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A primer on prayer

What an interesting observation Jesus has of the church in Laodicea. I think He is insulted they approach Him with lukewarm prayers. Even though they have knelt in prayer, there was no praying.

I know what you have done; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich and well off; I have all I need.’ But you do not know how miserable and pitiful you are! You are poor, naked, and blind. – Revelation 3:15-17 GNT

They had become a church who were prayerless.

When we do not pray, we show that we believe we are self sufficient. God help us to see that apart from You we can do nothing.

Prayerlessness is pride. When I do not pray it is because I have become proud. A praying person knows they need God’s help. When I pray, I am pleading for God to provide. When I pray I am asking God to provide for others.

What do I do when Jesus is standing at the door of my heart and is knocking?

Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if any hear my voice and open the door, I will come into their house and eat with them, and they will eat with me. – Revelation 3:20 GNT

When I open the door, I am committed to imitate Him. To repent, forgive, all through prayer and for God to give me peace.

Just as I desired to open the door when I heard Him knocking, I desire to pray with reverence and thanksgiving – to please and honour Him.

I think that my short, simple, straightforward prayers are the best kind of praying I can do. Similar to how Mary’s conversation went with Jesus.

You may know the story in John’s Gospel about Jesus attending a wedding celebration with his mother, Mary. At one point early in the festivities, Mary came to Jesus and said, “They have no more wine” (John 2:3, NIV). Chances are, either the bride or groom was related to Mary and Jesus; in any case, they both would have known that running out of wine at a wedding feast would be a major embarrassment to the family.

But Jesus’ answer sounds odd: “Woman, why do you involve me?… My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4, NIV).

Nonetheless, Mary told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5, NIV).

You probably know, of course, that Jesus eventually instructed the servants to fill giant jars with water, which when they served it up turned out to have been transformed into high-quality wine.

But I think Mary’s request often gets lost in the account of that water-to-wine miracle. Remember? To our knowledge, she spoke only five words to Jesus: “They have no more wine.”

She didn’t tell Jesus what to do (maybe because His initial response was, well, a trifle off-putting). She didn’t whine or wheedle or cajole. She laid out the problem—short, simple, straightforward—and left it in His hands.

But she did something else that we often neglect. She prepared for the answer. She told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

It’s a pretty good primer on prayer. She knew where to go (to Jesus). She knew what to say, briefly and simply and straightforwardly mentioning the need. And she knew what to do next—prepare for the answer.

If we would pray with power, we should pray with fasting. This of course does not mean that we should fast every time we pray; but there are times of emergency or special crisis in work or in our individual lives, when men of downright earnestness will withdraw themselves even from the gratification of natural appetites that would be perfectly proper under other circumstances, that they may give themselves up wholly to prayer. There is a peculiar power in such prayer. Every great crisis in life and work should be met in that way. There is nothing pleasing to God in our giving up in a purely Pharisaic and legal way things which are pleasant, but there is power in that downright earnestness and determination to obtain in prayer the things of which we sorely feel our need, that leads us to put away everything, even the things in themselves most right and necessary, that we may set our faces to find God, and obtain blessings from Him. R. A. Torrey

Prayerfully requesting grace

Once more the king sent an officer with fifty men. He went up the hill, fell on his knees in front of Elijah, and pleaded, “Man of God, be merciful to me and my men. Spare our lives! The two other officers and their men were killed by fire from heaven; but please be merciful to me!” – 2 Kings 1:13-14 GNT

It is not only a prayer seeking grace, but it is a prayer that is offered up with honour.

There is a way to serve the Lord prayerfully, out of godly character, joyfully in His power and for His glory.

Paul teaches me how to do this well.

Our friends, we must thank God at all times for you. It is right for us to do so, because your faith is growing so much and the love each of you has for the others is becoming greater. That is why we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God. We boast about the way you continue to endure and believe through all the persecutions and sufferings you are experiencing.

All of this proves that God’s judgment is just and as a result you will become worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. And he will give relief to you who suffer and to us as well. He will do this when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with his mighty angels. That is why we always pray for you. We ask our God to make you worthy of the life he has called you to live. May he fulfill by his power all your desire for goodness and complete your work of faith. In this way the name of our Lord Jesus will receive glory from you, and you from him, by the grace of our God and of the Lord[a] Jesus Christ. – 2 Thessalonians 1:3-5, 7, 11-12 GNT

This is how Paul models how I should be praying.

  • Pray for spiritual growth
  • Strength to endure asking God to use this time to reveal how just He is
  • For relief of the suffering/hardships/persecution being experienced by myself and other followers of Jesus
  • For God to enable me to live a life of divine purpose
  • May His power to complete my faith and my desire to accomplish good
  • For God to receive glory from every area of my life
  • For me to receive grace, honour, and favour from God

Some commentators argue that the groans here are only the groans of the Spirit, not ours. We are, therefore, entirely unaware of them. They arise to God beside our petitions. The Spirit’s intercession, therefore, arises constantly and happens essentially apart from us and our prayers. (Commentators on Romans 8:26–27 who take that view include Douglas J. Moo and Joseph A. Fitzmyer.) Others believe that while it is strictly true grammatically that the groans are the Spirit’s —the point of the promise is that we feel weak and don’t know how to pray and the Spirit helps us in that. After all, God is a “searcher of hearts” (Rom 8:27), and this means God is looking into believer’s hearts. So the groanings of the Spirit are believers’ groanings and longings after conformity to God’s will originating from the Holy Spirit. Commentators such as John Murray, Peter O’Brien, John Stott, and Thomas Schreiner take this latter view. – Timothy Keller

Praying for deliverance, victory, success

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Psalm 18 gives some prayer guidelines to this end.

How I love you, Lord!

    You are my defender.

The Lord is my protector;

    he is my strong fortress.

My God is my protection,

    and with him I am safe.

He protects me like a shield;

    he defends me and keeps me safe.

I call to the Lord,

    and he saves me from my enemies.

Praise the Lord! – Psalm 18:1-3 GNT

What a great way to start a prayer – with a summary of praise. To declare my love for God first thing and to hear Him respond with love to me makes my prayer time very special. It becomes my celebration theme – God responds and delivers.

The danger of death was all around me;

    the waves of destruction rolled over me.

 The danger of death was around me,

    and the grave set its trap for me.

In my trouble I called to the Lord;

    I called to my God for help.

In his temple he heard my voice;

    he listened to my cry for help.

Praise flows because of the memories of struggles – struggles turned over to God when I asked Him for help. In calling out, He heard.

There is something to be said about making the decision to rely on God. It becomes second nature in moments of distress to find myself on my knees before Him.

I am reminded to pray for spiritual growth, and if that means a surrendered, faithful, loyal and obedient heart, than that is what I want. I trust Him to give it to me.

It will mean I will spend time asking for forgiveness and asking God to strengthen me and give me courage to do what is right.

It will mean that I will ask God to keep revealing His purpose in His Word, to allow me to see what I should do and to make my path clear.

It means I can be confident that God will make a way and that will be both victorious and successful.

“The complainers in each situation are regenerate children of God (regeneration was an Old Testament fact, though the theology of it was not made known until Christ came) and their complaints are fundamentally prayers for deliverance from evil and for the fulfillment of promises of protection, provision and relational enrichment that God himself gave. The plea embedded in their complaints is that joyful fellowship with God may be restored and present pain become a thing of the past. Feeling with their minds and thinking with their feelings, their emotions of distress are as vivid and intense as are their perceptions of current disaster due to God’s noninterventions. In terms of direction and intention, their lament and complaints to God are acts of petition and promise-claiming, in a very strong form.” – J.I. Packer

God is near me when I pray

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God made it clear that if I were to walk as a follower of Christ, diligent to obey Him as a follower is called to do, then those around me would make a comment of observation. That observation would go something like this…

I have taught you all the laws, as the Lord my God told me to do. Obey them in the land that you are about to invade and occupy. Obey them faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, ‘What wisdom and understanding this great nation has!’

“No other nation, no matter how great, has a god who is so near when they need him as the Lord our God is to us. He answers us whenever we call for help. – Deuteronomy 4:5-7 GNT

That is why, for those,without the calling and gifting of evangelism, say that their lives are the witness they have for Jesus. Their lives are able to influence others in a profound way and have been blessed through them.

David prayed in such a manner that allowed God to respond.

Listen to me, Lord, and answer me,
    for I am helpless and weak. – Psalm 86:1 GNT

He repeats it again

Listen, Lord, to my prayer;
hear my cries for help. – Psalm 86:6 GNT

With the call for special protection and thereby the author of his salvation, David knew who was the keeper of his soul.

Save me from death, because I am loyal to you;
save me, for I am your servant and I trust in you. – Psalm 86:2 GNT

God wants to save me from my sin and help me through my distress.

You are my God, so be merciful to me;
I pray to you all day long. – Psalm 86:3 GNT

The outward sign of joy expresses the inward comfort that comes from knowing that God has indeed preserved my soul. Prayer is the nurse of spiritual joy and that is what others see in me.

Make your servant glad, O Lord,
    because my prayers go up to you. – Psalm 86:4 GNT

Is this what is lost when I slide away from my first love?

But this is what I have against you: you do not love me now as you did at first. – Revelation 2:4 GNT 

I think this affects me more than just an attitude or an emotion. My behaviour actually changes when I have lost my joy – and it happens when prayer becomes nothing more than mechanical or possibly stopping altogether. When that happens, no one sees God near me.

A complacency of mind, from that gust, relish, and savor, which it finds in spiritual things, from their suitableness unto its constitution, inclinations, and desires. There is a salt in spiritual things, whereby they are condited and made savory unto a renewed mind; though to others they are as the white of an egg, that hath no taste or savor in it. In this gust and relish lies the sweetness and satisfaction of spiritual life. Speculative notions about spiritual things, when they are alone, are dry, sapless, and barren. In this gust we taste by experience that God is gracious, and that the love of Christ is better than wine, or whatever else hath the most grateful relish unto a sensual appetite. This is the proper foundation of that joy which is “unspeakable and full of glory.” – Owen

 

When it is difficult to pray remember that it is a means of divine grace

 

 

 

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The Israelites story of having to turn back to the wilderness after rebelling against God teaches me to also understand that even though those times were difficult, God was still with them.

I think we have all gone through those times when we find it tough to continue walking the walk that Jesus has called us to. Do we not call it “walking through the wilderness” as we feel God so far away? I find these are the times where I will find it most difficult to pray or read my Bible. Definitely will not engage in worship. Joy cannot be found anywhere and it is so hard to hang in there. That is why I find my strength in the simple discipline of reading a prayer or reading a chapter in my Bible every morning.

Here is one that gets me going.

Do to them what you did to the Midianites,
    and to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
You defeated them at Endor,
    and their bodies rotted on the ground.
Do to their leaders what you did to Oreb and Zeeb;
    defeat all their rulers as you did Zebah and Zalmunna,
who said, “We will take for our own
    the land that belongs to God.”

Scatter them like dust, O God,
    like straw blown away by the wind.
As fire burns the forest,
    as flames set the hills on fire,
chase them away with your storm
    and terrify them with your fierce winds.
Cover their faces with shame, O Lord,
    and make them acknowledge your power.
May they be defeated and terrified forever;
    may they die in complete disgrace.
May they know that you alone are the Lord,
    supreme ruler over all the earth. – Psalm 83:9-18 GNT

Talk about calling on God’s justice and jealousy for me and for His own honour. The key is that I may be preserved, my enemies humbled and God glorified.

 

I am faced with the grand fact of the prevalence of prayer.

The Lord is compassionate, and when you cry to him for help, he will answer you. – Isaiah 30:19b

Let’s face it – is it not the most wonderful gift that God has given – to be able to pray? I know I can present my prayers to Him because all along He intended to hear them. How do I know? He gave His only Son, that through that atonement I might be able to approach Him. He did not stop there. He gave me His Holy Spirit to assist me in prayer because let’s face, I really do not know how to pray.

Is the key not in the prayer itself but when God actually answers it? When the prayer is true, the heart of the prayer is heard even before it is even offered. Grace makes me pray. God is graciously waiting for me to pray and has given me prayer as a privilege to enter into His presence – why would I not turn to Him now, with all my heart and cry to Him?

I mentioned earlier about the Holy Spirit – why pray in the Spirit?

It is the place to keep me in the love of God.

But you, my friends, keep on building yourselves up on your most sacred faith. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. – Jude 1:20  GNT

“The means of divine grace” is keeping ourselves in the love of God and it is something I cannot do on my own. God is the decisive keeper of my soul. If not for Him, I will not persevere in faith.

“If we settle for mere speculations and mental notions about Christ as doctrine, we shall find no transforming power or efficacy communicated unto us thereby. But when, under the conduct of spiritual light, our affections do cleave unto Him with full purpose of heart, our minds fill up with thoughts and delight in Him–then virtue [change in character] will proceed from Him to purify us, increase our holiness, and sometimes fill us with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Owen