HEBREWS 10:19-25 Prayer, Encouragement and the Family of God 10:25 LET US ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER. Prayer is decidedly a family matter, a community activity. It is so much more than “me and God.” It is, above all, “we and God.” No Christian is an only child.” Count the plurals in this text, the number of times words like ”we,” “you,” “us,” “our,” “one another” and “brothers” appear. There are 17 occurrences in only four sentences (plus the corporate concept of the “house” or “household” of God). What follows in chapters 11 and 12 reminds us that this family is very, very, big – stretching out over space, but also back in time. All we do now happens before “a great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) who came before. The Apostles ‘Creed calls the life of this family “the communion of saints.” There is a direct link between the privilege of prayer and the responsibility of living together as a family. It’s based on the word “therefore” in 10:19: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus….and since we have a great high priest over the house God” (verses 19:21). To come into the presence of the living God is always to come with all those other people who, like you, have been given the same privilege. To ignore them is to reject the gift. “Prayer is an act, indeed the act of the fellowship,” wrote Peter Taylor Forsyth. “We cannot truly pray for ourselves without passing beyond ourselves and our individual experience….Even private prayer is common prayer.” A healthy church has a culture of encouragement and prayer. People consider how they may “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (verse 24). The word translated “spur” is used usually in a negative sense, as in goading someone to fight. But here it refers to positive, proactive efforts we should make to produce love and goodness in one other. Since the privilege of prayer is the basis of the communion of saints, the encouragement to pray should sustain the communion. Tell a brother or sister in Christ that you are praying for them. Better, ask a fellow believer to pray with you. P R A Y: Dear Lord, I am thrilled and encouraged to know that I pray to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of Paul, Augustine and Luther; the God who unites me with all believers everywhere. Make me an encourager to all in your family and a force for united prayer.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 05:54:31 +0000
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