A Breath of Fresh (Pr)-ayer! (Part 1)
I’ve been frustrated and confused about prayer for a while.
A few questions rattling around in my head….
-If God already knows what I want and need…and if I trust Him totally with outcomes, why would He want me to go over, and over, and over what’s on my mind? That seems inconsistent with what a perfect Father would want from His son.
-We get a lot of our motivation to pray ‘hard’ for what we want from Jesus’ parable of the stranger who came asking for bread late at night. In that story, the master rewarded the stranger’s persistence with the bread he asked for. We’ve been taught to do the same thing…to keep asking and asking and asking. Is that what Jesus was really saying?
– Tasked to ask and ask, over and over, prayer has ‘devolved’ into “Well, all we can do is pray.” Sounds like a fatalistic, frustrating and faithless exercise that comes after everything else. It’s like “Hey, if there’s a one in a thousand chance I can do something to affect the outcome, I’ll go do it. But when that options’ gone, all we can do is pray.” Last resort. Lowest odds. God is the twelfth man on the bench. The only remaining pitcher in the bullpen. The last pinch hitter.
What if we start asking God how He’d have us pray?
Check out this story. Written by a daughter. Her mother with cancer. (From Peter Lord’s book, Hearing God)
The surgeon thought perhaps my mother would have three months. We began to ask our Father what we could pray for her. Our pastor had taught us that all prayer begins in the heart of the Father. Find out what is being done in heaven and pray for that on earth-Get in agreement with the Father.
God gave the daughter specific things to pray for her mom and she prayed them as the Lord directed. Her mom lived another 18 months and “because of the Lord’s insight, His truth, we were not overcome by presumptions or false expectations.”
Here’s what I’m learning….God wants fellowship with me. Conversation. Yes, He wants us to talk to Him, but He wants to talk to us too. It may be that we’ve formed habits so thoughtless, we’re like the neighbor who ‘talks at you’ but never ‘talks with you’…never lets you get a word in edgewise. What if God wants to speak to us? What if God wants to guide our prayers and tell us what to ask for? What if we’re shutting out the voice of the very God we want to connect with?
Maybe “pray without ceasing” means constant conversation with our Heavenly Father…conversation started with words like these….
– “What would you have me know about this situation, Lord?”
– “Thank you Father for loving me and being here with me.”
– “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”
– “Lord, how would you have me help?”
– “Here’s my heart Lord. Speak what is true”.
Lord is ‘an old soul,’ now in his 80’s. He says “90% of what God says to me is encouragement.”
It’s the same for me. While I’ve gotten better at knowing what to take to the Lord and what to ask, the vast majority of the time, His words to me are “I love you, Regi.” And that’s enough. That’s all the encouragement a man could ask for. To know his Heavenly Father is there, hears his voice, knows his name, and loves him. That’s fresh air every time.
Question: Are you pouring out countless words and missing the chance to hear from God personally? Share your thoughts here……
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Responses (3)
Hello Reggie
I appreciate the transparency in your post. I believe that there are two powerful approaches to prayer that has unlocked this often frustrating subject.
1. A vision for intercession. – according to Hebrews Jesus is the great intercessor – we are most like Jesus right now when we are actively interceding on behalf of others. God has chosen to partner with us in order to see His kingdom come and His will done on earth via prayer. God’s “ultimate will ” will be accomplished, but a praying church is a prerequisite to any move of God. If you look at the Great Awakenings in America, they were all preceded and sustained in prayer.
2. Praying the scripture – the Word of God is living and active and is our great tool or weapon (sword) in prayer
The Word will awaken our dead hearts in prayer. God is amazing and has invited us into communion with Him. If prayer is boring this isn’t God’s fault. We have allowed our hearts to be filled with lesser things that don’t satisfy but dull our sensitivity to the reality and greatness of God. Jesus said ” blessed are those who hunger and thirst”. We rarely experience the depth of our need for God brcause we tend to be ok figuring things out ourselves. There is no space for a hunger for Him and His Word. If we take the Word into our prayer time and pray the Word over our hearts and back to Him – the Holy Spirit will fill us with the knowledge of God and expand our hearts to love Him more.
Prayer is essential to experiencing the normal Christian life. Jesus said over and over “when you pray”. Prayer is expected by God. No church is greater that their prayer meeting. God doesn’t give grace to the innovative; it only comes to those who humble themselves.
God is good and will lead us in prayer and provide wisdom and grace in our pursuit to be faithful in this foundational Christian experience.
Regi –
I absolutely agree with your post. I would also submit that if we can be still we will discover he is more than just Lord. And our willingness to invite him into our days will provide us with more wisdom than we could ever acquire on our own. Thank you for today’s post – I am very much looking forward to part two.
I am perfectly with you. Prayer is constant conversation with God. Put will.
I have also learned that with repetitive prayer, it is more about us than about God. God knows me so well. He plays the sounding board for my prayers until I believe them. On the cross Jesus has done it all. I just need to walk it out. But I need to see it first.
I see that principle in a verse in Mat 1:11
And Josiah fathered Jehoiachin and his brothers, at the time they were carried away to Babylon. (Mat 1:11 MKJV)
Josiah means “God founded”, Jehoiachin “God establishes” or “God appoints”, or even “God prospers”and “God confirms”.
When times look the worst for Judah in the Old Testament, when they are carried away into exile, God confirms, establishes, prospers, appoints, directs, perfects, ordains [Hebr kun, Strongs 3559] what he has founded before.
Maybe the neighbor we ask for bread, the judge we keep on nagging for righteousness is ourselves – our unforgiving, stubborn, unbelieving thinker, emotions, soul.
Let’s change out thinking. (Rom 12:2) Constantly, with perseverance, with zeal.