Prayer - God and us

Restraining pray’r, we cease to fight;
Pray’r makes the Christian’s armor bright;
And Satan trembles, when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees

So writes the hymn-writer of yesteryear, William Cowper. All of us, though we know in our heads the value of prayer, often struggle with it. We find ourselves too busy, too tired, perhaps even feeling too guilty. So let's take a moment to consider the very act of prayer.

Prayer, very basically, is talking to God. That's a simple enough definition. Yet sometimes we miss out just how shocking that is. Prayer is talking...to God! The God who made the universe, who has taken the initiative to reveal himself to us, and who has blessed his people with salvation and grace. This is who we are addressing when we pray. But we can pray as the Lord Jesus taught us: “Our Father in heaven...”

Prayer is an expression of dependence. In a world where the strong are applauded and the compulsion to save face very real indeed, to get on our knees is to be counter-cultural. It is hard to admit we are weak, though that is what we are. And so prayer actually exposes our hearts. To wrestle with prayer is to wrestle with truth claims. Do we choose to believe that we are independent, in control of our destinies? Or can we face the truth that we are weak in every way: spiritually, mentally, even physically? When we pray, we acknowledge we're not in control. We are, in one sense, giving expression to the gospel. We are helpless, we need God. So we pray.

And God delights in the prayer of his children! He isn't recording the hours we spend in prayer on a spreadsheet, ready to point the accusing finger at us. He wants us, instead, to exercise the privilege we have in Christ. “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:11-13). He is ready to welcome the desperate and act justly (Luke 18:1-8). He is more than willing to comfort the repentant sinner (Luke 18:9-14).

Moreover, our grasp of the gospel affects the orientation of our prayers. If God is the loving creator and ruler of the universe, if we have rebelled against him, if corruption affects every part of reality, if God in his grace sent the Lord Jesus to take the punishment we deserve, and ultimately to reconcile all of creation as its king (Col. 1:19-20), then the shape of our prayers will reflect these truths. It's no longer about us. It's about God and for his glory. We might pray, then, as Paul does for the Colossians, "asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:9-10)

Prayer isn't just an individual activity, it's corporate too! Paul appeals to his fellow Christians to strive together with him in prayer, “by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit” (Rom. 15:30). We are bound together by the Spirit (Eph 4:3), who unites us to Christ, through whom we have access to the Father. So let's strive together, encouraging each other in the hard but joyful work of praying.

Brian K