Prayer 1

Morning!

Raises his cup of coffee

Prayer.

Some people find prayer to be mysterious.  Some people find prayer to be frightening.  Some people find prayer to be frustrating.  All of these things that we’ve listed here share one thing that I think is important to remember.  None of them are fruits of the Holy Spirt.

Prayer is an everyday thing.

Our goal is prayer to be a constant thing.

So let’s be like the disciples that knew Jesus and let’s ask the question.

Luke 11: 1

“And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of his disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

What is prayer?

Prayer is communication with God.

So what is communication?

Communication: (noun)

- A process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior; personal rapport.

- Information communicated: information transmitted or conveyed; a verbal or written message.

Therefore….

Prayer is a process by which information is exchanged between an individual and God through a common system of symbols, signs or behavior.

Prayer is for God.

Prayer is done with God.

Part of prayer’s purpose is to glorify God.

There are all kinds of parts and facets to prayer and, Lord willing, we’ll go over as many as we can think of, but for today let’s start with the understanding that prayer is communication with God.

Proverbs 16: 2-3

“All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.  Commit thy works unto The LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.”

There are two forms of communication to consider.  There is verbal communication and then there is the non-verbal communication.  What you say is often not as important as how you say it when it comes to prayer.  Where I always start is…

Proverbs 1: 7

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: But fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Understanding in our hearts that God is God and we are not is a first place where I start with prayer.  We are not talking to our brother.  We are not talking to our husband.  We are not talking to our dad, we are talking to the Creator of the Universe, the King of kings, the Alpha and the Omega, the hearer of every prayer from time past to every prayer that will be through time eternal.  We are speaking to The One who can answer our prayers and who will if we love Him and keep His commandments.

As we get deeper into our side study on prayer here I think we are going to find that when we ask to be taught how to pray many of the times we are asking instead how do I get my prayers answered.  They are two very different things.

A quick list of some important things in prayer.

1. Is your heart in the right place?

2. Are you willing to do the work necessary for your prayer?

3. Seek God’s Word to see if He has answered already.

4. Are you ready to take God’s Word as Truth?

Ecclesiastes 5: 1-7

“Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.  Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.  For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few.  For a dream comes through much activity, and a fool’s voice is known by his many words.  When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools.  Pay what you have vowed- Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.  Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error.  Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?  For in the multitude of dreams and many words, there is also vanity.  But fear God.”

Here are some initial thoughts I’ve been working on for our study in prayer.  In the coming days we’ll be doing some reflection in  Matthew and Luke.  The classic passages on Jesus teaching about prayer.  I think it is fair to say that prayer is essential to Christian leadership.  I think it would also be fair to say that prayer is essential to all leaders whether they know it or not.  I have a sneaking suspicion in the quiet moments when no one is around more leaders pray than want to admit it.

I want to end on this introductory thought though.  Prayer is a very personal thing.  There are some things that only we can say how we say it, by definition.  I don’t think uniqueness in prayer is a thing to shy away from, but instead something to be fostered, a personal and private connection between us and God.  Nothing changes about who we are speaking to.  God is still God and we are still the worm, if you get the reference to Psalms, and it is worth mentioning that the very real temptation to pray our prayers to be seen of men, which can also be read to be seen of ourselves, is always a temptation there, but easily overcome with a heart of honesty and integrity loving God.

Tomorrow we start in Matthew and Luke.

Happy waiting!

:)