More About Prayer
Yesterday I was talking about prayer being a way of putting things in order. Getting everything going in the right direction. Conforming life to God's design.
But maybe that's easier said than done. If it's such a good thing, why isn't everyone doing it? In fact, why am I not more consistent? I'm supposed to be good at it by now!
Try this on: Not everyone's doing it, or seeing God work in their lives, because it's not easy at all. Doing prayer right means I have to make some effort. It ain't the words, it's the heart of the thing, and that's tough.
When I was a kid we prayed at mealtimes "God is good, God is great, and we thank Him for our food, ay-MEN" and then we dug in. Nice. But really it's just mumblin over my cheerios unless I actually, actively believe God IS good, He IS great, and I am truly thankful to Him for my food.
True prayer must be Biblical, submissive, and faith-filled.
"Biblical" means my prayers need to be lined up with the character of God, as revealed in the Bible. If I'm praying for Him to smite the guy who cut me off in traffic, or to let me win the lottery, that's not really prayer. It's just wishes aimed at the ceiling. Why? Because God says He answers prayers in accordance with His character. If I pray "Make everybody happy" well, that's not likely to happen, because He made this world of ours too complex - made US too complex - for us all to be happy at once. But through the Bible I can learn about what God wants to accomplish, and pray about those things.
So I need to have some knowledge of the Bible so I can start to understand HOW God is and WHAT God wants to do. (Over this morning's honeynut cheerios I was watching TV and on the Today show there was a promo for a new show called "The Book of Daniel". It's about a minister and his dysfunctional family. In the promo the guy preaches "Maybe we don't need to ask God's forgiveness, or anyone else's forgiveness, until we can forgive ourselves." I just about choked ((death by cheerios?)). Of course we should ask God's forgiveness when we sin because He is the authority in the universe, and we have violated His law. Doesn't matter if you do or don't forgive yourself - who are you, anyway? - this is a legal problem and a relational problem we're talking about! And as far as apologizing to people we've wronged, they deserve an apology because we've wronged them. Forgive yourself on your own time; make things right, now! Whoever is writing that TV show doesn't have one of the basic qualifications he needs: a minimum understanding of spiritual things! Here endeth the rant.)
One Biblical thing many people don't get, for example, is the whole bit about praying "in Jesus' name". In Bible times, "in the name" meant something like, "on behalf of" or "through the authority of" or "in accordance with". That's why a cop yells "Stop in the name of the law!" (What, the law now has a name? Italian laws are named Benito. Mexican laws are named Juan. British laws are named Winston. Chinese inlaws are named Yip.) No, the cop is shouting, "By the authority of the law, I am telling you to stop." And when we pray "in Jesus' name" we're asking God the Father, on behalf of God the Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, to do something we believe Jesus wants to happen.
Second, real prayer is submissive. It realizes God is God, I am not, and I should be looking for His will and ways, not my own. All through High School I prayed for a hook-up with a particular cheerleader. Never happened. Not once. (And I had PLENTY of Friday nights available!) Does that mean prayer doesn't work? No, it means my so-called "prayers" were just hormone-driven exclamations of lust. When He answers a prayer, His answer is good and loving. Sure, sometimes it may confuse me, but that doesn't mean it's not good and loving! I need to be acccepting of it and live within His blessing. I can know that blessing if I walk through my life on the course He sets and do the best I can on that path.
Third, real prayer is faith-filled. The Bible says "You ask and do not receive, because you ask without believing." Prayers aren't like Christmas wish lists, that family and friends (and Santa) pick and choose from to make me happy. They are statements of what I believe God wants to do in the world, and requests that the Omnipotent Lord of the Universe command that those things happen. If I don't believe He wants to do it, or can do it, or will do it; or I'm not in tune with His character; or I'm not submissive to what He wants to do, the Bible says my prayers probably aren't going to be answered. All I get is a pair of sore knees. And my knees are sore enough already!
Today's prayer time was a little difficult for me, because my mind was feeling distracted. Fortunately, the God Who made me and loves me wants me to be successful in my prayers, and gave me some grace to finish. If you've got this far, my prayer for YOU is that you will know the God of the Bible, submit to His vision for the world and your life, and ask in faith for Him to do great things.
But maybe that's easier said than done. If it's such a good thing, why isn't everyone doing it? In fact, why am I not more consistent? I'm supposed to be good at it by now!
Try this on: Not everyone's doing it, or seeing God work in their lives, because it's not easy at all. Doing prayer right means I have to make some effort. It ain't the words, it's the heart of the thing, and that's tough.
When I was a kid we prayed at mealtimes "God is good, God is great, and we thank Him for our food, ay-MEN" and then we dug in. Nice. But really it's just mumblin over my cheerios unless I actually, actively believe God IS good, He IS great, and I am truly thankful to Him for my food.
True prayer must be Biblical, submissive, and faith-filled.
"Biblical" means my prayers need to be lined up with the character of God, as revealed in the Bible. If I'm praying for Him to smite the guy who cut me off in traffic, or to let me win the lottery, that's not really prayer. It's just wishes aimed at the ceiling. Why? Because God says He answers prayers in accordance with His character. If I pray "Make everybody happy" well, that's not likely to happen, because He made this world of ours too complex - made US too complex - for us all to be happy at once. But through the Bible I can learn about what God wants to accomplish, and pray about those things.
So I need to have some knowledge of the Bible so I can start to understand HOW God is and WHAT God wants to do. (Over this morning's honeynut cheerios I was watching TV and on the Today show there was a promo for a new show called "The Book of Daniel". It's about a minister and his dysfunctional family. In the promo the guy preaches "Maybe we don't need to ask God's forgiveness, or anyone else's forgiveness, until we can forgive ourselves." I just about choked ((death by cheerios?)). Of course we should ask God's forgiveness when we sin because He is the authority in the universe, and we have violated His law. Doesn't matter if you do or don't forgive yourself - who are you, anyway? - this is a legal problem and a relational problem we're talking about! And as far as apologizing to people we've wronged, they deserve an apology because we've wronged them. Forgive yourself on your own time; make things right, now! Whoever is writing that TV show doesn't have one of the basic qualifications he needs: a minimum understanding of spiritual things! Here endeth the rant.)
One Biblical thing many people don't get, for example, is the whole bit about praying "in Jesus' name". In Bible times, "in the name" meant something like, "on behalf of" or "through the authority of" or "in accordance with". That's why a cop yells "Stop in the name of the law!" (What, the law now has a name? Italian laws are named Benito. Mexican laws are named Juan. British laws are named Winston. Chinese inlaws are named Yip.) No, the cop is shouting, "By the authority of the law, I am telling you to stop." And when we pray "in Jesus' name" we're asking God the Father, on behalf of God the Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, to do something we believe Jesus wants to happen.
Second, real prayer is submissive. It realizes God is God, I am not, and I should be looking for His will and ways, not my own. All through High School I prayed for a hook-up with a particular cheerleader. Never happened. Not once. (And I had PLENTY of Friday nights available!) Does that mean prayer doesn't work? No, it means my so-called "prayers" were just hormone-driven exclamations of lust. When He answers a prayer, His answer is good and loving. Sure, sometimes it may confuse me, but that doesn't mean it's not good and loving! I need to be acccepting of it and live within His blessing. I can know that blessing if I walk through my life on the course He sets and do the best I can on that path.
Third, real prayer is faith-filled. The Bible says "You ask and do not receive, because you ask without believing." Prayers aren't like Christmas wish lists, that family and friends (and Santa) pick and choose from to make me happy. They are statements of what I believe God wants to do in the world, and requests that the Omnipotent Lord of the Universe command that those things happen. If I don't believe He wants to do it, or can do it, or will do it; or I'm not in tune with His character; or I'm not submissive to what He wants to do, the Bible says my prayers probably aren't going to be answered. All I get is a pair of sore knees. And my knees are sore enough already!
Today's prayer time was a little difficult for me, because my mind was feeling distracted. Fortunately, the God Who made me and loves me wants me to be successful in my prayers, and gave me some grace to finish. If you've got this far, my prayer for YOU is that you will know the God of the Bible, submit to His vision for the world and your life, and ask in faith for Him to do great things.
posted by David Hardesty | 9:58 AM
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