Thus far we have learned from Adam in the garden some very important principles for prayer from the first man to get alone with God, face to face. You must know the voice of God, that means being in His word, John 10:27; You must know the secret place, that means having a special place to meet God Matthew 6:6; You must know the right time to meet God, that means having a specific quiet time alone with God (Mk. 1:35 – morning; Acts 3:1 – afternoon; Matt. 14:23 – evening; Lk. 6:12 – night) It does not matter to God when as long as you are a ‘Praying Person!’

The fourth principle and probably the most important one is, ‘You must be naked and unashamed!’ Now don’t get excited, that does not mean doing your quiet time in your birthday suit. In Gen. 3:9, God called Adam and said, “Where are you?” They were hiding, why? They were bare naked and ashamed! But notice who is doing the seeking and who is doing the hiding! Some things never change, Amen? John 4:23 says, “The Father ‘SEEKS’ for those to worship Him…”(zeteo) to look for, seek out, desire, to possess. It is no different today, God is still seeking for worshipers to worship Him in spirit and in truth! Does God show up in your enclosed garden, or prayer closet and wait, only to find out you never show up? Does He cry out every day, morning, noon and night, from your prayer closet, your pantry of spiritual nourishment, “Where are you?”

The word in Gen. 3:9 for voice or sound can be translated, ‘Thunder, To Yell, Call Aloud – WHERE ARE YOU!! Now it gets a little personal, because this word also implies, “To call or summon by ‘Name!’ Note v.9, “God called unto Adam, not Eve. Dad’s the family altar is your responsibility not mom’s! Notice who speaks first in Gen. 3:9, ‘GOD!’ He initiates the search and He initiates the conversation. Gen. 3:10 gives us a clue to Adam’s problem and our problem in this fourth principle, “And he (Adam) said, “I heard Thy voice in the garden and was afraid, because I was naked and I hid myself.” I heard your voice in the enclosed garden, “But I was afraid!” Terrified, Fearful! Why? Could it be, sin, disobedience, rebellion, neglect? Good guess! I Sam. 15:22 says, “Disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness as the sin of idolatry.” What’s wrong Adam? I am naked, literally, ‘Bare naked!’ In Gen. 2:25, “They were naked and unashamed” But nine verses later they are naked and very ashamed!

Why, what happened in Gen. 3:1-7? The serpent appeared and sin entered the ‘enclosed garden,’ the secret place, the prayer closet, because Adam left the gate open, he forgot to ‘Shut The Door!’ “NO!” “YESSSSSSS!” Can you hear the hissss of the serpent? God said ‘Shut The Door’ for a very good reason! He, Satan will do everything and anything in his power to destroy your prayer life and your prayer meetings and he has done a pretty good job on that one! They are just about gone, family night, Bible study, youth night, small groups, Bible Clubs, call it anything you want but don’t call it ‘Prayer Meeting’ because Satan won’t like that. Am I stepping on any toes yet, if this blog is to convicting just hit the little red x in the top right hand corner nobody will know except God! I’m writing to me as well, “Guilty as charged, your Honor!” What’s that old saying, “Satan trembles at the weakest Christian on their knees.” By the way, how are your garments before God today, spotless, clean, pure white or filthy? Isa. 64:6 talks about all our righteousnesses as filthy rags, you need to read that verse in a Roman Catholic Bible or look up the words ‘filthy rags’ in your Strong’s concordance. YUK! It’s hard to come before a perfect, holy, pure God in dirty rags, isn’t it? It is confession time! Adam was naked and afraid and he hid himself! Are you hiding from God? Have you withdrawn from the LORD lately? Have you left your first love, not lost, left? Rev. 2:4. Have you stepped out of the circle? I love that poem by Edwin Markham, “He drew a circle and shut me out; Heretic, rebel a thing to flout. But love and I had a mind to win; We drew a circle and shut him in.” If your love, your passion, your fervor, your relationship, your intimacy, your prayer life is not what it used to be with God, who moved, who stepped out of the circle, you or God?

Psalm 139 says God sees every-thing, every-where, every-time! In fact Yeshua/Jesus knows the very thoughts of your mind right now John 2:24-25, “He knows all men & He knows what is in all men.” In John 1:51, He saw Nathaniel and knew what he was meditating on before he came to Him, ‘Jacob’s ladder’ and God searches our hearts and consciences Jer. 17:9-10. You can’t hide anything, anywhere, anytime from an omniscient, omnipresent God. Nothing! So why try? Question, are you in your enclosed garden, with the door shut, in the cool of the day? Do you hear His voice walking in your garden? If not, why not? Are you afraid? Are you naked? Are you hiding? Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice and I know them…” When was the last time you heard His voice? When was it? Can you remember? Have you ever heard it? Have you? Are you thirsty for God? How thirsty? Psalm 42:1-2; Does your heart pant after God like the deer pants after the water brook, after being chased by a pack of hunting dogs? Jesus said, “If any man thirsts let him come to Me and drink and out of his inner most being will flow rivers of living water.”

I believe Adam walked with God in the garden, in the cool of the day, before and after the fall and heard His voice calling him. He knew that intimate, personal intercourse with his Creator and had ‘Spiritual Yada.’ He walked before God bare naked, pure, open, nothing hidden before the fall. Then he ran from God; he hid from God; and he lied to God. That is the sequence and order of backsliding, run, hide, lie! Gen. 3:11-12. But when all else fails blame the wife! “The woman whom thou gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat.” Some things never change. Amen? As someone once said, “The problem was not the apple in the tree, it was the pair on the ground.” Question, have you disobeyed God? Have you sinned against Him? Have you left your first love? Rev. 2:4 Did you buy the lie? Yes, Yes, Yes! “God Forgive Me!” Please don’t send me out of Your presence God! Moses prayed that in Exodus 33 after the ‘Golden Bull.’ I can’t imagine being without God’s presence for five seconds but not ‘Pass The Shekel Adam.’ He refused to confess, he refused to admit his sin, he refused to repent, so he was driven out of the enclosed garden and out of God’s personal presence. Gen. 3:24. Christian, have you refused to confess, to repent, to admit your sin of prayerlesness, that’s the one we are dealing with! How would you rate your prayer life on a scale of 1-10? You can change that right now! With five simple words from Luke 11:1, “Lord, teach us to pray!”  Not how to pray, we already know how, we just need to learn, ‘To Pray!’  Our basic need is not more theology about prayer, we have bookshelves on it but more practicology in prayer! There is only one way to become more proficient in prayer, and that is to take a knee and pray more. Like the only really way to learn how to ride a horse, is to get on the horse! ‘Between The Lines’

“Portraits of Prayer in Genesis”  (Adam – Part #6)