Word of Encouragement (09/13/2023)
Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. (1 Sam. 12:23)
We said that prayer is our duty as God’s royal priests. If so, what Samuel said about himself would be also true of us: we would be sinning against the Lord and those who need our prayers if we do not pray for them.
Not praying is, of course, a sin of omission, not commission. Generally, sins of omission are less grievous than sins of commission. Sins of omission are usually sins of negligence, not doing what God commands us to do (not loving others as we should, like honoring and obeying our parents, etc.), whereas sins of commission are doing what God forbids in His law (harming others by stealing or killing, for example). Even so, sins of omission are still sins and we must not take them lightly. Besides, there are different degrees of seriousness even among the sins of negligence: neglecting to do your work or study by procrastination is one thing; neglecting to feed your children because you are addicted to TV shows or video games is another. Also, if we should deliberately neglect to do our duty, it would no longer be a sin of weakness but malicious intent.
What about the sin of not praying for others? How serious is it? It cannot be worse than not feeding our children because we are addicted to entertainment or drugs. Or is it? It depends on where our priority is. Here, I want to carefully remind ourselves of what Jesus said as He resisted Satan’s temptation to turn stones into bread after fasting for forty days and nights: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matt. 4:4). Please don’t get me wrong. I have no intention of minimizing the horror of choosing entertainment over taking care of the basic needs of our children or any of our loved ones. I’m not saying that it is better to pray for our children than to feed them, or that we should just pray for them instead of feeding them. I am saying that, as it is unthinkable for parents not to feed them, it should be unthinkable for covenant parents not to pray for their covenant children! And could it be that not praying for those in need is a sin of gross negligence?
Why did Samuel declare that he would not sin by ceasing to pray for Israel? Israel just got a new king and defeated the Ammonites under his leadership. And they were renewing their covenant with God. Things were looking good. Why pray? Why pray without ceasing? Because Israel’s political and military success didn’t mean their spiritual well-being. Even if their success and victory were God’s blessing for their faithfulness, there was no guarantee that they would be faithful the next day. With practice, we can grow in faithfulness, of course: faithfulness begets faithfulness and perseverance. But we will never be perfect in this life. If God gives us enough grace for each day and renews it every morning even though He is perfect in faithfulness, how much more should we renew our faithfulness to Him every morning? As long as we live in this fallen world, and sin remains in us, we are like the salmon that must swim upstream to reach its destination. Just to stay in the same spot, we must work at it. We must work harder if we want to move upstream. If we don’t do anything, we will be swept downstream.
May the Lord give us the sense of urgency to be serious about praying, and, if you have not done so, commit yourself to a life of prayer.