Articles & Devotionals
Mission: Prayer
Have you ever been in a worship service, small group meeting, bible study or other gathering of Christians and heard someone absolutely call down the thunder in prayer?! Have you had a brother or sister bring you so near to the throne of the Almighty that your knees almost hit the floor? If you’ve heard those prayers, you’ve also heard more prayers than you can count that resulted in a near nap or a secretive time check. Why do some prayers bring us into the very presence of the Ancient of Days while others seem to sap the Spirit right out of us?
Prayer is a powerful weapon in our arsenal not only against the spiritual forces of evil, but also and even more to bolster the church and to further the purposes of the Kingdom. When men and women of God bring themselves humbly and powerfully before the throne of God in Biblical prayer, THINGS HAPPEN! Why is that? I think we all know the answer (because the Almighty is involved!), but how do we do that? How do we take our prayers from emaciated and weak to powerful and eternal?
First, let’s take a look at a couple of prayer models we’ve all engaged in at one time or another that weaker our prayers then we’ll get into characteristics of powerful, Biblical prayer.
Father, Father, Father…
For example, “Dear Lord, we come before you Dear Lord to thank you Dear Lord for all the blessings Dear Lord that you give us Dear Lord.”
Now, I’m a big fan of using the titles and names of our Blessed Lord, but remember first and foremost that prayer is based on relationship. If someone came to you and every other word was your name, it would be quite weird to say the least. I’ve done it. I suspect most of us have. But it speaks of unfamiliarity and uncertainty. If we’re speaking with a friend or family member, we don’t speak that way. It would seem very strange.
Arrow prayers
Perhaps you just got out of a rough conversation with your boss, or are about to go into a test at school, or you’re looking at your bank statement… “Dear Lord, please help me through this.” Nothing wrong with prayers like that, but if that is the extent of our prayer life we need some work. That’s praying, but it’s hardly praying. Imagine having a “relationship” with someone and all your conversations were one-sided and lasted about 5 seconds. That’s not much of a relationship. If we agree with that at a finite, human-level imagine how that scales when the One we’re relating to is the Eternal, Everlasting King?!
Listen up y’all
Moms do this too, but fathers are especially guilty. “Dear Lord, I pray that the children will listen to their mother and eat all their broccoli. Please help Danny finish his homework tonight and for Sally to practice her dance routine for her recital on Saturday.” That’s what I like to call the, “Listen up y’all” prayer. It’s not really a prayer at all. That’s trying to send a message to the people listening.
Regular ritual
Some have harshly criticized other groups for rote, repetitious prayers. Jesus, Himself, spoke about the vanity of repetitious prayers too. But if we’re honest, we’re sometimes guilty of just as repetitious. Our prayers may not be formally codified, but prayer that is just our own half-hearted scripts also qualifies. Think for a moment of a typical greeting. “Hey John, how are you? I’m fine. How are you?” Ever fumble one of those when someone asks you a slightly different version? That’s because we have these types of things scripted. We have our normal routines that our brains develop for these everyday occurrences. Let’s work towards keeping a higher standard in our prayers. We have an audience with the Ancient of Days in His throne room!
Praying for big toes
At the start of this section I want to call out first and foremost that James, our Lord’s brother, speaks about prayers for the sick and suffering. They should and must continue! HOWEVER, we’ve all heard and said many prayers that are just about someone getting well. As we look at scripture as our guide, suffering is an opportunity! So much so that the apostle Paul invites Timothy (and by extension us) into suffering.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God (2 Tim 1:8 NASB)
When we’re sick or when others around us are, definitely pray for their well-being, but let’s look beyond the physical, beyond the sickness, beyond the temporary and look to the eternal which brings us to the “secret” of powerful prayers.
Look to the eternal
What is the scope of our God? What is beyond His grasp? How big are His plans? Is He temporary or eternal? God is massive on an indescribable, incomparable scale. He who spoke (HE SPOKE!!!) the universe into existence! It is by the power of His word that the very atoms that makeup our universe hold together! HE IS El Shaddai, El Elyon, Adonai Elohim, the Ever Existing One! He is not some god of iron, stone, or man’s imagination! His purposes are grander than our temporal, sicknesses and stubbed toes. Look to the Eternal! He is Eternal!
Ask yourself, what is God’s plan about? What does the scripture say of His purposes and objectives? Elevate your prayers to those things – the things of God. What is bigger than death itself? GOD, eternity, heaven/hell! These are the weightier things of life.
If a brother or sister is suffering and demonstrates the superiority of the life lived in Christ even facing death itself with praises on his/her lips… THAT is a POWERFUL witness! If we who are healthy face that alongside our ill brethren who are going the way of all flesh, if we demonstrate the surety of our hope, the certainty of our faith, and show the scope of our God beyond the trivialities of man’s religion… THAT is what moves hearts and minds towards God.
Who & what IS HE?
Not just in sickness, but also in health… look to the eternal. Ask yourself, what is your theology? What are the characteristics and behaviors and deeds of God that bring you to tears or demonstrate most assertively who God is to you? Praise Him with these things! Speak to God about His eternal glory. Bring praise into His presence because of who He is and what He has done. If you struggle with this, read large swaths of scripture. We serve a God who has declared Himself to us over and over and over again.
Get into the detail
It’s hard to have deep, meaningful relationship with someone if you don’t get into the detail. I once heard someone say, “Disclosure is the currency of relationships.” A relationship with God is no different. Disclosing yourself to God, speaking to Him in detail about yourself (e.g. your sins, worries, struggles, desires for His kingdom, souls that you yearn for, etc) and disclose to Him your knowledge of who He is are both massive steps toward developing a powerful prayer life. It may be difficult at first. Think of your spouse or best friend… did you come right out and tell them your deepest darkest secrets in the first conversation? Unlikely. It took time. It took the development of a relationship. Be patient with yourself. You’ll get there with God if you pursue that relationship.
Be BOLD
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16 NASB)
BE BOLD! Pray for action – His and yours and others! Pray for healing! Pray for the working of His Spirit! Be powerful and bold in your prayers. God WANTS to intervene! God WANTS to give us good and perfect gifts. God WANTS hearts changed and His purposes furthered! God WANTS to be involved in every aspect of our lives! We must be bold. We must act in faith. And it starts here in prayer. If we cannot be bold (have confidence) when speaking with the One who sent His one and only Son to ransom us from sin and death, before whom can we be bold?
BE BOLD… take on the mission of prayer!
