What does it mean to believe in prayer?
NAU Psalm 32:6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
Prayer is the most difficult of spiritual exercises, disciplines, practices, and experiences. Most of us learned to pray as children. Some of us uttered our first prayer when someone asked us to repeat the “sinners prayer” to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. We all came to pray in some unique way.
At times there are those of us that have seen what appeared to be amazing if not miraculous answers to our prayers while others of us are not sure that our prayers have changed any events from the course they would have taken even if we had not prayed. Those who feel they have a “good batting average” in their prayer life find it easy to spend time asking God to change the course of events and those who feel that their prayers “strike out” find it more difficult to spend time in asking God to change circumstances. It is easier to do something when it seems to “work”.
When we pray consistently for a person we love to get better and then they get worst and die, it makes some part of our soul say; “Why did I pray?”. When we see the time we spend in prayer diminish and the passion we have to pray decline behind this spiritual struggle is a lack of faith that prayer matters or makes anything better. We become depressed concerning prayer and direct more energy to “working” because we can see concrete results from that.
When I stood at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and saw thousands of people praying and remembered that Jesus wanted his faith community to be a house of prayer, I prayed for a better understanding of prayer. As I reflect upon prayer and the book of prayers called the “Psalms” it is clear that the most important aspect of prayer is that we are talking to God. Prayer is just communication. Prayer is talking to God. It is being in God’s presence and being open to His direction.
Prayer is time set apart in which we seek to experience union and communion with the Eternal lover of our souls. We enter into the presence of God through the gospel. We come boldly before the throne not based on our righteousness. We come through Jesus alone. We are accepted in Jesus alone. Since we are talking to the one infinite in power we do ask for His help. He is the source of all our strength, wisdom and ability. He can create out of nothing. So He is not offended by us depending and requesting. But prayer is a lot more than asking.
The Bible tells us that a life with prayer will be filled with days of health, days of sickness, days of success, days of failure, days of insight, days of darkness, days of strong faith, days of strong doubt, days of blessing, days of persecution, days of plenty, days of need. We get all of this by reading the inspired prayer book of the Bible called the Psalms. It also becomes clear when we look at the biographies of the men and women of prayer from Abraham to the Apostle John.
So believing that prayer is worth time, effort, practice, and focus does not mean that prayer will end all our difficult times. In fact, difficult times will many times drive us to our deepest moments of prayer. Deep conversations with God normally come out of the darkest and most painful moments of our lives. In those dark places we speak soul to Soul with Him who made us and saved us. We express our deepest feelings, questions, and the true state of our hearts. Here in our pain, we are stripped of our pretense and lies. We come before God naked and desperate.
For me believing in prayer has nothing to do with knowing what God will do with my pleas and requests. I don’t know. He is God. He is the Eternal, All Knowing, All Powerful, All Loving, All Compassionate, ruler of all existence and time. His plan and ways are beyond my small finite, limited, and selfish vision.
But I can trust that He exists and that He is good. I trust Him even in the darkness of my most desperate losses and pain. He does not keep me from darkness and pain but He is always with me in the midst of that darkness and pain. He never abandons me. He is committed to the death to me.
So prayer is for me simply talking to my Eternal companion in the midst of life. He is there to listen, to dialogue with, and seek in the midst of my struggles. Sometimes He will act and make the circumstances and events better. Sometimes He simply gives me the strength to endure the trial and loss. Even sickness and death fit into His plans for my life and for the lives of those I love. But as I cry and feel overwhelmed, He is there to cry with me and support me in my grief. Even when I do not sense His presence or His peace, He is there.
In this world He has promised I will face tribulation but He has also promised He would never leave me or forsake me. This promise He wrote in blood at the cross when my Lord Jesus died for my sins. So I can trust in this promise. He has come close to me to be with me in Jesus, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, and death of my death. I can trust one who comes to me even when I do not understand all the pain.
So to remain sane, stable, and spiritual; I pray. To have the ear of God and the invitation to talk is such a gift of grace. The ultimate power and ruler of the universe gives me His heart in prayer and embraces me in my pain and loss. I am not alone. There is someone who will hear all my thoughts, fears, concerns, desires, and needs. He is there in His Word to speak to me and through His Spirit to impress on my heart insights and helps. My conversations with God do not eliminate bad events, painful experiences, temptations, or sins. They do however help me to have the grace to struggle to believe in the midst of my pain and to overcome in the midst of my trials. I could not survive without prayer. It is the most vital conversation of my life.
So prayer is not magic. It does not give me supernatural power over the elements of creation. It gives me something better. It allows me to be aware of the union and communion I have been given with God through Jesus. Ultimately that union and communion is the essence of heaven. So prayer allows me to taste heaven while here on earth and that spiritual manna gives me strength to do God’s will on the earth. So I pray. I encourage you to continue to pray as well.
NAU Psalm 32:6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
Prayer is the most difficult of spiritual exercises, disciplines, practices, and experiences. Most of us learned to pray as children. Some of us uttered our first prayer when someone asked us to repeat the “sinners prayer” to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. We all came to pray in some unique way.
At times there are those of us that have seen what appeared to be amazing if not miraculous answers to our prayers while others of us are not sure that our prayers have changed any events from the course they would have taken even if we had not prayed. Those who feel they have a “good batting average” in their prayer life find it easy to spend time asking God to change the course of events and those who feel that their prayers “strike out” find it more difficult to spend time in asking God to change circumstances. It is easier to do something when it seems to “work”.
When we pray consistently for a person we love to get better and then they get worst and die, it makes some part of our soul say; “Why did I pray?”. When we see the time we spend in prayer diminish and the passion we have to pray decline behind this spiritual struggle is a lack of faith that prayer matters or makes anything better. We become depressed concerning prayer and direct more energy to “working” because we can see concrete results from that.
When I stood at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and saw thousands of people praying and remembered that Jesus wanted his faith community to be a house of prayer, I prayed for a better understanding of prayer. As I reflect upon prayer and the book of prayers called the “Psalms” it is clear that the most important aspect of prayer is that we are talking to God. Prayer is just communication. Prayer is talking to God. It is being in God’s presence and being open to His direction.
Prayer is time set apart in which we seek to experience union and communion with the Eternal lover of our souls. We enter into the presence of God through the gospel. We come boldly before the throne not based on our righteousness. We come through Jesus alone. We are accepted in Jesus alone. Since we are talking to the one infinite in power we do ask for His help. He is the source of all our strength, wisdom and ability. He can create out of nothing. So He is not offended by us depending and requesting. But prayer is a lot more than asking.
The Bible tells us that a life with prayer will be filled with days of health, days of sickness, days of success, days of failure, days of insight, days of darkness, days of strong faith, days of strong doubt, days of blessing, days of persecution, days of plenty, days of need. We get all of this by reading the inspired prayer book of the Bible called the Psalms. It also becomes clear when we look at the biographies of the men and women of prayer from Abraham to the Apostle John.
So believing that prayer is worth time, effort, practice, and focus does not mean that prayer will end all our difficult times. In fact, difficult times will many times drive us to our deepest moments of prayer. Deep conversations with God normally come out of the darkest and most painful moments of our lives. In those dark places we speak soul to Soul with Him who made us and saved us. We express our deepest feelings, questions, and the true state of our hearts. Here in our pain, we are stripped of our pretense and lies. We come before God naked and desperate.
For me believing in prayer has nothing to do with knowing what God will do with my pleas and requests. I don’t know. He is God. He is the Eternal, All Knowing, All Powerful, All Loving, All Compassionate, ruler of all existence and time. His plan and ways are beyond my small finite, limited, and selfish vision.
But I can trust that He exists and that He is good. I trust Him even in the darkness of my most desperate losses and pain. He does not keep me from darkness and pain but He is always with me in the midst of that darkness and pain. He never abandons me. He is committed to the death to me.
So prayer is for me simply talking to my Eternal companion in the midst of life. He is there to listen, to dialogue with, and seek in the midst of my struggles. Sometimes He will act and make the circumstances and events better. Sometimes He simply gives me the strength to endure the trial and loss. Even sickness and death fit into His plans for my life and for the lives of those I love. But as I cry and feel overwhelmed, He is there to cry with me and support me in my grief. Even when I do not sense His presence or His peace, He is there.
In this world He has promised I will face tribulation but He has also promised He would never leave me or forsake me. This promise He wrote in blood at the cross when my Lord Jesus died for my sins. So I can trust in this promise. He has come close to me to be with me in Jesus, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, and death of my death. I can trust one who comes to me even when I do not understand all the pain.
So to remain sane, stable, and spiritual; I pray. To have the ear of God and the invitation to talk is such a gift of grace. The ultimate power and ruler of the universe gives me His heart in prayer and embraces me in my pain and loss. I am not alone. There is someone who will hear all my thoughts, fears, concerns, desires, and needs. He is there in His Word to speak to me and through His Spirit to impress on my heart insights and helps. My conversations with God do not eliminate bad events, painful experiences, temptations, or sins. They do however help me to have the grace to struggle to believe in the midst of my pain and to overcome in the midst of my trials. I could not survive without prayer. It is the most vital conversation of my life.
So prayer is not magic. It does not give me supernatural power over the elements of creation. It gives me something better. It allows me to be aware of the union and communion I have been given with God through Jesus. Ultimately that union and communion is the essence of heaven. So prayer allows me to taste heaven while here on earth and that spiritual manna gives me strength to do God’s will on the earth. So I pray. I encourage you to continue to pray as well.
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