Prayer Thoughts
I intend to use the next few articles to focus on a topic that, based on my personal experience, is lacking in many Christian’s lives. The topic is prayer. As a minister I have regularly heard Christians express their failure to maintain a desired prayer life. They know it is needed. They have experienced the positive effect prayer has had on their lives, but for some reason a regular practice escapes them.
Since I believe this is so common, I will spend a few weeks thinking about our prayer lives and invite you to join me. The starting point is to honestly assess where you stand in your personal prayer life. If you were to rate yourself on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, how would you rate yourself? I want you to consider this rating in relation to things such as frequency and purpose. We are told to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5.17). It is easy to immediately think about what this verse doesn’t mean. However, by doing that we run the risk of missing an important principle that it does imply. Christians need to people who regularly pray to their Father. Also, have you ever considered and studied the purpose of prayer? Is it only a time of petition? Is it only a time of praise? Is it some of both and more things as well? After considering these things, would you change your previous rating?
I want us to begin our prayer thoughts with what I believe is the most intense prayer ever recorded. I encourage you to read about it in Luke 22.39-44. This is Luke’s account of Jesus’ prayer immediately before His betrayal and eventual execution. There is certainly room for debate on the specifics of this prayer. However, despite this, there is one very powerful lesson that must be embraced as we address our Heavenly Father in prayer. It is expressed in Jesus’ phrase, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22.42).
Prayer is not a time for us to persuade God to see things from our perspective. The righteous man, Job, made this mistake in a slightly different context. Job 23.1-7 illustrates Job’s desire to be heard so that he would be vindicated from his predicament. In various ways in the book Job implies that if God would just listen to him, then He would be persuaded to see things from Job’s perspective. I am regularly reminded of this principle when my elementary age daughters approach me for help and have already developed the best possible solution for me to act upon. The conversation often ends with something like, “I will help you, but how about we try it this way instead.” Our understanding is so limited compared to God’s. Maybe we should try approaching God as a loving Father willing to help who has solutions far greater than our thoughts.
Jesus, in the garden, prayed in such a way that ensured His mindset molded to that of the Father’s. We can do the same. As we approach our Father correctly, we will mediate on HIS love, purpose, will, and priorities for our lives. Can we walk away from that and, like Jesus, say, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done?” Or, is it more common to persuade God why He needs to act in areas of my interest in order to serve me? One of these models of prayer will foster a desire for more time with the Father. The other will yield a practice that only turns to God when one needs Him to act. One method is desirable, the other is selfish. Prior to anything else, let us seek God with the desire to mold our minds to His desires.