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March 19, 2004
Prayer
Filed under: Hot Topic
The dictionary defines prayer as:
1. A reverent petition made to God, a god, or another object of worship. The act of making a reverent petition to God, a god, or another object of worship.
2. An act of communion with God, a god, or another object of worship, such as in devotion, confession, praise, or thanksgiving: One evening a week, the family would join together in prayer.
3. A specially worded form used to address God, a god, or another object of worship.
Wayne Grudem in his book "Systematic Theology" defines prayer as "personal communication with God." Grudem goes on to say why prayer is not asking God for things, rather having the faith for God to do/provide what it is you are talking to Him about. The Creator/Creature relationship functions best in that format - the creature relying on the creator.
The Psalms are full of David pleading "Hear my prayer..."
Psalm 39:12
"Hear my prayer, O LORD , listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were."
Psalm 54:2
"Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth."
Psalm 86:6
"Hear my prayer, O LORD ; listen to my cry for mercy."
Is prayer more for our benefit or for God's? I suggest both. Grudem suggests three reasons God wants us to pray. 1) Dependence; 2) Deeper fellowship; 3) Involved in activities that are eternally important.
Jesus is in example of what it means to pray as He prays to God all throughout the Gospels.
Matthew 19:13
"Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them..."
Mark 1:35
"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."
John 17:1
"After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed"
Luke 5:16
"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."
Luke 6:12
"One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God."
Matthew 26:36
"Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."
Prayer seems to be a very "spiritual" thing by definition. Spiritual in terms of its intimacy with the person to whom you are praying. Just as talking to someone about matters of the heart or requesting petitions of grace with a parent, so too prayer is a holy thing to do. It is vulnerable. It is honesty and truth seeking trust and triumph.
Throughout history, many people have given their comments on prayer:
"Work as if you were to live a hundred years, pray as if you were to die tomorrow." - Benjamin Franklin
"Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused." - Spurgeon
"Worship and intercession must go together, the one is impossible without the other. Intercession means that we rouse ourselves up to get the mind of Christ about the one for whom we pray." - Oswald Chambers
"Work, work, from morning until late at night. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer." - Martin Luther
"Prayer is not only asking, but an attitude of mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural." - Oswald Chambers
"Pursuing prayer is prayer on a mission. It is diligent, fervent, constant, persevering, determined, and convinced." - David Bryant
"The Christian needs to be alone during a definite period of each day for meditation on scripture...and for prayer...even during times of spiritual dryness and apathy. It matters little what form of prayer we adopt...or how many words we use. What matters is the faith which lays hold on God, knowing that He knows our needs before we even ask Him. That is what gives Christian prayer its boundless confidence and its joyous certainty. We simply make petitions and requests to One who has the heart of a Father. Of course, God's will must be the primary object of our prayers... and we must recognize prayer as an instrument of God's will. Therefore, we pray that God's will may be done throughout the world...and in intercessory prayer we bring people... from around the world...into the presence of God. Every intercession potentially draws the one for whom it is intended into a life-changing relationship with Christ. And in intercession I move into the other man's place. I inter his life...his guilt and distress. I am afflicted by his sins and his infirmity. If...as we pray...we recognize our own responsibility for the world's guilt and our own guilt in the death of Christ...then we can act upon and affect the lives of men and women throughout the world." - Dietrich Bonhofer
Grudem outlines some key ponder points to prayer:
1. Prayer changes the way God acts.
2. Effective prayer is made possible by our mediator, Jesus Christ.
3. Praying "in Jesus' name."
4. Praying to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit.
5. Role of Holy Spirit in prayer.
6. Praying according to God's will.
7. Praying with faith.
8. Obedience.
9. Confession of sins.
10. Forgiving others.
11. Humility
12. Praying earnestly.
13. Waiting for the Lord.
14. Praying in private.
15. Praying with others.
16. Unanswered prayers.
In my own life, I want to pray more - not for the sake of being spiritual, but to connect with a Savior, friend and father who wants to connect with me. In my generation's cry for community, I want my relationship with God - through prayer - to be my example real connection.
There is a place where thou canst touch the eyes
Of blinded men to instant, perfect sight;
There is a place where thou canst say, "Arise"
To dying captives, bound in chains of night;
There is a place where thou canst reach the store
Of hoarded gold and free it for the Lord;
There is a place--upon some distant shore--
Where thou canst send the worker and the Word.
Where is that secret place--dost thou ask, "Where?"
O soul, it is the secret place of prayer!
- Alfred Lord Tennyson
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