The Principles of Prayer XVIII

 Man doesn’t stumble upon God by accident. We do not set out seeking something else, only to find Him around some corner, or hiding behind a tree. When we seek God and search for Him with all our hearts, God promises that we will find Him, but we must know who we’re seeking, why we are seeking Him, and once we’ve found Him, never let Him go.

God doesn’t play hide and seek with those whose desire is the knowledge of Him. He is not aloof or cagey, nor is He trying to appear mysterious for the sake of it. He makes Himself available, reveals Himself, and allows Himself to be discovered by those who seek Him. If we’re always searching for something other than God, then it should come as no surprise that we haven’t found Him. When we set our minds and hearts to seeking only Him, His presence is undeniably consistent, and it seems as though everywhere we look, we see His guiding hand.

In the early nineties, Volkswagen Beetles were far more prevalent than they are today, especially if you lived on the coast as we happened to at the time. Given that we were three boys with energy to spare and nothing to do on the longer car rides, we heartily embraced the game known as Punch Buggy every time we went anywhere.

If you’ve never played it, the game is simple enough: every time you spotted a Volkswagen Beetle in traffic before the other competitors, you got to punch them in the shoulder as a prize. We were boys, we were bored, and it took away from the discomfort of having to unstick yourself from the duct tape crisscrossing the seat where the pleather had cracked and ripped.  

At the time, we had an old, gray station wagon with a rear-facing bench seat in the back, and that’s where we’d spend our time during the drive, giving each other bruises, while the parents and grandparents were in the front seats, tuning out the grunts of pain coming from the back.

You’ll never see three boys more focused on anything than we were on being the first to spot the Beetles driving by, especially if you were trying to keep from getting hit. You knew that once you heard “red bug, yellow bug, blue bug,” or some other color favored by the hippies, a swift knuckle sandwich was on its way, likely in the same general area where the other five or six had landed.

We were boys on a mission, and everything faded into obscurity except for spotting the Beetles on the highway. We didn’t notice palm trees or buildings, we didn’t keep track of which interstate we were on, the singular focus was on the thing that would keep us from getting hit.

When we seek God, it must be with the selfsame single-minded focus. It goes without saying that distractions will be prevalent, and there will always be something that tries to steer us away from the pursuit of God, but nothing the world has to offer compares to His presence. It’s like comparing costume jewelry to real diamonds and gold. The costume jewelry might be fun to look at, the colors bright and varied, but when it comes to value, there is none to be had in it.

There is no value in the things of this world. Worthless baubles are just that, worthless. In God, however, there is eternal value beyond what the human mind can grasp or comprehend. So many waste their lives chasing after the brass ring only to feel let down and deflated once they acquire it, realizing that it doesn’t live up to the hype. No one who has sought God and found Him can claim that they were underwhelmed. No one can say they expected more because His presence alone satisfies the soul of man in a way nothing else can.

Just as prayer was an integral part of every memorable hero of the faith since the dawn of time, faith itself was also present in their hearts, intertwined and interconnected, working in tandem with their prayer lives in order to bring about their lived experiences of walking in the power and authority of God. A man of prayer will ostensibly be a man of faith, and a man of faith will naturally be a man of prayer. The two are conjoined and inseparable.

There is no better snapshot of faith in action since the dawn of human history than Hebrews 11. It is such a rich, deep, and wondrous chapter as to deserve its own study at some point, but for now, we will have to make do with a summation. By faith, they did, they asked, they received, they suffered, they died, they did what seemed impossible to human intellect or logic, and through it all, not only hoped, but had full assurance that they would receive an eternal kingdom. Everything they did, what animated them, gave them boldness, gave them strength, courage, and endurance, was by faith.

The enemy is fully aware of the power of faith. He understands that faith stirs the heart of God, and by faith, the impossible becomes possible. I would even go so far as to say the devil understands the power of faith more than most Christians, and it is why he does his utmost to sideline, shipwreck, or dampen faith wherever the opportunity arises. If he can’t shipwreck someone’s faith, he’ll settle for keeping it stagnant, wherein it doesn’t stretch, it doesn’t grow, but remains in a state of infancy.

The reason for this is obvious enough. It’s far easier to distract, deceive, manipulate, or lead astray a baby Christian than it is one who is mature and is anchored in his faith. Anyone with children will tell you that there comes a point where you no longer have to remind them not to take candy from strangers, because they’ve grown past that phase. They know not to do it, and you don’t have to remind them anymore.

It would be an odd thing indeed for a friend of mine to remind me not to take candy from strangers in my fifties, but not so when you have a young child who doesn’t yet understand that we live in a world where dangers abound, and more often than not the predators among us will use something tempting to the eye to draw them away from the protection of their parents.

There is a glut of individuals offering spiritual candy just to lure you into their doctrinal van and away from the will of the Father. The list is endless, and each day, some new teaching, practice, or interpretation makes its way to the fore, only to hear about the damage it has caused six months or a year down the line. You may not need reminding, but someone likely does: don’t take the candy, and run away as fast as your feet will carry you!

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Posted on 5 May 2025 | 11:32 am