QUICK QUESTION: If the staff strength of an organisation was 35 people in all and the Chairman or Managing Director had just announced that there were 35 vacancies to be filled – What would you have to pray about?
A few days back - on the 22nd, I sat with a friend of mine; a very intelligent friend of mine simply known as DD, for hours on end broaching topic upon topic, issue after issue. Love, sex, relationship, religion, spirituality, prayer.. . The list is endless.
It will amaze you how incredibly different our thought patterns are – One man hears/reads information say, the Word of God and is satisfied with what he’s learnt; he would seldom or never challenge/question anything. The next man, however, is on a ‘full throttle search’; wanting to know more, eager to strengthen his conviction, his faith (or sometimes vice versa) by uncovering the mystery behind everything - the very essence of Christianity, God’s Word, Religion and God.
DD and I fall in the second and first categories respectively.
I search Gods Word, I ask questions, find answers and to those that try to overwhelm me, I hit the brakes and consider my not-knowing as one of the attributes of God. This, to me is what makes God, God – He alone knows everything, He alone was there at the beginning and He alone knows the end. I go ahead and put a ‘full-stop’ right after!
My darling friend on the other hand, is similar to a man in the desert that looks for flowing water or a fresh spring. He examines EVERYTHING, though carefully. He pushes things to their very limit. I promise you that witnessing this is a wonderful experience – watching him soliloquise, communicate his thoughts, buttress found facts, interpret things in a way you have scarcely or never even dared.
And to you, dear reader, who wonders if going ahead reading this post is healthy to your mind, let me put this to you. The only reason why you get a guarantee or a trial period on items you purchase is because the manufacturers are sure of the products they distribute. How much more, God and His Word! Has any book been more scrutinised than the Bible? Is any more popular?
1 THESS 5:21 says “but test everything (that is said). Hold on to what is good.” We are encouraged to test ALL things and then after we have done this, to go ahead and hold fast to what we have found true. Furthermore, God has given us a “.. . Mouth and a WISDOM.. .” that we may find Him/His Word, study it and by ourselves, make the decision to follow Him. Do you think that He could not have made us devoid of will and the world would be anything short of perfect?
*ok, ok.. . Making a conscious effort not to deviate*
It is as a result of our differences, our mind-rub, that this post was birthed.
Amidst the myriad of questions he threw at me or better still, threw open were loads on PRAYER. What prayer is, why it is done, how it is done, and why there is so much importance attached to it.
I know that a lot of Christians have an idea or a basic understanding of all these but please allow me to pick our minds a little.
I think the key thing is to understand that every single act recommended to be performed by a Christian (in fact, in all religions) is rooted in the Word (in their religion-manual); the benefits and the consequences alike. Whatever question we can conceive has already been answered and the only reason why it may seem like some tools do not work for us is simply because we lack the necessary knowledge concerning it.
Lets start at the beginning – shall we??.
PRAYER is a reverent petition made to God, a god or another object of worship (while a petition is a solemn supplication or request to a superior authority, an entreating).
As much as I consider this definition wrong or preferably, incomplete, this is what a lot of people think prayer to be – a time to ask innumerable requests of a force/spirit known to be able to do all things. Yes, God’s Word says in JAMES 5:13 “Is anyone in trouble? He should pray.”
It also says in part b “Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise”.
I remember when I was much younger, the only time I prayed (and fervently too) was when I was in dire need of Gods help. I have since learnt that prayer is not principally for us to selfishly ask for things. This skewed conception further paves way to the assumption that it is uni-directional. This approach is one of the factors that put a limitation on the potency of prayer. It is bi-directional – with us also listening to what He has to say. It is honouring Him, glorifying Him, spending time with Him. Our relationship with God is pretty much the same as all others – it cannot function as a one way street. He can speak through the Bible, through others, through circumstances but especially through His spirit who can put specific words and thoughts in our minds and even communicate via audible words! Hence a more suitable definition; PRAYER is communicating with God through written or spoken words, thoughts, meditation or song. “.. . And in the night, His song shall be with me. A prayer to the God of my life.” PSALM 42:8, JAMES 5:13
When we pray, we acknowledge first that God is and then, that His Working power is available and supreme - 2 CHRO 7:14. God desires us to relate with Him – To commune.
Strange as it may seem, I have had some of my most fulfilling moments in the strangest places and the oddest of times – behind the wheel, while having a bath, talking a walk, while waiting for service to commence or business hours to start as a result of getting to Church or the Office too early. This is one of the best things about prayer – that the position you take or the place it is rendered has no influence on its efficacy. It is not by the drama either; shouting at the top of your lungs or rolling on the floor! MATT 6:5-6 confirms this “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.. . (6)But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.. .”
There are basically 5 criteria for prayer:
- WHO’S PRAYING??
As much as the first instinct of majority of us is to pray, do we qualify to pray or let me rephrase that; do we have a conviction that our prayers will be answered afterwards? Do we have a relationship with God - a healthy one?
PROVERBS 15:8 “.. . but the prayer of the upright pleases Him.”
- WHAT IS OUR APPROACH TO PRAYER??
Sometimes we come to God in prayer unaware of the brick wall that we have built between Him and us.
Let’s say Mrs B prays every morning. On Monday morning, she prayed and by midday, her hearts desires were granted. Same happens on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then on Thursday, after her regular morning prayers, she gets to the Office and has a misunderstanding with a colleague. She did not scream or yell insults or all the normal stuff associated with misunderstandings. However, she got angry and decided to avoid the colleague henceforth. She returns home. On Friday morning, she says her prayers but as is the norm, there are no results. On Saturday, she notices the exact same thing.
The problem is simple – anger, malice. She had allowed them come between her and God.
The remedy – even easier! FORGIVE!! MATT 6:14, COL 3:13, EPH 4:32.
MARK 11:25 “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him.. .”
Forgiveness is key!
- WHAT IS THE MOTIVE BEHIND THE PRAYER??
It is important to ask according to the will of our Father. God considers the reason why we ask.
JAMES 4:1 “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? (2) You want something but you do not get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. (3) When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” Read also ROMANS 8:27
- WHAT KIND OF PRAYER IS IT??
It is important that the prayer said is effective and fervent.
EFFECTIVE in the sense that it should be striking. It should cause a strong impression.
PHILL 4:6 “.. .But in everything, by prayer and petition.. . present your requests before God.”
FERVENT here, means that it should be ‘extremely hot’, ardent, passionate. It should show great zeal or emotion. It should be marked with by great intensity of spirit.
1 THESS 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.” This is an instruction to let our spirits constantly be in sync with Gods by a continuous communication with Him. Pray about everything! I pray about things as inconsequential as an acne-breakout. I noticed that if you can pray when the general consensus is that you shouldn’t, then it will come naturally when the situation demands that you cannot stop to think for a second! It will become instinctive – a way of life. ACTS 6:4 “.. .We can give our attention to prayer.. .”
MATT 26:41 says “watch and pray.. .” It simply means ‘observe carefully and discuss with God’. There are some of us who think that after we have done something, completed it, looked at it and thought of it as devoid of mistakes and have received the same response towards that thing from friends around us; that we consider wise, then there’s no need for God!
Even if/when our decisions seem perfect, there is STILL need for an endorsement from God.
LUKE 22:44 “Rise and pray so that you do not fall into temptation.”
The possibilities of falling into temptation occur as regularly as we make decisions – to get up and go to work or not to (lie about being ill and stay home), to loose your cool about an issue or not to (be upset/angry), insult that reckless driver beside you or not to, to keep malice or not to, disregard extra change you have been handed after a purchase or not to (to steal).. . the list is endless! With every step we take in the journey of life, we are faced with good and evil – to choose right over wrong. From the ‘tiniest’ to the ‘largest’, they are all the same! To want to do them is to be tempted and to do them is to have fallen into temptation, to sin. This is all part of everyday life and we must live. For this single reason, we must pray!
Is it safe to say that we can translate that scripture in lay term to this, “Rise and pray because you are alive?”
- HOW DO WE PRAY??
We need the help of the Holy Spirit when we’re praying to guide us. Sometimes we want to pray and do not know how to go about it. This is where ‘praying in the Spirit’ comes in. It is the only way we cannot ask amiss - its keeps us in alignment.
ROMANS 8:26-27 “.. .And in the same vein – by our faith – the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how to pray as we should; but the Holy Spirit prays for us such that it cannot be expressed in words.”
The manual says “.. .Pray in understanding and pray in the Spirit.. .”
If prayer isn’t important, why does the Bible go on and on about it being done?
PRAYER is like using a mobile phone, the strength of the network determines the strength of the connection – How much you can get back from the person at the other end of the line.
It is a release. Little wonder why the more you do it, the happier you are – there’s a lightness, a peace that cannot be explained because there has been a transference of burdens; worries, fears and hurting to God.
It is a blank cheque with no limitations on the account to which the cheque-book is attached.
It is surrender. Lying prostrate, a lifting up of hands, a kneeling position – an acknowledgement that you can do nothing of your own accord.
It is a lifeline.
It is an exchange between the Source and the ‘receiver’. A ‘rubbing of minds’, a fellowship.
It is the dance in the feet of the dumb mute and the song of thanksgiving – DD, this one’s for you.
It is like beauty and love, the experience varies with the individual.
In the popular phrase from High School days, ‘I hope I have been able to convince you and not confuse you’ – There's leverage from praying that can be got from no other means. If it’s not PRAYER, it has got to be something as powerful!
