and serve Him effectively. One day, all of God’s ‘veterans’ in Christ will be gathered and delivered out of this arena of sin, to be judged for their efforts and to live with Him forever in peace.
In the mean time, He keeps us in a world where the need for Him abounds, and we, equipped with the tools and protection of God, are commanded to take a stand in the middle of it all as salt and light.
Sin’s opportunities to pray are always around us
Inner-personal sin: Prayer is not just about seeking forgiveness, or praying for someone’s well being. A big part of God’s goal is for us to be Sanctified – to increasingly become more like Christ. Jesus is perfect in obedience to everything God commands, and everything God commands is perfect. If we are to become like Jesus, then all things standing in the way of His likeness is sin, and are therefore candidates for prayer. We are to pray for God’s shaping us, and for our obedience to His truth. These issues fall under the category of inner-personal sin.
Inter-personal sin: The people within the circle of our daily influence are sinners, too. If someone you interact with is not Saved, then he will not know or follow God. Or, if that person is a believer, he might still make an error in sin as well. In either case, we are talking about sinful people interacting, and that is always hurtful in some way. Jesus wants us to live the truth before the lost sinner, and find peace with the sinning brother in God’s truth. Each case is a candidate for prayer – for both of these people, and for us while dealing with them. These issues fall under the category of inter-personal sin.
Extra-personal sin: The world, Creation, is also a sinful place affecting us. We suffer harm from natural circumstance, or from people and their actions outside of our known circle of influence. The world is full of issues where the Creation under sin, and the sinful actions of others, adversely affect us. Natural disasters, harm for other living creatures, hunger and disease, pollution, physical or political oppression – these are just a few examples falling under the category of extra-personal sin.
We are stewards, well equipped and well supplied
In all three cases, we are involved in some way. But the important issue to remember is that you are involved as a child of God and you possess a very powerful tool – the right to go before the Throne of God, in intercession for the issues of sin. Every believer through Christ has the means and the opportunity to see God have compassion on the issues they bring before Him.
A good steward is someone who makes good use of the resources entrusted to him. In the case of every believer, this at least includes forgiveness, the Holy Spirit in us, direct access to God’s Throne, and endless opportunities to exercise these resources as we strive to bring God’s influence upon all areas of sin. When we are Saved, we are then equipped to become distributors of God’s grace. We are made to become founts of blessing, bringing down God’s response upon the countless needs around us – as only a child of God the Father can. And again, in doing so, He is glorified, each issue is rectified, and we are Sanctified. This is His Will.