A Praying Life
In the last four years, I have had the great privilege of leading the prayer ministry at The Mount. It has been such a blessing to work with the 70 folks with a heart for prayer who are willing to spend their time seeking out God’s purposes for the various ministries, functions, and people of our church. I never considered myself a great “prayer warrior” (and still don’t) and wondered why I was even a candidate for this job. I’m glad I accepted it. As with many things in life, God seems to place us in areas where we are weak to teach us that He is all-sufficient. Through leading the prayer ministry, my own prayer life has benefitted immensely from studying the topic, seeing others’ emphasis on prayer, and of course through praying.
Some people ask, “Why do we need to pray at all? Since God is sovereign, all-knowing, and all-powerful, doesn’t He already know everything that can be known?” Can you imagine God, after hearing one of our prayers, saying “Thanks for letting me know that. I hadn’t considered that?” I’m sure all of us have struggled with that issue at some point. So, I’d like to share three reasons why we should pray.
Through prayer, we share with Jesus the things that really matter to us in life. John 15:12-15 declares us as friends to God. Verse 15 reads, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” So prayer is not simply going to God for what he can give us, but also for the pleasure of his company, as you would your earthly best friend. Jesus now shares with us His intimate relationship with the Father! Prayer, along with putting God first, loving our fellow believers and obeying Jesus, are all ways in which we show our love for God.
Our prayer puts us, as humans, in the proper relationship with God. Coming to God in prayer is an acknowledgement that God is God, and we are not. In the book, Prayer: Does it Make any Difference?, Philip Yancey states “prayer is a declaration of our dependence on God.” As parents, we strive to see our children attain what we call “independence.” We want them to be self-sustaining, contributing to society and their family, have a strong moral character, and so forth. But we, nor our children, can ever be independent of God. He sustains our life and holds our future in His hands. Through prayer we come before Him in humility declaring our dependence on Him.
Our prayer is an act of obedience because we are commanded to do so! 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” When God tells us to do something, we must realize it is not meaningless. The command of ceaseless prayer brings His blessing, intimacy, and plants within us joyful and content hearts. This is not a command of somber duty but one accompanied by rejoicing.
Picture yourself in the place of one of Jesus’ 12 disciples. You’ve seen Him teach authoritatively, heal the sick, restore sight to the blind, miraculously feed 5000+, been transfigured, calmed the sea, even raise the dead. If you were to ask Jesus to teach you how to do one thing, what would you ask? I think I would have said, “Teach me how to heal the sick.” Then I would head to the hospital! But the one thing the disciples asked Jesus to teach them was to pray. “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1). Undoubtedly, they had seen the way Jesus often approached His Father in prayer, and it was much different than what they had seen in the synagogue before. Jesus’ prayers were personal, a conversation between Himself and the Father. This led to Jesus teaching The Lord’s Prayer as an outline to follow (Luke 11:2-4).
We may feel uncomfortable praying for many reasons: don’t know what to say, don’t have the right words, embarrassed in public, mind wanders, and so forth. Despite feeling uncomfortable praying, I find encouragement to take these prayers to God because my favorite prayer in the Bible is from Luke 18:13, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Only seven words, but it was highly commended by Jesus for the tax collector’s recognition of his own sinfulness and humble dependence on God, as opposed to the Pharisee who tried to impress God with his own works. Prayers don’t need to be long but do need to be heartfelt and revealing our dependence on God.
I’m encouraged to regularly seek the Lord in prayer from the lyrics of Matthew West’s “Don’t Stop Praying.” Here are some of the lyrics: “Don't stop praying, Don't stop calling on Jesus' name, Keep on pounding on Heaven's door, And let your knees wear out the floor, Don't stop believing, 'Cause mountains move with just a little faith, And your Father's heard every single word you're saying, So, don't stop praying.”
“My House Shall Be Called a House of Prayer”
In Mark 11:17, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 that God desires His house be called “A house of prayer.” All of us, whether as a single, as families, or as a congregation, need to recognize this as a goal. Teach on prayer, read a devotional on prayer, sing a song such as “Be Thou My Vision,” or “Great are You Lord,” but most importantly, actually spend time in prayer! So let us all together, in faithfulness, humility, and joy, go before our Father and Don’t Stop Praying!
Written by: Robert Johnson