Praying with pure motives

4/19/2011 Loving God Journal

Learn

So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone. I Kings 19:19

Observe

The Assyrians had come against Jerusalem, against the Jewish Southern Kingdom, Judah. They had already conquered the Jewish Northern Kingdom, Israel, along with other kingdoms in surrounding lands.

Things looked hopeless. The threat was real and overwhelming. 185,000 soldiers were amassed against Jerusalem and ready to strike. 

A letter from the Assyrian leader demanding surrender was sent. Hezekiah, the King of Judah, spread out the letter before the Lord and prayed for a rescue. He ended his prayer with the plea from I Kings 19:19. And God did defeat the Assyrian army and did protect His people.

Here I see the basis, the foundation for powerful prayer. It's about God and His glory, His fame, His renown, His honor. At the very foundation of our prayer must be for people to know that the Lord alone is God.

James says that we do not have what we pray for because we do not ask and then, when we ask, we ask from wrong motives. "You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4:2b-3).

So, what is the greatest, the highest motive in prayer? Hezekiah gets it. "So, that all will know that You, O Lord, are God alone."

Now, how will we pray this way today?

Value

When troubles come, pray with the highest motive of all. Pray not so that you will be rescued (although that's an honest precipitating factor), but so that God will be known.

Express

You, Lord God, are the Source, the Supply, the all in all. Everything good in my life has come from You. You have rescued me time and time again and again. You have answered prayer for Your glory in my life over and over. Now, cleanse me for all my praying with impure and selfish motives. Thank You for the grace and mercy that comes to me through the cross of Jesus. It's not about me. It's about You. Remind me to pray with the purest motives - that You will be known in the rescuing of my life, my family, my church, my city. Today, I yield my life, my prayer life to You. Make Yourself known through me, Lord God Almighty.