Last week we explored how we can better hear God speaking to us through His Word; this week, it’s how we respond. Because grasping what prayer is about is absolutely vital.
We can’t live the joyous, Jesus-style life God wants for us, and see our potential unleashed, without His continuous help. So what is prayer? And how do we grow in it?
STARTER: Think about a good friend you have. What part do your conversations together play in your friendship? And as friends, what do you talk about?
Let’s start today with an odd instruction of Paul’s: `Pray continuously!` (1 Thess 5:17). Jesus said something similar, that we should `always pray` (Luke 18:1). What can this mean, when we have so much else going on in our lives?
Reflecting on these verses teaches us: Prayer isn’t firstly something we DO; it’s the shape of what we ARE as God’s children. It’s our attitude, throughout the day, of relationship with God. Being gently conscious, Jesus is here; and then at certain points actually stopping to say, Lord may Your presence and power and love, Your will, be expressed in this, may Your kingdom come here!
Everything that matters in our lives depends on the good power of God Himself flowing into our situation. Once we grasp this, we’ll see that “success as a Christian” – fruitfulness – comes not firstly from talking, and planning, and working hard, but above all from praying. The great missionary Hudson Taylor put it strongly: `When I work, I work; when I pray, God works!` We aren’t built to function without continual contact with God’s power; that would be like disconnecting an electrical device from the mains. So if we want to be fruitful, we always need to be maximizing our contact with God and His power…
First, then, we need to grasp, deep down in our spirits, that it makes a huge difference whether we pray! Read James 4:2: `You do not have, because you do not ask God!` (Look also at the lesson of Exodus 17:8-13.) This is not because God is demanding, but because He cares for us and wants us to learn that this is how the world works. He wants us to grasp that He didn’t make us for independence, but for loving partnership with Him. (Total connection to the mains!) That’s what’s best for us by far; that’s how God will share all that He lovingly wants to give us as His partners, and maximize what we can achieve together.…
And when we grasp how prayer connects us and our situations directly with the Lord of the Universe, we can’t help saying: Thankyou Father for this incredible privilege; thankyou for this channel of prayer You have put in my hands!
COPYING JESUS IN PRAYER
Surely Jesus didn’t need to pray? He was God, He could do miracles… Yet the gospels show us repeatedly how prayer was an absolute priority for Jesus; sometimes early in the morning, sometimes all night. Read Mark 1:35 where we’re carefully told of Jesus going off alone to pray. Read Luke 5:16: ‘Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.’ If even Jesus, God the Son, needed to withdraw and ensure time alone with His Father in prayer, then how much more do we need to make that time with God a real priority, just like He did?
Jesus prayed when things were going badly, but equally when they were going well. Whenever, he prayed. And He encouraged His disciples to be persistent in prayer as He was: to ‘always pray and not give up’ (Luke 18:1). Prayer has a power we cannot do without. Read Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:19: `Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven!`
HOW THEN SHALL WE PRAY?
Our Muslim friends have very specific instructions about prayer: at 5 times a day, wash first, use specific words and postures. But biblical prayer isn’t like that: it’s a relationship. (What are the rules for how you must talk to your spouse or a close friend? Are there rules for what you must say when you come in from work?)
Biblical prayer is spending time, in varied, natural ways, with our awesome God. Look through the Psalms: prayer includes worship, love, praise, honesty, confession, even exasperation and cries of discouragement, guilt, fun, joy and lots more. Prayer is communication with God, living with God. All our thoughts, feelings and fears can move from an inner talk with ourselves into a fruitful dialogue with God. The Psalms (what Bono calls the Bible’s blues!) give us example after example of this – the whole range of human emotions, all shared with God in prayer.
The foundation to it all is time alone with God. Read Matthew 6:6: `When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you!` That reward is a serious promise – think about it! But also – whyever do we miss the daily chance to spend time with this amazing, colossal, loving God our Father, the very Maker of the universe Himself?
Then there’s also power in praying in groups. Again, read Matthew 18:19-20: `If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them!` (So let’s aim to be the person who makes prayer actually happen, briefly at least, when two or three of us believers are together – whether it’s a committee, an outreach, or a dinner party!)
But that’s quite a promise. And Jesus speaks this way many times: `You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it` (John 14:14). `If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer` (Matt 21:22). `If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you` (John 15:7). (We’ll think more next week about why there are sometimes exceptions; but clearly this is what’s normal!) `The Father will give you whatever you ask in My name` (John 15:16)…
So can there be any thing more important in life than fostering a lifelong hunger to grow in prayer? `Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness`, said Jesus,`for they will be filled!` (Matt 5:6). (Notice the implication: Not, blessed are those who are already brilliant at prayer, but rather, Blessed are those who are hungry to grow in prayer, and hence do something about it.) Practise it! Ask other people what helps them pray. Read books about prayer. And next week we’ll list some possible ways to enhance our prayer lives….
ABSORB TIME: What then does this mean for me, what is God prompting me to do through all this? Let’s pray confidently (for each other?): Lord, THANKYOU for prayer! Lord, amazingly You want our company and our partnership, please help us to genuinely grow in prayer!
