“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
-Mahatma Gandhi

This is my final (for now) entry on prayer.  I intend to keep it short also.  We’ll see how that goes.

Prayer is powerful and personal prayer, which has been my focus here lately, is the most powerful.  Prayer not only aligns our wills with Gods but actually in many cases gets God on our side.  As I have stated and I truly believe, God just does not do some things unless we ask.  So we must ask and keep on asking.

But is that all we have to do?  Is prayer all that God calls us to do in this world that so desperately needs Him?

No it is not.  As the quote by Mahatma Gandhi says we must be the change we want to see in the world.  We must go beyond prayer into the realm of action.  It is okay to “talk” theology but we must also “walk” our theology.  Some of us, especially me, find it so very easy to talk about God, to have endless discussions about his Word and all the different theological worldviews and such, and to even pray when I see things I do not like going on.  But the Bible is also filled with calls to action.

Spreading the gospel is primary.  Praying without ceasing is a necessity.  These do have to be primarily achieved by talking.  But there are many other commands such as feed the poor, clothe the naked, give to the widows and orphans, and many more that have to have something done, some action taken, other than discussion.

Christ followers are supposed to be change agents.  We must, as Gandhi said, be the change, not just try to direct it.  There are just too many of us not willing to do much more than show up at church and maybe pray a little.

I believe a real, intense, dynamic, personal prayer life will not only cause us to grow ever closer to the God and Father who loves us but will create in us a love for others that pushes us ever more to “do” things; to become true workers for the Kingdom.

This world does need to change.  For that to happen we must first be changed ourselves.  And then we must spread that change by our actions.

“Father, please help us to become the agents of change that are so desperately needed right now.  Help us “put legs to our prayers”.  Please help us, and especially me, “do” something other than “talk” about it.  Amen.”

Love you all

A few posts back when I first started this series about prayer I mentioned the early days in my walk with Christ when I struggled to figure out how I was supposed to pray.  I believe a lot of us have faced this same issue.  Is there a way of doing it right?  Is prayer an easy thing to do?

Very often prayer seems like a struggle.  That is because sometimes, it is.  Jesus bled from wounds that were given to him by the Romans before the crucifixion but even before that, He broke out in bloody sweat from the action of prayer.  Prayer is sometimes warfare, and the enemy does not want you doing it.  When we finally get to that mature level of prayer where we are in the process of aligning our will with Gods, the battle will rage as it did for Jesus at Gethsemane.

Some people believe prayer should be spontaneous and free, led and urged by the Spirit.  If we wait on that then more often than not we won’t be praying.  I read once what one woman said about how she never prayed except as the Spirit directed.  She would not pray unless she felt the definite urging of the Spirit of God.  I feel sorry for her.

If you ever feel that you are the only one having problems praying, realize you keep good company.  Saint Teresa of Ávila, known for her prayer communion, admitted to sometimes shaking the hourglass to speed up her prayer time. Luther wrote about how often he was overcome with feelings of unworthiness.  Many saints and Church fathers wrote of the distractions they faced quite often while attempting to pray.  Some of us just want to do it right, so in our attempt to emulate others we fail in our own prayers.

When I got to that certain place in my walk with God, I thought I had to learn someone’s method of prayer to move forward.  But I found that there is no such thing as doing it right.  There are so many different prayers and methods of prayer that, this itself should show us there are no set ways of doing it right.  There are pious words of adoration, there are the rants and raves of victims of injustice, there are desperate pleas of a persecuted church and the soaring liturgy of a state church.  There are mechanical ritualistic words that all know and there are private prayer languages that no one knows.  Monotone deliveries, passionate outcries, ecstatic praise, humble repentance, serene words, agitated mumblings, and on and on; these are just some examples of the many varieties of communication with God.  And He hears and listens to them all.  God is a real being, a real person, and He wants us to talk to Him like we would any other person.

What He does not want, is to be ignored.

All we need to do it right is to remember some basic things about prayer.

• Our main goal of prayer should be intimacy with God.  Relationships do not grow from hit and miss interaction.  Instead, consistent, real communion fosters growth and healthy relationships.
• A personal private discussion with God is the most beneficial thing that we can add to any day we live.  So we need to find a private place for just that; to have our fellowship with God and let it transform us.
• We need to pray always, without ceasing.  This is not impossible because prayer is not just verbal communication.  It is the spiritual aligning of our wills with Gods.  It is communion and it is for every minute of every day.
• We need to let the Spirit lead and even take over because He knows how to reword our prayers or even pray for us in a way that will get Gods attention.
• We need to pray in the name of Jesus. This does not mean just invoking His name on the end of all we ask but instead is praying consistently with His will and His teaching.
• Ultimately we need to pray so we can submit to the will of God and He will be glorified and His Kingdom advanced.

Everyone is different.  Personalities, circumstances, life situations, work situations, all contribute to how we will pray.  God wants a relationship with you, as you are.  If you are praying, you are already doing it right.

Just be real with God, be transparent, be yourself.   But most of all, stay in touch.

Love you all

Jesus began his ministry in prayer and ended it in prayer.  He prayed in the mornings and He prayed in the evenings.  He spent days in prayer, and He prayed at all the crucial points in His life and ministry; at his baptism, at his transfiguration, at his death.  Jesus wanted to maintain the relationship He had with His Father.  And He knew that while He was here, prayer was the only means for this.

Does prayer matter?

Jesus believed it did.  He prayed about everything and he prayed all the time.  The Romans of the time prayed and kept charms for good luck but they didn’t really expect their prayers to do anything.  The Greeks derided prayer, weaving crude, ridiculous and sometimes obscene prayers into plays and theater to bring out laughter in their audience. But those stubborn Jews believed that they followed the supreme and loving God and that He did hear and answer their prayers.  Prayer matters because we need that communion with God.  It matters because without it, God will ultimately not be able to bring about His will in our lives.  The Bible is the place we go to understand and get a glimpse of the mind of God.  But prayer is where we get to know His heart.

Jesus offers us no metaphysical proof of the effectiveness of prayer, but He not only prayed, He told the disciples on at least one occasion that they failed in their attempts to heal a boy because of a lack of prayer.  If we are going to believe Jesus then we must believe that prayer works and it matters.  Just not necessarily in the way we want at all times.  If we pray we may not get what we want, but oftentimes we get something we need.  Peter once prayed for food and got a lesson in racism, Paul asked for healing and received humility, we ask for relief and get patience.

Are prayers always answered?

No.  I know they are heard but that does not mean they are answered.  Jesus prayed that we would all be one as He and the Father were one yet we have over 34,000 distinct and identifiable denominations and sects of Christianity today.  Sometimes we ourselves hinder even the prayers that God would love to bring about. Unanswered prayer sometimes shows us a God that actually restrains himself due to the freedom he has granted us.  God respects our free will so much he allows things to play out naturally sometimes.  Even though when we are faced with some seriously dire situations we sometimes would like to give up that very freedom.

In God’s creation project, He built in this component that we call free will so that we could share in the maintenance and direction of the project.  He knew we could, and I think He knew we probably would; fail in our area of authority.  But He wanted free, loving relationships with us above all else.  And no matter how happy a five point Calvinist gets at the thought of God’s Omni-control, that just does not show us a loving God.  It shows us a puppet master instead.  God really wants relationships with real people not puppets.

Jesus taught us that prayer was necessary to maintain this relationship with our Father.  Prayer is ultimately only a method of communion with God and this is what Jesus modeled for us.  God desires a dynamic relationship with all of us and the only way that will occur is with consistent, persistent prayer. We pray to involve God in our lives.  Ministry, family, jobs, etc are all areas where we ask God to be there for us and to strengthen us.  But sometimes it has to be just about being with Him.  Our ministries are our calling but our callings came after the Fall.  Before that we had fellowship with God.  We were created for fellowship with God.  And since the Fall, prayer is the method of maintaining that fellowship.

Prayer involves an effort of will.  I must decide to do it and like anything else, doing it consistently will make it become a habit instead of a planned event, a joy instead of effort.  We must all pray and we must do it our way.  If I try to pray like Pastor or some of you I am only setting myself up for failure.  And while I believe it is good to start the day off and end the day talking to God it is not always that deep meaningful communion that I desire.  That has to happen when each of our hearts and our lifestyles dictate.

But it must happen.  Have you talked to your Father today?

Love you all

“2Ch 7:14  If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. “

The practice of personal, at home prayer is at an abysmal low.  Prayer at church cannot replace prayer at home, in fact, prayer at church does not lead to prayer at home but prayer at home does lead to prayer at church.  And when Christians do pray during the week they mostly do it on the run.  A quality relationship cannot be maintained this way.  Investing so little time and effort in a relationship does not make, or keep, it fruitful.

We say things like, “I know I should pray.”  “To grow in Christ I have to pray.”  “For this revival to happen we must pray.”  We make it sound like prayer is some sort of spiritual castor oil.  Not very pleasant but essential.  And it is essential.  But it is also so much more.  Prayer should be a delightful session of closeness with a Father who loves us and not just something we try to ration out just enough time to get a desired result.

We often treat prayer as nothing more than a transaction.  “Well Lord, I’ve served you and I’ve asked you, so now it’s your turn, God.”  But prayer as transaction will turn into either dissatisfaction, or be seen as a duty, when it actually is a privilege.  It is a privilege that Jesus died for.

Sometimes we want to use prayer as just a method of establishing Gods presence, but instead we should use it as a way of responding to His presence.  He is there, whether you feel him or not.  We cannot have awesome mighty experiences of His presence every time we pray, but if we are of the mind that we are to just spend enough time with God to get what we want, not only will we probably not get what we want, but we will never have that awesome experience in His presence.

Sometimes we tend to reduce prayer to a mere component of worship, but it should be a natural demonstration of our love for the One who loved us first.  Prayer should be passionate because love should be passionate.  We think that loving the church, or our ministry, is the same as loving God, but it is not.  These things are just vehicles for service.  We serve the church, but our passion belongs to Christ.  When we pour out our hearts to God with passion we will end up praying through our objections, overcome our disobedience, become able to confront our doubts and overcome our fears.

We must understand that we are dependent on God.  We must realize how very weak we are.  Prayer is a declaration of that dependence.  An admission of our weakness disarms our pride and prepares us for grace.  By trying to be strong in ourselves we can actually block God’s presence and practice.

Devout Buddhists use a prayer wheel.  They believe that every rotation sends up prayers.  They do it all day.  Some tech savvy Buddhists have prayer wheel programs on their computers that spin at 5400 revolutions per minute.  That’s a ton of prayer every day.

In Japan some pay priests at Shinto shrines pay up to 50 dollars to have a priest offer up prayers.

In Taiwan they have “ghost money” which is fake money offered up to ghosts for good fortune.

Hindus in India appease the gods with offerings of food, flowers and animal sacrifices.

Muslims pray five times at least a day, every day.

It is amazing to me that there are more people praying to nothing than those of us who know the real God.

God said that if we humble ourselves and pray and seek his face, He would heal our land.  Our land is in much need of being healed.  So we must not be praying.  God has the power; He just wants us to ask. As I said earlier, He wants us as partners in creation.  He also wants to share His love, dry our tears, allay our fears, lighten our load, and fulfill our needs.  To do all of this, we must pray.  We must share our lives with Him.

Have you prayed today?

Love you all