Why?

 

 

Why do we yet pray for that

Which we have already received?

Is it because, in fact,

We really do not believe?

 

If the Word of God says

That we already have it,

Why do we continue to bombard heaven?

Is it just out of habit?

 

God has given us, we are told,

All that pertain to life and godliness

Yet for these very things

Our prayer is rather ceaseless.

 

Is it because, I ask again,

We are acculturated by rituals

And like the many other religions

Must function as such people?

 

Does God not know

And has He not put in place

All that His redeemed children need

According to His wonderful grace?

 

So then, why do we beg

And why do we beseech

As though God needs a timely reminder

Of that not within our reach?

 

Is He a god like Baal

Whose prophets had to bellow,

And cut themselves until the blood gushed

And still Baal was a no-show?

 

Does God sleep

Like apparently Baal did

Causing Elijah to mock his prophets

When he did not do as they bid?

 

 

Why do we yet pray

As though we are in disbelief

And feel that much praying is our effort

To help God bring relief?

 

Why do we remind Him

Like He has a tendency to forget

And if we do not get to Him in time

We might in fact regret?

 

It appears God only supplies

If we plead and beg and beseech

And it is to those only who do this well

Is what we practice and teach.

 

Hence, why would we pray

For the same things over and over

Under the guise that even for God

The enemy is no push-over.

 

Why do we pray so fiercely

As though trying to convince God

If only we only we could get Him to see,

He would respond to our call.

 

Why do we harp about numbers?

Do numbers matter to Him?

Are not all of these signs of unbelief

And isn’t unbelief sin?

 

 

Why do we say we believe

And then pray as if we do not

Yet, still hoping like the Pharisees

God will give us our lot?

 

Our prayer is full of worry

And saturated with and anxiety

And it screams from hilltop and steeple,

God is not hearing me.

 

For it seems He does not answer

Hence, we pray again and again

And like the prophets of Baal on Carmel

We seem to be praying in vain.

 

Why do we not believe

We have that for which we pray

And why do we pray for the same things

Each and every day?

 

Stewart Russell © March 19, 2024

Prayer Meeting Extraordinaire

 

 

 

I will never forget

That extraordinary prayer meeting,

Convened on our brother’s behalf

When we could be sleeping.

 

It was back in the early church

Not long after Pentecost

One of our leaders had been slain

And another about to be lost.

 

Herod had executed James

And Peter had been imprisoned,

Hence, this special time in prayer

Hoping for Peter’s freedom.

 

I was just a young damsel

Observing the others in prayer

When I heard a knock on the door

And went to see who was there.

 

I did not have to see his face

I knew who was at the door,

From the moment I heard his voice

I needed nothing more.

 

I was so filled with excitement

I ran back to tell the rest

And Peter could do no better

Than stay right where he was left.

 

In my excitement I left him

Outside the meeting place

And back to those intercessors

I had excitedly raced.

 

Of course, they did not believe

What I revealed to them,

They suggested I had seen a ghost

And with that I had a problem.

 

 

Peter continued knocking

And eventually the door was opened,

There he stood in front of them

A testament to what God had done.

 

Their excitement was continuous

Like it would never cease

Causing Peter to beckon to them

And request they hold their peace.

 

He explained all God had done

And then he went his way,

Actually, he left that same very night

Before the turn of the day.

 

I believe as they prayed for Peter

They were praying for his release

But then it happened so quickly

It shocked their own belief.

 

Hence, the initial evidence,

Having been shrouded in disbelief,

Had an opposite effect on them

Despite praying for Peter’s release.

 

 

Prayer meeting extraordinaire!

The saints prayed while yet in doubt,

 But according to His own purpose

God still brought Peter out.

 

The lesson to one and all

Is to trust God however we feel

And in God’s own time appointed

All will be revealed.

 

Stewart Russell © September 25, 2021

 

 

Worry

 

 

A very thin line

Between worry and concern:

Just something new

That I have just learned.

 

We say we are concerned

When in fact we worry

And that concern is so bad

It causes anxiety.

 

The mix-up is in the head

Or better still, the mind

And we confuse the two

Most of the time.

 

So does the dictionary

I actually checked

And if you go there now

You would see I am correct.

 

 

The dictionary records them

As being synonyms

But unbelief brings on worry

And that is a sin.

 

To be concerned is all right

Actually, you should be

But to be overly concerned

Is to encourage worry.

 

Be careful for nothing

But be concerned and pray,

Worry should not be encouraged

As the believer’s way.

 

Jesus showed concerned

But he was never worried,

His focus on his mission

Was fixed and steady.

 

Worry magnifies the problem

And obscures our view

And we become so stressed

We don’t know what to do.

 

It shorts out the connection

Between us and God,

And we do not hear clearly

When on Him we call.

 

Worry is noise in the line

That originates from our end

And we often miss the response

That the Master sends.

 

Hence, we write it down

As unanswered prayer

And this increases our worry

And brings despair.

 

Whenever we call on God

The answer is always clear,

It is always synced to His Word

You can find it there.

 

Have faith in God

Even if you do not understand,

Once you are his child

He will hold your hand.

 

 

Don’t let worry cause you

To hang down your head

But look towards the Saviour

And remember what he said.

 

Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20

 

I will never leave thee

Nor forsake thee.

Lo, I am with you always,

Even unto the end of the world.

 

Stewart Russell © August 23, 2020

 

 

Why Do We Beg?

 

Why do we beg for what we have?

Why do we ask for what we possessed?

Why do we behave like a deprived child

And work ourselves in a mess?

Yet we claim that God is our Father

And He promises to supply our needs,

For me we are really demonstrating

We don’t believe what we believe.

This practice speaks of unbelief

The deterrent of the believer’s trust

And unbelief means I am putting my faith

In someone else other than Jesus

Sounds hard, I know it does

And we need to really understand

That trust is not really about what we pray

But holding to our Father’s hand.

 

To hold God’s hand is to walk with Him

And as such He will supply our needs,

Maybe we miss this essential point

When our needs become our greed.

Why do we beg, I must ask again

As though we have no shepherd?

I muse about this question everyday

Among other things I must consider.

Rather, why don’t we draw down

On the deposit that God has given?

We don’t beg the bank to give us

The money for which we’ve already striven.

 

 

Yet we beg God earnestly

For the deposit on our account,

I constantly find myself wondering

To what does this amount?

We pray and fast about things

That we so desperately want

And as such we subject ourselves

To Satan’s ridiculous taunts.

It is like Elijah on Mount Carmel

As he mocked the prophets of Baal,

They had cried and groan and cut themselves

And all this to no avail.

Apparently Baal had gone on a journey

Or he had not yet awakened,

Whatever the reason or excuse

Those prophets were surely forsaken.

Why do we beg like the heathen

As though we do not trust our God

Giving them the impression as we pray

That God is no different from their Fraud?

Ask and it shall be given you

Seek and you shall certainly find,

Knock and the door will be opened to you

This is God’s word not what we opine.

When we put this in right context

Here is what it really says

God is my Father and I am His child

I don’t have to beg, just believe when I pray.

Stewart Russell © September 2018

God Are You There?

From my earliest times

I’ve heard with my ears

But God, tell me, really,

Are you there?

I’ve read your Word

I even learned to pray

But please tell me

Are you really there?

I’ve heard of miracles

Performed here and there,

I even believed

But God, are you there?

I’ve heard evidence

In church and elsewhere,

It was most convincing

But God, are you there?

I struggle to believe

Though your Word is clear,

I wish I could know for sure

That you are there.

At times I have this feeling

That you are very near

But still the question arises

God, are you there?

Please let me know for sure

So I wouldn’t despair

And in doubt keep on asking:

God, are you there?

I know doubt is unbelief

And it gets one nowhere

But I just can’t help but ask,

God, are you there?

At times the day is long

And the night is so drear

And that’s why I must ask

If you are there.

There seems to me

So much unanswered prayer

That I can’t help but ask,

God, are you there?

I know faith is required

At least I’ve learn that here

But when things don’t add up

I must ask, “Are you there?”

All these years as a Christian

What a strange prayer!

But God, please tell me,

Are you there?

Great minds say you are not

It is just a hoax

But your Word says

That in the past you spoke.

Please speak today, God

I earnestly pray

And I wouldn’t have to ask

If you are really there.

Write across the sky

In words huge and clear,

Make it obvious to everyone

That you are there.

I am sure that everyone

Both here and everywhere

Would never ask again

God, are you there.

It’d convince the naysayers

And rid me of my fear

When I get to thinking

Maybe you are not there.

There must’ve been a beginning

To me that is clear

But I still keep asking

God, are you there.

Nothing could be responsible,

That would be weird

But I need a little more

To convince me you are there.

I know I am unreasonable

To even pray this prayer

But Lord so much is at stake

I must know you are there.

I heard your son came

And like me he lived here

But Lord I was not around

With me please bear.

People testified they saw him

I guess they were there,

So do the same for us

And please hear my prayer.

Well God, not much today

Just this simple prayer

Answer me and I won’t ask again

God, Are you there.

Dear praying one

The answer is as clear as ABC

Since the one that prayed this

Just prayed it to me.

Keep on walking my child

And keep on praying too

And one of these days

I will be in plain view.

And you won’t have to ask

If I am there any more

For then of that reality

You will be absolutely sure.

Stewart Russell © August 2018