Good News and Bad News
Anyone ever say to you, “I’ve got good news and bad news… Which one do you want hear first?”
I always say I want to hear the bad news first because I want to end on a good note. The bad news is we don’t know how to pray. Even the ‘best’ prayer warriors aren’t good enough. As for the rest of us, we may think, “I don’t have a good healing prayer. I don’t know how to pray for the Muslim nation.” If you’ve thought that, you’re certainly not alone. I’ve sat in prayer meetings, praying that they don’t ask me to pray! The Apostle Paul even said this, “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought…” (Romans 8:26, ESV).
The good news is that the Holy Spirit, God in us, helps us to pray. You could be saved 10 minutes and still be powerful in prayer, because it’s not up to you.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20)
Paul is saying, “This is not dependent on you. You don’t have to be eloquent or speak in Old King James. You can pray — say something, say anything — and God will get it right for you.”
We’re thinking, “If I don’t pray the right thing or mess up somehow, then nothing’s going to happen.” Nothing could be further from the truth. God goes beyond our simple words. God goes beyond your ask. He goes beyond the words that we don’t even know how to say. Even if our prayers don’t make the grade, God pushes them far beyond anything we would’ve thought to ask. God takes what we say, makes it right and then puts power behind it, which takes so much of the pressure off of us.
We pray, “Help,” and God thinks, “I know how to interpret that for them.”
After pastoring an inner-city congregation in Detroit for thirty years, Pastor Tim served at Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC for five years and pastored in Lafayette, Louisiana, for five years. He became Senior Pastor of Times Square Church in May of 2020.