I heard a pastor recently give a caricature of prayer from the pulpit. He suggested that people tend to have a simplistic approach to prayer that combined an acknowledgement of God’s presence with a presentation of their current needs. He said it in a way that was humorous and inoffensive but it still gave me pause. It made me think about my own prayer life and how my approach to prayer had changed through the course of my walk with the Lord. When I was a new Christian prayer was generally boring and somewhat intimidating. I’d go through the motions of praying but my mind would drift and I’d often find myself dozing off. And if I’d been involved in some sinful activity I wouldn’t want to pray at all; I was too embarrassed and afraid to pray because I figured the Lord was mad at me. I’d have to wait until the sense of shame wore off before I could try to approach God again.

As I got to know the Lord better I became more diligent in my prayer life. That was the product of becoming more familiar with the scriptures and developing the habit of prayer; it became a routine. We all have our routines in life: eating, sleeping, physical exercise, going to work; and over time prayer became another regular activity. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s helpful to have routines that are good for us. When it comes to prayer though, routine can work against us if we’re not careful; which is what was reflected in the Pastor’s comment I mentioned. When it comes to eating and sleeping and going to work, our habits are enforced by obvious need. Our bodies insist that we eat and sleep, and our employers insist that we go to work. God insists that we pray but He doesn’t force us to do so. The consequences of not praying are more subtle than not eating or sleeping. Our obedience to the call of God is based on willingness on our part to seek the Lord and to seek Him in prayer!

Even if we understand the Christian mandate to pray and seek the Lord, our approach can still be one that doesn’t appreciate the relevance of the exercise. We do it because Jesus did it, because the Church encourages it, because the Bible promotes it. We may expect the act of praying to have an impact; by doing it our hope is that God will answer our prayers. The greater the need the more emphasis we give to the exercise. If a family member is in dire straits due to illness or injury, our focus on prayer intensifies. Nothing wrong with that, apparently Jesus was sweating profusely as He prayed at Gethsemane prior to His arrest and crucifixion. (Luke 22:44)

The difference is that Jesus wasn’t sending up smoke signals to a God He didn’t know. I’ve mentioned this in previous posts; the man Jesus regularly engaged in prayer, either alone or in the course of His day. And His prayers reflected the relationship He had with the Father. He knew who He was talking to and He sought to commiserate with the Father in everything He did. That’s the way we should all approach our lives; but in order to do that we have to be willing to let the Father be part of everything we do. That can be intimidating at first, especially for Americans. Personal independence is a mantra for Americans. Our personal rights and freedoms are central to our understanding of ourselves. Nobody gets to tell us how to live our lives. We get to set the boundaries for our behavior, and it’s often with reluctance that we accept the limitations required to maintain the rule of law within our society.

When we begin to develop a prayer life with the Lord, there’s a tendency to resist His oversight. Are we really going to let Him have something to say about everything we do and think? We know who we are and what we bring to the table when we enter into a relationship with God. Some things obviously need to change, habits need to be given up, and goals need to be reconsidered. In order to resist such changes we may try to ignore them; they don’t get mentioned in prayer. Instead our prayers focus on dire needs and obvious Christian goals: prayer for the Gospel to be received by those who aren’t Christians, prayer for Christian leaders in the Church, prayer for our country, prayer for better pay to meet the needs of the family. Those are good prayers, but what about letting the Lord speak to you about how you entertain yourself, how you use your downtime, what your goals are for the future near and far? Before we get to know Him, He can seem intimidating; we don’t necessarily want to know what He’s got to say about some things because He seems unapproachable and somber. Better to just give focus to religious things in our prayers.

The scripture tells us that our communication with God is not only expected by Him it’s also desired by Him. What I’m saying is the Lord desires our prayers because He desires to have a relationship with us. He worked with people like Abraham and Moses on a personal basis. People had conversations with Him directly and through dreams and visions in both the Old and New Testaments. To be sure, often these encounters were exceptional or they wouldn’t have been recorded in the Bible, but that doesn’t mean that God only communicates with people in exceptional circumstances. He wants to communicate with all of us; He knows us all by name. James made it clear that as we draw near to God He will draw near to us, and Jesus referred to His disciples as friends. (James 4:8; John 15:1f) The caveat in both instances is that in order to have a close relationship with God we need to let His character and His agenda inform our lives. But that doesn’t mean that we’re on our own in an effort to qualify for intimacy with the Lord. God Himself by the indwelling Holy Spirit works with us; teaching us and training us to walk in a manner that is consistent with God’s character. (John 14:16-17)  And the result is a relationship with God that is joyful and fulfilling because He does know what is best for us.  He knows us better than we know ourselves and it’s only through a close relationship with the Lord that we become the person that we need to be. The process of becoming that person is not always pleasant as the writer of Hebrews tells us, but the end result is what he termed the “peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Hebrews 12:1-13)

A rigorous and consistent prayer life is essential in order for this process to take place. But it’s well worth it. Not only do we become more and more like Jesus, we also get to know the Lord in a close and personal way. It’s true that sin will disrupt our fellowship with God, but God by His grace is willing to work with us where we’re at. He doesn’t expect us to clean ourselves up on our own; what He does require is a willingness to follow His lead, allowing Him access to all the nooks and crannies of our souls, so that He can train us in the ways of righteousness. But as I’ve already suggested, Americans are trained to function independently. Our form of government, in its current condition, gives emphasis to personal rights and freedoms, often with little regard for the good of the country as a whole. The tendency for factious behavior is pronounced and the collaboration between people with contrasting views is strained at best, and often downright antagonistic. We as Christian believers need to recognize that influence as a detriment to our collaboration with God. We can’t let it unduly inform the way we approach the Lord. We need Him to be involved in every aspect of our lives. He’s made a way for us to have an intimate and vital relationship with Him, a relationship in which we can seek Him and hear from Him in all that we do. Instead of being left on our own to contend for what we want out of life, we get to collaborate with the Lord. He is in charge but as the scriptures tell us, “His yoke is easy and His burden is lite.” (Matt 11:28-30; 1John 5:3) His leadership is not oppressive; He knows who we are and He wants what is best for us!

With this in mind, we need to engage in prayer from a posture of expectation. God wants to, and will, communicate with us; sometimes through unexpected circumstances, sometimes through a “still small voice,” sometimes through other people. In order to hear what He has to say we need to pay attention and expect Him to respond to our prayers. We need to learn to listen to what He says even if it’s not the answer that we expected or hoped for. That means we need to be flexible and willing to listen, and we need to trust Him. The Lord knows who we are as individuals. We’re not following a dictator. We’re not part of a hoard of admirers who’ve given up their individuality and mindlessly mimic our fearless leader. God isn’t a fascist, He’s our Father. He deals with each one of us personally and we can trust Him as we follow His lead. And it’s imperative that we become increasingly familiar with the scriptures as well. Properly handling the text goes hand in hand with an effective and vibrant prayer life. Without it we won’t know what to expect from the Lord in our prayers; and not handling the text properly can skew our prayers prompting expectations that are out of step with God’s agenda. Developing a well-informed prayer life is a learning process; but it’s one that is rewarding in the extreme.

Praise God!