Prayer in the life of a Christian … what is it REALLY, and how do you do it? Do we merely pray for things we desire, pray for “world peace,” pray for others, or what?
A blog is too short to answer all those questions, but I thought I’d touch on the subject of prayer and offer some thoughts. I’ve compiled a list of “nuggets” over the years from various Bible teachers, and here’s just a few of them…
> Random Thought #1: The purpose of prayer is not to align God’s will with my desire, but to align my will with His desire
Regardless of what we are praying for, the real purpose of prayer is NOT to accomplish our will, but to have the Lord accomplish His will through us. It’s not trying to get God to do what we desire, but to desire what He wants.
How do we apply this in our daily lives?
How many times do we find ourselves in a situation where we really want something? It may be trying to buy a new car, get a new job or get a promotion. So we pray “God, please help me do this.” Yet, is that really what He desires? Shouldn’t our prayers be more along the line of “God, my greatest desire is to serve and glorify you, to do that for which you have called me to do. If buying this new car, or getting a new promotion, will help further that work, please provide it. If not, please change my desire and help me be content where you have placed me thus far.”
> Random Thought #2: We as Christians today are powerless because of our prayerless. It’s not enough to just pray for our work. Our work is to pray.
If you are like me, you probably pray each day, “Lord, help me with my work. Help me do this. Help me get that account.” While these prayers are fine and the Lord encourages us to pray for our needs and desires, our REAL work as Christians is to devote ourselves to prayer for God’s work to be done.
When confronted with a need, either personally or in helping someone else, prayer should not be “the least I can do.” It should be the first and most important thing I can do. And we need to teach that to our children as well.
Dutch Sheets, a pastor of a large church, wrote a book “Intercessory Prayer.” It’s the best book on prayer I have ever read. One of the points he makes is that the Lord seldom acts in the absence of prayer, that He uses OUR prayers to accomplish His work. This isn’t to mean that God is powerless without us, but rather He directs us to pray, and as we pray by His direction He responds.
One of the things my wife and I attempt to do with our children is teach them to trust the Lord. And part of how we do this is through teaching them to pray. Just as in any Christian’s life, it starts with small stuff. If one of our children has lost something and is upset, we’ll ask, “have you prayed about it?” Usually the answer is, “no.” So we’ll say, “let’s pray and ask God to help us find it.” Once we do, our child usually finds what he’s been looking for pretty quickly. It reinforces the power of prayer.
As we get older and more mature in our faith, our prayers change. We know God hears us. And if we are following Him and pleasing Him, we know He delights in answering our prayers even more. This is when our prayers change. Rather than just praying for ourselves or our work, we feel the responsibility to pray for others, to pray for God’s work to be done, and to intercede on others’ behalf. This is the true work of prayer — not focused on our desires but focused on God’s desires and work.
> Random Thought #3: Revival never starts until God’s people begin to pray.
Ever thought about that? God just doesn’t send revival. He waits until enough of God’s people pray for it before He acts.
In Ezekiel 22:30-31, God says, “I searched for a man among them who would … stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath.” Because no one prayed, God did not do His will (have mercy and send revival on the land), but instead He exacted justice. This is just what Dutch Sheets says in his book, Intercessory Prayer: God usually waits upon us to pray before He acts and manifests His promises and desired will.
How does this apply to us? Don’t sit on the sidelines waiting for things to happen. Get on the field and participate — pray for those things to happen.
… Beatty Carmichael