The Principles of Prayer XXXVIII

 There is no area of one’s spiritual walk that prayer will not improve, enhance, strengthen, bolster, or fuel. Prayer is the superfood of the spiritual man. It brings peace when we are anxious, it gives us strength when we are weak, it provides clarity when we are uncertain, and it nourishes us when we are hungry.

There is nothing that can replace it, nor is there a substitute for it. Likewise, there is no barrier to entry when it comes to developing, nurturing, and growing a life of prayer. You don’t need a diploma or certificate of completion from some seminary to begin your journey of prayer. You don’t need someone’s permission or anyone telling you that you’re ready to earnestly endeavor to know more of God. All that is required is willingness and desire. You must have the willingness to set aside all distractions, the things that eat away at your time, and the desire to grow in God.

If no words come, start with the Lord’s prayer, and work your way from there. If your heart is burdened, unburden yourself before Him. If your heart is joyful, thank Him for His many blessings. If you are feeling weak, ask Him for strength. There are no limitations to what we can share with God, because we are addressing our Father in heaven, whose desire is to reveal more of Himself to us with each passing day.

We cannot underestimate the importance of honesty when we come before God in prayer. He already knows it all. We are an open book before Him, and not only is there no point in putting on airs or pretending we are stronger than what we know ourselves to be, it’s counterproductive.

Whenever we see a prophet or an apostle declare themselves as such in the Bible, God had already cosigned their position and awarded them the requisite authority that they might walk in the power of the office, and not just claim a title for the sake of impressing someone.

Most people claiming to be prophets today aren’t. That’s just the sad reality of it, and the same goes for those insisting that they are apostles. Prophets are rare, so are apostles, because the standard to which God holds such men is high indeed, as is the accountability they have to God for the words they speak in His name.

Jesus had twelve apostles, and these twelve turned the world upside down. Nowadays, you’re bound to find twelve self-titled apostles in a church of thirty, all vying for the honorific and implied status the title grants them, while shying away from living up to the standard explicitly detailed in the Word of God.

The standard of the calling is obligatory. It’s not optional, it’s not something men can circumvent while still claiming to have been chosen to some high office. Because they talk the talk but fail to walk the walk, every day, it seems, new horror stories of men in authority being exposed as depraved wolves and charlatans come to the fore.

The desire of their heart isn’t to walk humbly with their Lord, and obey Him in all things; it’s the acquisition of benefits that comes with the status symbol of being called an apostle or a prophet. We’ve seen time and again that it never ends well, and more tragic still is the collateral damage these individuals perpetrate on the household of faith.

I have only so much empathy, and mine is reserved not for the wolves who know precisely what they were doing, but for the sheep whose faith was shaken, tattered, and shipwrecked because they failed to heed the warnings regarding the dangers of placing their trust in men. Steer clear of men who insist that their title or station affords them special treatment, benefits, or requires your subservience. We are all servants of God, on equal footing, none more special than the other, all accountable to Him. There is no substitute for God. The place of honor is reserved for Him and Him alone, and anyone who insists otherwise is not His servant but a savage wolf intent on the destruction of the flock.    

God knows our imperfections. He knows our weakness, our frailty, our struggle, and our pain. To stand before Him and pretend otherwise is to diminish who He is and insist that He play along with the new trend of self-identifying as something we are clearly not. Be humble enough to understand that His grace is sufficient, and honest enough to ask for help in the areas you know help is needed.

But what will people think of me if they find out sometimes there is disquiet in my heart? What will people say if they discover I sometimes worry about my children’s future? Likely, they’ll think you’re human. Likely, they’ll think you are being sanctified daily like everyone else, and that you’ve not reached your destination, but are running your race faithfully until you reach the finish line.

If they think less of you for showing weariness or admitting that the battle rages on and that there is still an enemy to resist, it’s because they’ve put you on an undeserved pedestal. As long as you haven’t put yourself there, it’s a ‘they’ problem, not a ‘you’ problem. My duty as a servant of God is to live up to His standard, not the standards others try to project onto me.

Yes, I wear shorts in the summer. No, I’m not always in a suit. Yes, you’re likelier to encounter me with a bit of scruff on my face than fresh-shaven. No, I don’t wear wing tips and a necktie when I go into the office. Yes, I have laugh lines. No, I’m not trying to impress anyone.

When you come before God, be you. Not an image you’re trying to project, or what you think God would like to see, but who you are, warts and all, knowing that He can make you clean, He can make you whole, He can give you strength and boldness and courage to be light in this world of darkness, and be seen as different and peculiar without going out of your way to be so. Running into someone wearing a toga and a headdress is just weird. Seeing someone smile when everyone else is frowning, encountering someone who radiates peace while chaos reigns around them, is peculiar. Know the difference, and strive to be the latter rather than the former.     

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Posted on 2 June 2025 | 10:06 am