Prayer: What It Is, What It Isn’t

What really is prayer?

 

Since the International Convention this past June, there’s been a constant musing in my heart:  what really is prayer?  More and more we are hearing the pleas of leaders, of missionaries, of unsaved as well as saved people, of people in some sort of crisis:  “Please, pray!”  In other words, “Ask God, your God, to help us in this situation, in these circumstances.

Are we equipped to respond effectively to their pleas for prayer? How can we be ready? How does an Olympiad arrive at performing effectively in the Olympics so as to win a much-desired medal?  PRACTICE.  Rooted, grounded, in the skills of their sports, so that no matter how tough the competition, they will not faint nor lose heart nor give up.

 

” … Always pray … “

 

Prayer is first abiding in living communion with the Lord. Share on X

 

Jesus told His disciples a parable in Luke 18 to demonstrate the need ” to always pray and not to faint, lose heart or give up” (verse 1).  Always?  If prayer meant primarily to ask, to petition, so as to receive something from God, this would mean we’d be petitioning Him every waking moment! (Who would become more weary, the Lord or us?!)  Prayer is not first approaching the Lord with  petition, supplication, or intercession.  It is first abiding in living communion with Him, and it begins with “realizing His continual Presence” (Eccles.8:12),  enjoying sweet, satisfying communion with Him.” (Psalm 25:14)

 

“a living communion with Me, My Words in you”

 

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In John 15:7 the Lord Jesus addressed His disciples regarding His order in the practice of prayer:  “If you maintain a living communion with Me and My words are at home in you, I command you to ask, at once, something for yourselves, whatever  your heart desires, and it will become yours.” (Kenneth Wuest translation)  This verse could be seen as a template for human relationships, too:  We get to know people  by being with them, listening to what they have to say, learning how they think.  Then, we trust them enough to ask them for help in time of need.  Franklin Graham defines prayer as “talking to God anywhere, any time, in anyway”, contrasting it with “petition” (to ask) and “intercession (to petition for someone else).  Fanny Crosby, the famous blind hymn writer, wrote in her hymn “Draw Me Nearer” (third stanza and chorus):

“O the pure delight of a single hour that before Your Throne  I spend,         When I kneel in prayer, and with You, my God,                                               I commune as friend with Friend!”                                                                                                          Chorus:  “Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to Your Cross where You have died;  Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to Your precious bleeding side.”

 

“Prayer nourishes the Life of God in us.”

 

God's purpose in prayer is not first that we get something from Him but rather, to teach us and train us to rely on Him. Share on X

 

Oswald Chambers writes in one of his devotionals that God’s purpose in prayer is not first and foremost that we get something from Him but rather, to teach us and train us to rely on Him.  In another writing, from MyUtmost for His Highest, he shares great insight into what is prayer and what it isn’t (from August 28th):  “Prayer is the way the Life of God [in us] is nourished.  Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament.  We look upon prayer as a means of getting thing for ourselves;  the Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.”  Mr.Chambers concludes the writing with this declaration:  “Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man’s disposition.”

 

Focus on the Lord, Faith in the Lord

 

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In other words, as I heard a pastor say recently, in praying my  focus is on the Lord, not on what I want from Him;  and my faith is in Him, and in Who He is , not in my ability or “effectiveness” in asking.  (That is why it is so wrong to tell someone that they aren’t receiving from God what they’re asking for because their faith is weak or that they don’t have enough of it!)  My faith doesn’t produce the results;  the One in Whom I am trusting does.  But how can I trust Him with my specific petitions, supplicants and intercessions if I don’t first know what He’s like – e.g., His Nature, His Character, His ways of thinking. His unwavering interest in me?  I must arrive at trusting Him, like a child would his father who he knows loves him and is trustworthy.  This trust comes about by spending a lot of time with his dad, and for us with the Lord.

 

Be a “child-like child”!

 

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I think of a little boy who has spent much time with such a father as ours, as described above.  Once that child is convinced of his father’s love and dependability, he dares to ask his Dad for help, for things needed, and even for things simply desired. Chambers exclaimed in the aforementioned devotional entry:  “What a splendid audacity to ask the child-like child has!”  I think Ruth Bell Graham, wife of Dr.Billy Graham, was of like sentiment, as revealed in one of her poems, “A Listening Lord”:   “Lord, when my soul is weary and my heart is tired and sore,                      And I have that fainting feeling that I can’t take any more;  Then let me know the freshening found in simple, child-like prayer,  When the kneeling soul knows surely that a listening Lord is there.”

 

“Pray the Word”

 

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We have been hearing from men of God all over the world these past months, more than ever,  about “the urgency of the times” in which we live; about the top priority to “hear counsel, receive instruction, and accept correction, that you might be wise in the time to come.” (Proverbs 19:20)  Similarly, the psalmist in Psalm 94:12 and 13, declared great benefit in taking in the Word of God: “Blessed … the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord, from out of Your Word, that You may give him power to keep himself calm in the day of adversity, until the [inevitable] pit of corruption is dug for the wicked.”

An additional advantage to “hiding the Word of God richly in our hearts” is that we, by the Holy Spirit, can “pray the Word” – i.e., pray with an open Bible and “remind” the Lord what He has said, what He has promised.  For example, in many verses in Psalm 119 we read Ezra asking the Lord that it be unto him “according to Your Word”.  This practice not only fosters meaningful communion with Him but also, I believe, delights the Lord Himself.  Think of the joy of a parent or teacher when a child reminds them of something they taught him previously.  The child was listening, and understood, and remembered!  How much more joy the Lord has when we remember the Word that He has taught us and trust Him enough to pray according to it!  Furthermore, we come to know His revealed Will through His Word, which is a vital factor in prayer.

 

“If we ask anything according to His Will … “

 

””If Share on X the requests of Him.”” username=””]

 

In I John 5:14,15, we find an astounding promise regarding prayer:  “And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of audacity) which we have in Him:  [we are sure] that if we ask anything … according to His Will  (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.  And since we know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know … that we have [granted us as our present possession] the requests of Him.”  (Amplified Translation, modified)  As to those things that the Word of God doesn’t set forth to us as His revealed Will (e.g., whom to marry, which job to take) we learn to trust Him because we have been in constant, living communion with Him, and we are confident – and desirous – that His Will, not ours, be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.

 

” … Let Me see your face, let Me hear your voice …  “

 

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I think the theme of this post is beautifully exemplified and  clarified in Song of Solomon 2:14,15a, where first the Beloved Shepherd addresses the Shulammite maid;  then she responds with a desire, but it’s after first hearing from Him. He calls her to come away with Him and she goes with Him, “[ … and when we were climbing the rocky steps up the hillside, my Beloved Shepherd said to me], O My dove, [while you are here] in the seclusion of the clefts in the solid rock, in the sheltered and secret place of the cliff, let Me see your face, let Me hear your voice;  for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.  [My heart was touched and I fervently sang to Him my desire] … ”  First she simply is with Him, following Him, communing with Him;  and He beautifully, lovingly expresses His delight with her attention.  She looks to Him then speaks to Him,  expressing her petitions.

Whether it be praise, worship, or petitions, the Lord loves to hear from a heart that has been in fellowship with Him.  In these last days, as we wait for Him to come for us, His cherished bride, let us receive Grace to be in living communion with Him as a way of life – which paves the way to a life of “praying without ceasing”.  Let Him see our faces then hear our voices, offering Him first our praise and thanksgiving, and then our petitions – all according to His Word which has revealed to us Who He is, what He’s like, and how to pray.

And remember:  be a “child-like child”, who loves to take hold of the Lord’s Hand and simply walk with Him.  We will come to see Him as He is and know His Heart and be secure in His Love for us …. then we will have audacity in asking!