P.U.R.E. Viewpoints

As we finish up this series on prayer, we’ve looked at several aspects of prayer, but we’ve only scratched the surface. We’ve looked at what we’re really doing when we pray, the folly of thinking we are “changing God’s mind”, and, since God is sovereign, why we should pray at all. 

Last time I asked, “What do you pray for?” The answers are obviously all across the board on this one, but if you are like me, you probably have a list; no, make that lists. I have a longer list of people and things that I pray for when I “have a lot of time”; shorter lists for less time; and a list of just important people and things when I’m in a hurry. Even as I say this I realize how pathetic it sounds. The fact that I let MY time availability affect my prayer life says more than I would like about me. Can you imagine standing before our Father one day trying to explain why we couldn’t make time for the One who gives us everything? 

So, what do you pray for? Scripture certainly tells us to pray for others:

1 Timothy 2:1 – I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

But, if you read this verse closely, it doesn’t say just for our family, friends, and ourselves. It says all men. Too often, I find myself praying down my list for the people who are closest to me and that is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it is when we stay so egocentric and never think about people and the world outside of our own little existence that we give evidence of our selfishness, even in our prayer.

Further, Paul tells us we are not to only pray for all men, but for all things.

Philippians 4:6 – Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Paul is telling us here not to just pray in general terms, but to be very specific: in EVERYTHING, i.e. everything, specific things. We are to pray with confidence thanking Him as we pray for that which we haven’t yet seen. Jesus Himself explains this when He tells us “how” we are to pray:

Matt 6: 7-13 – But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. ¹⁰Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. ¹¹Give us this day our daily bread. ¹²And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. ¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Jesus not only gives us what is commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer, but he tells how we are to pray: from the heart, not just reciting things. On days when I am so busy I only have time for my short list, I feel like I am praying “vain repetitions” and I am. The Lord’s (or in reality the Disciple’s) Prayer is not THE prayer we are to pray, but a MODEL of prayer. We should begin acknowledging and praising God; ask that His Kingdom to come and His will be done; our daily bread or needs; forgiveness of our sins; the power to forgive others; ask for His power to resist temptation and evil; and then ending in acknowledgement of God again. If you notice, the prayer is heavy on the praise and worship of the God to whom we are praying and our prayers should be as well.

In the busy-ness of life, how do we actually do this: pray for every man and thing and give proper praise to God? I’m not sure we can ever do this to perfection, but I am sure we can never give appropriate or sufficient praise to God.  However, to even approach what we should be, I think we have to first redefine prayer as we have so commonly understood it. Again, Paul helps us:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

First, prayer is not a burden or obligation: rejoice! If we truly love God we should love talking with Him. Imagine considering talking to your wife, husband, son, daughter, etc. as a burden or obligation or duty we must perform? No, we love them and it is great to sit down and talk. Men, we don’t do this enough, but you get the drift (we’ll hold the men topic for another day).

Second, we are to pray without ceasing. That means we NEVER stop. Impossible? Not if we know God intimately and are constantly seeing Him in all that is happening in our lives. “Without ceasing” doesn’t mean we physically stay on our knees every minute, but it does mean our “hearts and minds” are aware of His moving in everything we experience.

Third, we are to be ALWAYS THANKFUL regardless of how we think or feel. We aren’t smart enough to know if something that happens is “good” or “bad” and how God is going to use it for our good and His glory. But, we can be assured He is!

Finally, when we do this, pray: rejoicing; without ceasing; and with thanksgiving, we are actually living out the will of God in our lives, second-by-second, through Christ Jesus! Amazing is it not?

Prayer is, perhaps, the most meaningful and precious to us when our words are totally inadequate. We need to continue to pray our lists because God, even though He already knows and wants to hear it from us personally. But, if time is running short and you have time to mutter just one short prayer, make it, “Lord help me love you more, see you in everything, and be thankful for it all as I not only accept, but embrace your will as it unfolds before me now.” You can’t go wrong with that. 

This is a pretty deep question when you stop and think about it. If God is sovereign in all ways and in all times (which He is) and if we really can’t change God’s mind when we pray (which I think we all hopefully agree now that we can’t), then why should we pray at all? Last time, I mentioned Oswald Chamber’s insightful view of prayer, “It is not so true that “prayer changes things” as that prayer changes me and I change things.” But, what does “changing me” really mean?

You or I get news that a loved one has just been in a serious car accident or has just received a terminal cancer diagnosis: what is the first thing we as Christians say or do? “Let’s pray for ______” and we do. But, what do pray FOR and WHY pray anyway if God already knows what is happening and going to happen?

I have wrestled with these questions in my life and at times been angry with God when He didn’t answer a prayer the way I just “knew” He and I agreed was the “right answer”. In my momentary rebellion, I asked Him, “If you already KNOW what You’re going to do, then why do I “waste” my time giving You my opinion?”

For you see, I am just a struggling Christian just like you, but I think I do have some answers to these perplexing and, what can be to our faith, troubling questions. I didn’t dream these things up, but rather God simply and patiently revealed them to me through His Word.

1. The first and most basic reason that we pray is because He has COMMANDED us to and EXPECTS us to!

Jesus himself actually told us to pray while He was on this earth numerous times in His Word. These were not suggestions, but rather direct commands – Jesus thought it was and is so important that HE prayed to the Father himself while on this earth. Think about that: this is GOD praying to GOD! Why would He do that? He certainly didn’t have to “pray”, as we conceive of it, to commune with His heavenly father. So, why did He do it so often? Reread the Gospels and you’ll be surprised how many times Jesus prayed! I’ll talk about this later, but I personally believe that Jesus did and said many things while on this earth SOLELY FOR OUR BENEFIT and His audible prayers might just be for US to overhear so we know HOW to pray as well as what to PRAY FOR! He did and said these many things, I believe, to model the way WE SHOULD LIVE. With regard to our praying, below are just a few of the verses where He instructs us to pray:

Matthew 5:44 – But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Matthew 6:9 – After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Matthew 9:38 – Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

Matthew 26:41- Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Luke 6:28 – Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

Luke 18:1 – And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

Luke 21:36 – Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

There is no mistake – Jesus tells us to pray.

Further, Jesus EXPECTS us to pray. Most often these verses begin with “when you pray” or “as you pray”. In fact He ASSUMES we are praying even more explicitly than does He TELL us to pray. Below are but a few of the versus in which Jesus is presuming that we are praying people and instructs us as to how we should pray:

Matthew 6:5-8 – And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Matthew 21:22 – And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Mark 11:24 – Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Mark 11:25 – And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Jesus does ASSUME we are praying.

2. Jesus definitely tells us to pray and assumes we will, and if for no other reason, we should be people of prayer. However, I believe the second and most profound reason that we should pray is that we would literally be fools not to! Let me explain. When we begin to get even a glimmer of what prayer really is, who would consciously choose NOT TO PRAY? No, our problem is not just that we are disobedient at times in not praying or that we pray selfishly. But rather, our problem is more that our UNDERSTANDING of what prayer in fact really is serves as the barrier to our not “praying without ceasing”. If we could just comprehend that the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe; the Source of all grace, mercy, and love; the One who gave His only son to die in our place for the sins we have committed against HIM so that we can live eternally with Him; and, our loving “Abba” Daddy who simply wants us to come sit in His lap and TALK with us, LISTEN to us, and LOVE on us – why DON’T WE PRAY MORE? Shoot, why aren’t we ALWAYS praying!? Yes, we are ever the popular ones, but do we really have somebody better to talk to than GOD!? God is inviting US into fellowship with Him!

This is what prayer is! We have, excuse the pun, put prayer in a “closet”. Yes we are to have a prayer “closet”, but we are to have a prayer home, car, court, field, bedroom, etc. too! Prayer should be as natural as talking and listening to God, because that’s what it is! God is loving, merciful, and forgiving – always, all the time, and every time.

But, still “things” keep us from praying. I don’t know about you, but there have been many times in my life I have stayed away from God in prayer because I was “enjoying” (or couldn’t stop)  my sin too much and just couldn’t bring myself to ask Him for forgiveness. When I did confess, I experienced His wonderful forgiveness, only to go directly and commit the very same sin again. Ever happen to you?

I close with this story. A man like me as I just described had endured many cycles of committing sin, asking and receiving God’s forgiveness in prayer, only to commit the same sin again. Finally, the man, broken in his sinfulness, humbly cried out to God”, Lord it’s me and I’ve done it again!” To which the loving Heavenly Father, simply replied, “Done WHAT again, my son?” God is the ultimate forgiver –  if we ever ask His forgiveness for a sin, He has forgotten it forever!

Prayer is the basis of our relationship with God. To Christians it must become the very breath we breathe. It is NOT about us bringing our laundry list of things we want for ourselves or others to Him, expecting Him to deliver, and our praising Him if He listens “correctly” and ignoring Him if His response doesn’t meet our approval. No, God just wants us close to Him as His will unfolds. He doesn’t need our advice, but He tells us and wants us to share our hearts with HIM, even though He already knows what’s there! He may or may not reveal to us the why, what, and when of it all, but just being close to HIM is all that really matters. There is no doubt if I remind myself more consistently of what prayer IS and also what it IS NOT, that I would be more of a prayer warrior. What about you?

Question for next time (and English teachers please don’t chastise me – I know it’s grammatically incorrect. This question just makes much more sense asked with incorrect grammar: the dangling “for”):

When we pray, what do we ask God for?

I want you to do me a favor: try this and see if it isn’t true. A few days ago we were driving home on I75 north heading to Atlanta. As I most always do when I’m driving, I was thinking and pondering on a lot of things: our trip, what I was going to be doing the next week, what my kids and grandkids were doing, etc. and a scriptural truth almost caused me to drive off the side of the road (by the way, THAT is NOT what I’m asking you to do!). I don’t believe it was caused by the fact that I was on a long straightaway, but I could almost hear God say, “David, the “present” in this world is here and gone faster than we can ever realize, but My “present” is now and forever”. 

If you would try this the next time you’re driving and maybe you’ll get a sense of this truth too: 1) pick a landmark (a sign, house, etc) up ahead (it doesn’t matter how far because you’ll be limited by distance) – it is now in your “future”; 2) watch, wait, and anticipate as you approach it – it is still in your future; 3) try to watch it as you zoom past it – it is, in that second or two, “present”; 3) as you watch it disappear in your rearview mirror, it is now and FOREVER in your “past”. You may remember what “it” looked like for a minute or two, but it will fade. Yes we can turn round and go back and do the exercise again, but the same thing will happen. Our reality is speeding fast by us and it is fading quickly in our memories. And so is life. 

And the point of all this is that though we live our lives in the present, second by second, the present passes so fast that before we can really appreciate it fully, it is forever gone and part of our past. Has this happened to you: we spend days eagerly and excitedly anticipating a special event or trip and then can’t fully appreciate it all while we are experiencing what we looked so forward to – and then it is gone!? Or, you dreaded for days something that was going to happen, it happened, and was not at all as bad as you thought, and now it is in the deep recesses of your memory? 

If we are honest, we have all probably done these things because we all live on this earth and are bound by the dimension of time. Time is linear (for all of you that watch MSNBC regularly, that means “in a straight line”), goes only in one direction, and there is nothing we can do about it no matter how much we sometimes want to back up, stop, slow down, or expand time. I find myself so often in the midst of something truly wonderful happening in my life (like getting a hug from one of my grandchildren) and “wishing” I could just stop time and enjoy it just for a minute or two; but, I can’t. This truth that God illustrated so clearly to me that day driving is now etched a little more prominently in my heart now. As I thought about it further, I realized that though we live in the present, it is almost impossible to experience all the emotions, sensations, joy, truths, depths, etc. that is contained in any one second of “now” – and then, the “now” is past.  If you think about this long enough and not get too deep, we actually “live”, in essence, anticipating the “future” and remembering the “past” simply because we can’t seem to squeeze all the living out of each second of the present. 

So what do we do: remain frustrated, anxious, and angry? No, as Christians, God has provided the solution. It is not a magic bullet, a system of belief, nor a place in which to take refuge. It is simply a person, Jesus, the creator of all, including time. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter 3, verses 4-8, he addresses this issue: But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

You’re probably familiar with some of this passage, especially verse 8, but I’ve highlighted verses 5 and 6. Can you grasp what these verses are really saying? I’m not sure if I can either, but the tense of the verbs is the key. “hath quickened”, “hath raised”, and “”made us sit” are all in the “aorist, active, indicative” tense meaning the emphasis is on an action that is considered without regard for past, present, or future time. Though there is no clear English equivalent, this tense is generally rendered as a simple past tense. In other words, when God reaches down and saves us, He makes us alive in Jesus; He somehow and in some way at that point in time, raises us up to “sit” (or rest) in “heavenly places” in and with Christ! If we belong to Jesus, He has made us part of Him and He is ruler over time. Again, I certainly don’t understand this, but when we are made alive with Christ, we (or some part of us) are now – right now, this minute, and forever – ALREADY in heaven in some way in Christ. The implications of this truth are mind boggling: though we are still bound by time on this earth, in Christ, we are now and forever in the “present”: there is no past and no future, only the present. We can’t understand it now but we’ll understand this one day when we get home. He will have “exceeding riches” to show us then, but we have something to hold onto now, too.

For now, the best we can do is simply slow down and enjoy each moment God has given us and that is my encouragement for you. Passages like Philippians 4:7, And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus start to take on a lot more meaning to me today than before. I know it’s trite and simplistic, but the truth so often is. I know we are not to be governed by our emotions, but the next time you find yourself in the embrace of that lost son now found, sitting in a funeral mourning and celebrating the impact on your life of a loved one, or simply watching the waves roll in at the beach, and wanting to stop time to savor and fully appreciate the moment: soak it all in and thank God for it all. In our thanksgiving and in some way as we experience Jesus in every second, every second lasts. The moment here will pass, but, right now, in “heavenly places”, we and “it” lasts forever.