The slightest implication of prayer has the power to release the greatest implementation of prayer. The pulse is a small vital sign of a beating heart pumping life throughout the body. Where there is a pulse, it reveals life in the body. The smallest prayer releases the greatest power in the world.
The will of God is found in the Word of God. John, The Elder does not disappoint those seeking to pray according to the will of The Father. He tells his readers that He has had his hand on the pulse of Life, and he knew prayer was His source of power.
“What we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life – and the life was manifested and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was the Father and was manifested to us.” V.1-2
The brief pages of I John reveal no grand design for prayer, such as the one outlined by His Master in The Lord’s Prayer. Still, his gentle gestures towards prayer are his homage to Jesus. John learned the lessons of prayer while listening, watching, walking and talking with Jesus through a three-year School of Prayer.
“While no repeated prayers are to be found in this book, prayer is every where implied.” Herbert Lockyer
The handprints of The Manifest Presence of Jesus were all over John’s heart, and His heartbeat pulses through this little book. At 90 years of age, John’s consistent intimacy with His Savior in prayer had transformed this “Son of Thunder” into “The Apostle of Love.” It had taken a lifetime. Prayer always does.
John’s powerful personality no longer promised more than it delivered. Advancing age had taken its toll on his power to bring the heat on every subject under the sun. He now spent his last days, seeking God’s will, not speaking his mind. He wisely shed more light on prayer, instead of rashly torching those around him with his opinion.
Prayer is more than a devotional discipline or an extended military exercise against an entrenched enemy. It is both, but when you add the two together, prayer is more than the sum of the parts.
Prayer offers fellowship with The Father and The Son. Is it any wonder why the joy of life is lost when the fellowship of prayer becomes a casualty of spiritual warfare?
John never got over being in The Presence of Jesus, and hearing The Son pray to His Father. Hearing Jesus pray introduced John to an intimacy with The Father only a child can have with a loving parent.
“Prayer is the intimate communication between the Heavenly Father and His child.” Don Miller
The pulse of prayer reveals the vital heartbeat of fellowship. John had heard Jesus pray until His will was conformed to the will of His Father. John would settle for nothing less than the abandonment of his own will into the hands of The Father. He had heard Jesus pray many times, and he had wisely followed His lead.
When John prayed, he discovered…
- Prayer is fellowship.
“Our fellowship is with the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ.” V. 3
- Prayer releases joy.
“These things we write, so that our joy may be complete.” V. 4
- Prayer reveals The Light.
“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light.” V. 5a
- Prayer removes the darkness.
“…And in Him there is no darkness at all.” V. 5b
- Prayer receives cleansing.
“The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” V. 7
- Prayer requires confession.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” V. 9
NOTE TO SELF: Walking with Jesus includes talking with and listening to The Father. His will is found in His Word. Without consistent prayer and immediate obedience you may occasionally stumble from the dark into The Light, but you will have no intimate fellowship with God. Stumbling out of the darkness into postponed confession, after prolonged rebellion, only makes you look wide-eyed and disheveled, not forgiven and cleansed. Persistent, consistent prayer improves your fellowship with God and cleanses your heart. One leads to the other, and you need both. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!