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
Tags: bloody sweat, crucifixion, Discussion, God, Kingdom, Personal, Praise, Prayer, Relationships, romans, Self, warfare
Sorry about missing last weeks post. I have been swamped with study and all of a sudden, work also. And this week is short too but I wanted to at least get this Tuesday post out. Thanks for your continued support for this blog.
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.
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.
