So now that we have defined prayer and examined its purpose, let’s look at how to pray. It has become popular to say that anything a Christian says to God will be enough; the phrase “there is no wrong way to do it”, or “just tell Him what’s on your heart”, has a decent enough sentiment; God does want transparency in prayer. According to Jesus, however, there is a correct way to do it. Prayer is a discipline, not just an opportunity to get something off your chest or clear your mind.
When a child is learning to ride a bike she must first learn the basics: “grip the handles'', “push your feet in a downward motion”, “sit this way to keep your balance”. As she masters the basics she will begin riding with greater speed, prepared for more dangerous tasks and challenging riding conditions. However, she will never learn to navigate difficult terrain if she has not first learned to go in a forward motion. If she abandons the basics before she rides, she will never get farther than her starting point: if she begins to ride and abandons the basics mid-ride, she will crash. Jesus, in the Lord’s Prayer, teaches believers the basics of talking with God. The Lord’s Prayer, fully recorded in Matthew 6:9-13, is a deep well of wisdom for anyone willing to draw out the living water. Like a child riding a bike, the believer will often feel that her prayer life is stagnant, or that she crashes every time she attempts to pray. She will do well to remember the basics so she can advance in her faith. Each individual verse in the Lord’s Prayer has significance. Verse 9 begins the prayer with a deep reverence for the authority of the Father. There is immediate authority when speaking the name of God. The Father is not just an authority figure to Jesus, but the One who dwells in Heaven. Therefore, His name alone is revered, feared, held in the highest esteem. God is not that friend with whom someone gives a high-five; He is the Almighty and deserves the highest honor. Solomon taught his hearers that they should always remember their place when talking with God. Rushing into prayer, or offering too many words, is pure foolishness. The next basic, desiring the will of God, can be found in Verse 10. Jesus was volunteering for service, ready to do the Father’s work in every moment. His kingdom advances as the body of Christ moves in the earth. To have a pure desire for the will of God to be done, the believer must have a pure humility to be obedient to the call of God. In Heaven, God receives absolute obedience from every being; the person of prayer should be seeking that same absolute obedience for building the kingdom on earth. The third basic of prayer addresses provision for what the believer needs. The focus is not on tomorrow, but on the day at hand. The righteous person does not seek personal gain, but only asks for what is needed for him to perform daily ministry. While this demands complete honesty (truly delineating between needs and wants is a very humbling experience), it also comes with great blessings. If a person only focuses on what they need for the day, then anything provided by God that surpasses those needs will be recognized as riches beyond compare. Fourthly, verse 12 addresses what is owed to God. Debts are real things, and forgiveness of those debts requires sacrifice. Forgiveness from the Father does not come until the believer has first forgiven his own debtors. Jesus seems to anticipate that this prayer basic will need further explanation, because He explains its meaning in the two verses immediately following the Lord’s Prayer. When the Christian faces the temptation of unforgiveness she should always think back to how she has been forgiven. To not forgive others is to forget the debt paid by the Savior on the Cross. Jesus ends His prayer with two requests for the Father: one defensive and one offensive. The first request is that the Father would defend, or prevent, the believer from being “lured and enticed by his own desire”. God would never lead someone into temptation, but He can actively work to defend the believer against the onslaught of evil desire. The closing request of the Lord’s Prayer is that God would fight to deliver the believer from evil itself. Jesus does not suggest that His followers request the absence of evil, but a way out when it comes after them in any form. Persistence is often a key component to receiving an answer to prayer. Daniel’s persistence was not the nonchalant, “aww shucks” kind that keeps plodding along and rolls with the punches. His persistence was the kind that is painful: an agonizing, mourning kind that excludes all happiness and temporary comforts. The desperate kind of prayer that will not stop until that door is opened, will not stop until that person is spared, will not stop until that mother sees the demon leave her daughter for good. Jesus showed persistence in prayer when He repeated the same prayer three times in Gethsemane, when the darkness kept closing in. Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 7:7-11, tells His listeners that the Father is eager to give good gifts to His children. Notice that there are no caveats in verse 7; it does not say to ask in a contrived manner, or knock with a secret repetition. The verse says that when you ask, seek, and knock, the result will be receiving what you requested, finding what you sought, and walking through doors that are open. God is waiting for you to make your requests to Him. Be blessed.
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That prayer is part of the Christian life seems so obvious that it need not be mentioned. However, so few Christians make prayer a part of their lives that it seems necessary to repeat the obvious fact. They are afraid to get on their knees and pray, for they think that their communication is heard only by themselves.
Believers make many excuses for neglecting prayer. Those excuses range from time restrictions to impatience, but the great secret is that most people think prayer does not actually work. Sure, they see that prayer can be found frequently in the Bible, but they reason that God will work everything out in His sovereignty whether they miss a prayer or not. Ingrained in their minds is that prayer exists as a formality. But prayer that is a formality could in no way be “powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Far from being a formality, prayer in Scripture is active, not passive. For example, God told Hezekiah(2 Kings 20:1-11) that the illness he possessed was one from which he would not recover. Upon hearing the news, Hezekiah did not consult with Isaiah (who was right beside him), or resign himself to the dire outcome. Instead, he turned away from everything and wept bitterly before the LORD. Hezekiah’s prayer added fifteen years to his life for he had touched the heart of God. Along those same lines, numerous examples exist of God saying He will act in a particular way if His people heed His commands through prayer. One of the more descriptive examples of those contingencies can be found in 2 Chronicles 7. The chapter begins with God raining fire from Heaven and filling the temple with His glory; this occurred, “As soon as Solomon finished his prayer…” The chapter ends with God acknowledging that He may have to punish the Israelites for their wicked deeds, but even devastation coming directly from Him could be altered if His people were willing to repent. If His people humble themselves and pray, seek, and turn, God would be ready to hear, forgive, and heal. Most encouraging, He says, “...my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer made in this place.” Prayer also wages unseen wars in the spiritual realms. Daniel, who was thrown to lions because he refused to stop praying, once mourned in prayer for three weeks(Daniel 10). His prayer was heard from the first day he prayed, but an unseen enemy, the Prince of Persia, withstood Gabriel for 21 days. Gabriel needed the help of another great angel, Michael, before he could respond to the prayer of Daniel. Many unseen battles must be waged in the spiritual realm that the follower of Christ will never see with his own eyes. The believer today can be encouraged in knowing that prayer does something in the heavenly realms; prayer is no formality, but communication with the Almighty Himself. Such an understanding should make the Christian afraid that he will have to eventually get off his knees and end the sacred session. When he is willing to humble himself and pray he can be certain that the God of Hezekiah, Solomon, and Daniel will not hesitate to respond. For thoughts on how to pray see Prayer (Part III) - How To Pray. |
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