The Life II – Prayer Life
Last time we talked about Holiness Living – that is, giving up who we are and how we see things to take on our Master’s plan and His view us and the world. When you take on this new view, prayer becomes a much, much bigger part of your life. But actually, prayer is a problem… because man has made it a problem. It’s something different now than it ever was meant to be. And I wanna talk about some things here that may challenge your thinking in regards to praying.
THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE
…Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name… Matthew 6:9b
Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me… Psalm 50:23a
Before any petitions are allowed, the name of God must be hallowed.
God’s glory is and must forever remain the Christian’s true point of departure. – A.W. Tozer
We miss the MAJOR point of praying. And mainly because we’re greedy little bastards demanding this, that, and the other thing from the Almighty. We make prayer about us, OUR needs, OUR desires, OUR lives. Have you noticed this? Go to a prayer meeting sometime. It about makes me sick. They go around the circle and take ‘requests’ – as if God were a cosmic DJ simply there to do according to our playlist. Then they take turns praying for the people/troubles on the list. Occasionally there’s a ‘thank you’ in the bunch, but those go quickly past as we move on to the more ‘pressing issues’, such as Johnny’s newfound cyst or Sue’s upcoming midterms. And God gets to hear us check off the items on our prayer list in order… as if we were ordering lunch for the office meeting from Him.
If I were Him, I’d vacate the room and leave the heathens to their lists. And don’t get me wrong – there’s nothing wrong with praying for people and their needs, it’s the way it’s done that pisses me off. Would you want your friends to bring a list of topics for discussion when coming to hang out with you? Why are people treating GOD that way???
If you don’t read Ketchup_intheAir, I highly recommend it. The prayers that come from that site – they are like a breath of fresh air… because they are WHOLLY about God. His majesty, His Glory, His goodness, His mercy. It’s incredible. And in reading thru the OT, I’ve noticed that every prayer ALWAYS started out with God-worship. It was all about HIM! So… why don’t we do this? Why don’t we lift up our hearts and REALLY tell Him what He is to us? Why are our prayers, “Lord, please…”or “Lord, I’m so…” Even Christ, when giving us the sample prayer, started it with, Our Father, Holy is Your Name! I mean… doesn’t that SAY something? What if we were to just pray to glorify Him. No requests, no personal confessions… just exalting Him?
HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD
…Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven… Matt. 6:10
Then said I, Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God. Hebrews 10:7
When we pray, we think about what we want. We want people who are sick to have comfort. We want to pass our finals, to get along better with the in-laws, to be able to communicate with that crazed teenager we can’t get thru to… WE WANT. But is it supposed to be about what we want? To be honest, I prayed HUGELY when my grandma was in the latter stages of her cancer. I didn’t want her to suffer. Surely God would be merciful… she’d served Him wholeheartedly all of her life. She didn’t deserve that. But you know what? If she didn’t suffer, we wouldn’t have wanted to let go. I see that now. When she was in agony, unable to stand the pain, our selfish desires to keep her changed from ‘just a little longer, Lord’ to ‘Father, take her – she’s hurting’. He knows better than we, and we need to learn this lesson.
We often don’t know the ‘why’… but you know what? It’s none of our doggone business until He makes it our business… and if we love Him, we’ll pray for HIS will in these things, trusting that He knows far more than we do. This also takes the focus off of us… and puts it back on Him. Just like praise, only this involved a heckuva lot more faith than praise does. It’s another HUGE challenge – to pray for His will to be done, and not for what we want the outcome to be.
PRAYER CHANGES… NOTHING
For your Father in heaven knoweth what things ye have need of, before you ask Him. Matt 6:8b
Give us this day, our daily bread. Matt 6:11
For let not that man think that he shall recieve any thing from the Lord. James 1:7
We’ve believed that old cliche for years, haven’t we? “Prayer changes things.” As if we have a say in it. And if He *doesn’t* change things according to our prayers, we stomp away from Him and say “There is no God, or He wouldn’t have done that, wouldn’t have let that happen…” Follow with me: If God is the God, He is omniscient, all-knowing, right? And if He’s all-knowing, it’s past, present, and future, right? Which means He knows what’s going to happen regardless of anyone’s prayer, right? So what makes you think you can change God’s mind?
That FLOORED Brian. But let’s be honest, God *can’t* change His mind… because He already knew what He was going to do in the end!! Wrap your head around THAT one! So, then what’s the point of praying, if God’s gonna do what He wants, anyhow? you ask. Here it comes.
FORGIVE ME, FATHER, I HAVE SINNED
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Matthew 6:12
And forgive us our sins… Luke 11:4a
We pray to PARTICIPATE and CONNECT with God. These are two very important things. First, think about your kids (or when you were a kid). What’s the first thing you did when you burst thru the backdoor after school? Mom got the run-down on your day. The A on your test, Jen’s invitation to a party, the booger that Joe flicked that pegged Mr. Smith in the butt. You shared your life – your day with the one you loved. That’s part of what prayer is about. You can’t be close to someone you don’t TALK to. And yes, God already knows what happened, but don’t you think He likes to share your enthusiasm, your disappointment, your worry with you?
What on EARTH does that have to do with asking forgiveness, Anna? You don’t think God knows you’re sorry for what you did? You don’t think He knows your regret, your pain, your anger? Think again – He’s one step ahead. And you don’t think He knows when your heart is repentant? Sure He does… but He want you to PARTICIPATE in your forgiveness. When Christ died on the cross, He paid for the sins of all of His beloved – past, present, and future. So when you lie to your dad, it’s paid for… but we are given the opportunity to share in that forgiveness that comes with the repentance in our heart. By handing it over OURSELVES to Him, we are releasing it and sharing in what He delights to give us. Does that make sense?
HELP!
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil… Matthew 6:13a
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted
with evil, neither tempteth he any man, but every man is tempted,
when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. James 1:13-14
I can do all things thru Christ who strengtheneth me.
It really irks me to hear people pray “Lord, help me to be a better person”, “Lord, help me to/not to…” do this or that. You know what I’m talking about? I hate that. TOTALLY. And the reason is that God enabled us to be active for Him. He’s not going to do it for us. Even Moses had to step to the plate and do God’s will.
I have this MIL… she’s a great one for lip service. I really meant to, but… or I’d like to do this, but… well, if you wanna do something, DO IT. Talking about it, indicating your intention isn’t enough. “I want to be a better person”. God isn’t going to do it for you. Praying ‘help me’ is the ultimate cop-out. God gave you the ability you need. PERIOD. ‘Help me’ is a huge lack-of-faith indicator to me. Isn’t He with you? Then if you believe that, you can do it. DO IT.
I’m of the mind that people pray ‘help me’ so that if they don’t do it, they can put it back on God. For example, the guy who said he’s praying for God to “help him” share the gospel with his family. God already has – He commissioned this guy to do just that, AND gave the guy the Spirit and the Truth… but because the guy’s not ‘ready’ himself to do it, he blames it on God – The Spirit hasn’t led me to do it yet. BULLSHIT. Do it! You want to be a stronger Christ-Follower? DO IT. You want to stop worrying? Don’t pray ‘help me not to worry’… hand the situation to God and STOP WORRYING. DO IT! This ‘help me, Lord’ crap is just laziness. And I’m soooo sick of seeing it.
NOISY AIR
But when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray
standing in synagogues and in the corners of the streets,
that they may be seen of men. Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward. Matthew 6:5
God is not satisfied until there exists between Him and His people a relaxed
informality that requires no artificial stimulation. A. W. Tozer
But when ye pray, use not vain repititions, as the heathen do;
for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Matthew 6:7
I’m going to ‘pray’ for you a moment: Dear Gracious, Heavenly Father, we come before You today to study Your word and fellowship with Your people. Lord, thank you for bringing us together, and we lift up Johnny before you this evening. We pray that Your healing presence be manifest in his life, that he might find relief from his pain and … Pretty good, eh? ((wink!)) For those of you who don’t go to church, this is THE WAY we pray. No kidding. We come, smile, write down the list, and clear our throats, preparing to dazzle the group leader with our church-worthy prayer. It’s so damnably FAKE that you can plug just about any person or situation into it and it still works. And most people do just that. If you’re really ‘holy’, you will use ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ in place of ‘you’ and ‘your’. And we do this not for God – let’s just be honest here – we do it so that we don’t look like an idiot in front of the other people in the prayer group.
Dear welcome, interested reader, I bring this blog before you today that you might find something of worth in the words I write. I thank you, Reader, for your subscription and invite you to comment on the following list of points that I intend to make… What would you do if I talked to you that way in every one of my blogs? Treated you in such an impersonal, form-letter kind of a way? You’d walk away! You’d be like – HELLO! I do have a personality, you’re not addressing Parliament! Yet that’s what we do to God for the sake of appearing the way the CHURCH expects us to. You’ve no idea how I hate group prayer… chuck the whole business and opt for sincerity and personal relationship with God… but then, what do I know, right…?
PRAYER 101
Pray without ceasing 1 Thess. 5:17
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit… Eph. 6:18a
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray… Psalm 55:17a
I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands… 1 Tim. 2:8
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou has shut thy door,
pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret
shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:6
Let’s talk about some misconceptions. You do NOT have to close your eyes to pray. I’m a dreamer, personally – if I close my eyes I start imagining all sort of stuff, and I’m not praying anymore. If I’m focused like I am when I *normally* think, then I can have a logical and coherent conversation with God. I think it’s fine for children who need the discipline (and who have the attention span of gnats), but it’s not a requisite. And if I’m driving and praying, chances are my eyes aren’t closed. ((grins!))
You do NOT have to bow your head to pray. I have no idea where that came from. Submission, maybe? I find myself tipping my head up to the sky when I pray, personally – kind of naturally – I must be the least PC (Prayerfully Correct) person around. I’m not a ‘lifting hands’ kinda gal, but the eyes tend to lift. Weird.
Paul said to pray without ceasing. That means it’s like an on-going mental conversation. Oh, come on, I’m not the ONLY person who talks to themselves silently all the time. ((Am I?)) Trust me, it’s *cake* to simply turn that ‘conversation’ towards the Father. He suddenly is part of my every thought. Works great, btw! And for the record, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to pray without ceasing if you have to have your hands folded, head bowed, and eyes closed. Just so’s ya know.
You don’t need a ‘prayer list’. You can simply pray as led… and it’s kewl. When I pray in the Spirit, it’s like having this alternate train of thought that is saying “what about this?” and I go “oh, yeah, Lord…” and when I’m done with that topic, another is given to me. I also don’t use the “right words” (except with the hypocrites, because they don’t get this, anyhow.) I let the Spirit pray for me… sorta. Things I typically don’t say come out. It’s interesting. All in English – I’m not a tongues kinda gal, either (see sidebar for that info)… but it just sorta flows like a river. No hesitation, no hunting for a way to say what I want to say. I love it. Personally.
Hrm. This got long. But since the show opens tonight AND it’s town day (meaning my mother will be here) AND spending the night since tomorrow is the Annual Mother’s Day City-Wide Garage Sale (you just walk from house to house… kinda like Trick-or-Treat, only yard sales)… AND I have shows, tickets, programs, kids, family, etc to do… you have time to read this. Dialogue, people. ((wink!)) BUT BE NICE!!
—VIEW OUR TRIP MAP— 
annamatrix.wordpress.com 
