David in
Psalm 65:2 addresses God as, "O You who hear prayer", yet I would suspect that
prayer is one aspect in the lives of many Christians with which they feel
frustrated. When we understand the power
of prayer we will not neglect it. It is my hope in this lesson and the lessons
to follow that we can improve our attitude toward prayer. Prayer is one of the richest spiritual
blessings that we have in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), for God does not acknowledge
the prayers of the disobedient (1 Peter 3:12; Jeremiah 11:14; Psalm 66:18 "If I
regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear". The word regard here
means to aim at, design, or have in one's sight. It is not as if God has never
given us any incentive or encouragement to pray. The Bible is filled with Scriptures exhorting
us to approach God in prayer (Luke 18:1; Hebrews 4:14-16 "Let us draw near with
confidence"; 13:15; James 1:5 "if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,
who gives to all men generously and without reproach". The expression without
reproach here means, "who gives with open hand" (Wey). It is in contrast to heaping insults upon,
and the kind of displeasure or regret that so often accompanies the giving of a
gift among mankind. God does not make us
feel small for asking for wisdom (1 Peter 5:7).
Why one may sometimes avoid prayer
- Prayer often involves entering
the pain:
I believe
that many of us avoid praying because we do not want to think about the
uncomfortable, uncertain, or unpleasant realities of life. It is often announced that someone has a
disease, another is facing surgery, or battling the problems of old age, and
then there's the spiritual problems we hear about, people in danger of
withdrawal, those who are withdrawn, the errors facing the Church, problems
between brethren, splits and divisions in other places, and so on. In the Old
Testament, prayer is often described as "crying" to God (2 Chronicles 32:20;
Psalm 5:2-3; 17:1; 34:17; 39:12 "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry;
Do not be silent at my tears"). It is
difficult to pray if one has adopted the typical attitude of society, "I don't
want to get in involved, don't tell me about your problems, I have too many of
my own, please don't spoil my day with bad news, or avoid it and it will go
away". Prayer will never be what we
need it to be, if we are trying to pray and yet at the same time stay
emotionally uninvolved. Prayer is the desire
of the heart, expressed to God (Romans 10:1 "Brethren my heart's desire and
my prayer to God for them is for their salvation". "The longing of my heart" (Mon). On this point I am reminded of the prayers of
Hannah, the mother of Samuel. 1 Samuel
1:15 "But I poured out my soul before the Lord". Maybe this is why we do not find people like
Hannah, Daniel, or others, who went through tremendous trials, having emotional
or mental problems. Why did not they
develop a neurotic disorder? How did
they remain productive and relatively happy?
(Daniel 6:10 "praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been
doing previously"). Just maybe it is
because when these people prayed, they prayed the desires of their heart, they
let it all out, they told God all about their problems, worries, and frustrations.
They talked to God as they would talk to a trusted friend. God was their counselor, God was their
advocate and they knew that God would listen to everything they said. Psalm 86:4 "For to thee, O Lord, I lift up my
soul"; 143:6 "I stretch out my hands to Thee; My soul longs for Thee, as a
parched land"; 62:8 "Pour out your heart before Him"; 142:2 "I pour out my
complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him". And God still wants the same emptying of the
heart before Him (1 Peter 5:7; Philippians 4:6).
Look beneath
surface needs and you will find plenty! We are to pray for wisdom (James 1:5),
something we all desperately need, because we all are presently or will soon
encounter situations in which wisdom is essential, such as raising children, making
a marriage work, teaching the lost, preserving unity in the congregation,
giving guidance to others, handling false doctrine, dealing with others at
work, making career decisions, and so on.
God also exhorts us to pray for mercy and grace in time of need (Hebrews
4:16). How often do we need mercy? How often do we make mistakes in dealing with
our mates? Did we say something that we
now wish we could take back? Was a wall
constructed during an argument, that we wish could be removed? Did we blow it? Handling a problem with a child? Did we make a mistake in discipline? Did we lose our cool? And then, what about all those people that
we need to be praying for? (1 Timothy 2:1-2 "First of all, then, I urge that
entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all
men, for kings and all who are in authority"; Colossians 4:3 "Praying at
the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the
word"). This list of people for which to
pray is endless: elders, deacons,
preachers, teachers, the aged, young couples, newlyweds, parents, the faithful
and unfaithful, teenagers, new converts, those on the edge of deciding whether
to serve God or not, the president, our congressman, the governor, the mayor,
supreme court justices, heads of corporations, executives in Hollywood, the
anchor on the evening news, rulers of other countries, and so on. Long ago, speaking through Jeremiah, God
said, "Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray
to the Lord on its behalf" (Jeremiah 29:7).
When is the last time we prayed for the people of Beaverton or
Portland? And what about all the lost
people?
Practical
Application:
This is one
reason why it is helpful to make a prayer list that would include people and
events that one needs to be praying for this week.
- One may be unconvinced of the
efficacy of the prayer:
Often such doubts
are expressed by someone who had prayed to God more frequently and fervently in
the past, but God did not answer their prayer in the manner that they
expected. Yet God does answer prayer,
that is a clear teaching of Scripture
(Psalm 145:18-19; Deut. 4:7; Psalm 46:1 "A very present help in trouble";
28:6; 6:9; 66:19 "Certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my
prayer"; Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall
find; knock, and it shall be opened to you (7:11). "How much more shall your Father who is in
heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!") This question should make us ask ourselves a
very serious question, "Are we a fair weather friend to God?" Do we turn our backs on Him when He does not
answer a prayer in the manner or time frame in which we requested? If this is the case then there may have been
something wrong with our motives (James 4:2-3).
It simply may have been that our request did not fit with what was
reality (1 John 5:14). God also said
"no" to prayers offered by His apostles (2 Corinthians 12:7-8). To say that God
did not come through for us is shallow.
God had Jesus die for on the cross for us (Romans 8:32), and God was
able to bring us into contact with the gospel message. God also gave us time to obey that message. I wonder how many times God has protected us
from evil, of which we are completely unaware.
Practical
Application:
We will not
fall into the trap of thinking that prayer is a pointless exercise if we keep a
journal of answered prayers, not only answered prayers in our own lives, but
the prayers that we see being answered in the lives of others as well.
In praying,
as with anything, the right perspective is crucial. I believe that our praying can be improved
and thus more effective and meaningful, when we grasp to whom we are
praying. When is the last time any of us
stopped and really pondered the nature and character of God? It is easy to be going through the motions
of following God's instructions, without really comprehending who is behind the
rules.
