4/26/12 1:40 a.m.
I have heard your prayer. You are aware of your own strength and the strength you will need from Me in all things. I will give you the strength you need. I will give you love and wisdom in your heart. I will prosper you so you can accomplish My will with abundant resources. I will move you to do the right things. I will bless you both and I will show you the power of My love through you to others. Know that I hear all your prayers and gladly answer all that are in accordance with My will. Know I am with you and I love you.
5/9/12 3:22 a.m.
Pray often. Pray to Me. Speak to Me daily. I love to hear from you. Focus on prayer this week and see the difference. Prayer changes everything. You will see. Ask Me anything and I will answer you. Speak to Me daily and I will hear you. Know that I love you. Know that I am with you. Call out to Me and I will be there. Start again today. See My answers clearly. I await your call.
In my last post, I discussed the importance of a daily ‘quiet time’, spending time alone at the feet of Jesus. I gave examples of how this dedicated time with the Lord translates to true success in the life of a believer. I shared how learning about God (and myself) through daily bible study has had a positive and fruitful impact on my own life.
While quiet time does not need to consist solely of bible study, it is where I tend to spend the most time. Knowing the Word of God not only transforms and perfects our character, it arms us with truth that is needed to navigate the deceptiveness of our present world. But quiet time can also include listening for God to speak in the silence (or meditating), journaling, praising our Lord through music, and prayer.
Although prayer is often a part of quiet time, I am intentionally highlighting it on its own for two reasons. First, for some who do practice a daily quiet time, I believe prayer is often absent. Second, for those who do pray with some regularity, the outcome of those prayers is sometimes confusing. I have experienced both. Let’s dig a little deeper.
Bible study is one of the many ways God speaks to us. In scripture, God reveals Himself and His plan to save the world through Jesus. He also shows us how to live and order our lives this side of heaven. There is encouragement and wisdom for difficult times and promises of blessing for obedience (blessings not to be confused with salvation, which only comes through believing in and accepting the sacrifice of Jesus).
Prayer, on the other hand, is the way we speak to God. During this discipline, we can speak to God in many ways. A guided and popular way to pray is by using the ACTS acronym. We praise God for who He is through Adoration. We repent of our sin through Confession. We express gratitude to God for all He has done through Thanksgiving. We present requests for ourselves and others through Supplication.
When I begin my quiet time, I want to jump right into Bible Study. I am anxious to hear from God and learn as much as I can through His Word. I want to read and re-read, search for key words, find repetitive words or phrases and absorb His principles. I want to analyze and interpret. I enjoy seeing key thoughts or ideas jump out at me. I delight in the ‘ah ha’ moments. Because of this love for the study of God’s Word, I sometimes forget to pray.
I believe in praying before bible study to thank God for His written Word and to ask Him to open my eyes, mind, and heart to both understand and follow it. In jumping right in, I risk not having the proper posture to fully absorb God’s truths. God’s Word is powerful, but it can also be confusing. Through prayer, God can open our eyes to see what He wants us to see for that day’s study. We simply need to express our desire to see it.
Luckily, conversation with God can happen any time of the day. What is most important is that we pray daily. Prayer can be formal or informal. I have lots of informal conversation with God, at random times, and in reaction to just about anything – when I’m perplexed, thankful, frustrated, unsure, repentant, or awe struck. Below is a summary of what my typical prayers, formal and informal, look like at various times of the day.
I praise God for the beauty and brilliance of His creation, from how intricately we humans are made to the interaction of birds eating from the feeder in our yard, building nests, and raising babies in our flowers. I can’t look at the immense ocean, enormous mountains, or countless stars in the sky without feeling amazed. I stand in awe of beautiful clouds, sunsets, and rainbows. God lovingly created it all. Recognizing God’s marvelous creation reminds me how vast He is and instills in me a gladness that He is my Father. If He created everything out of nothing with a Word then, surely, He could contend with my greatest difficulties.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. (Psalm 19:1-2 NIV)
I thank God for providing my most basic needs; a roof over my head, clothing for my body, food, and water to sustain me, and the love and support of family and friends. I also thank God for less essential, yet incredibly abundant, blessings; a car for transportation, a comfortable bed to sleep in, air conditioning in the hot Carolina summer, hot tea on a cold winter day, and ice-cream (anytime!). Most importantly, I thank God for the gift of salvation through Jesus that I don’t deserve and can never earn, yet He gives it so freely. God is a good God. Regularly thanking Him for all that He blesses me with helps me to remember how fortunate I am. It keeps me joyful in what I have rather than pining for what I do not have.
I confess to God when I fail to uphold His standards. I say I’m sorry when I speak unlovingly to one of His other children. I repent when I don’t trust Him. I apologize for disobedience. Confessing my sin to the Lord reminds me I am imperfect. It keeps me in my rightful place in relation to Him. It helps me to remember that I am not God. I recognize how much I need Him. I see more clearly how much I need Jesus.
I ask God to bless me in my walk with Him, keep me from dishonoring His name, and soften my heart toward others. I pray for wisdom and strength in the difficult times. I request guidance in my decision-making. I talk things through with God when I’m frustrated or angry. I invite Him to walk beside me in everything.
I also intercede for others. I ask God to bless and protect my family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. I pray specifically for the challenges people are facing. I pray for my enemies and the people who hurt me. I also pray for people I don’t know, those who are victims of oppression, slavery, addiction, and so on. I call for God to reveal Himself in a powerful and saving way in this pandemic and amid racial tensions. I ask for equality for all human beings. I pray for wisdom for our political and church leaders. I pray against wrongful political agendas. I pray for the world’s salvation, that all people would recognize their need for Jesus.
By asking God for help for myself and others, I acknowledge He is all powerful, all knowing, all wise, and all competent. I am reminded that I am not any of these things, but I can have them with Him by my side. I also recognize I am not in control. This allows me to leave things I can’t control at His feet, and I am freed to focus on the things I can. This decreases stress, which inevitably increases peace.
I am currently working on consistency in formal prayer during quiet time, and on daily prayer in general. I remind myself that even Jesus spent time in conversation with His Father.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35 NIV)
Prayer is not only essential in our relationship with God, it is also powerful and effective for a pure and humble heart.
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (John 5:16b NIV)
I believe many of us experience uncertainties about the outcome of our prayers. I will offer a few ideas as to why this may be so. When having conversation with God, He is fully aware of our posture, heart, and motive. God wants a relationship with us, but He is also Sovereign. We need to approach Him with the highest respect. Carelessly approaching God as if we are His equal, as though He owes us something, or with the wrong motive will yield our prayers ineffective. These are mistakes I have made in my own prayer life.
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3 NIV)
A righteous person, or one with a pure heart toward God, prays with respect and honor and according to the will of God. And God always answers prayers that are in line with His will. We can ask God for almost anything but if we are asking out of selfish motives with no concern for the will of God, our prayer will not be answered. However, if we pray for what we want, but allow God’s will to prevail, our prayers will be effective. We may not always get the answer we want, but we will always get the answer we need. To understand the will of God, we can read His Word and ask Him to reveal it.
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (1 John 5:14 NIV)
Another prayer mistake is forcing the answer to be the one we are looking for and attributing that answer to God. My most memorable example is when I experienced medical burnout in the workplace (as described in my ‘Growing Pains’ post). I prayed on several occasions for God to tell me I could quit, but I kept hearing “not yet”. So, I continued to work to the point of burnout. Because of my pride, I didn’t really want to quit. I didn’t want to be labeled a quitter and feel like a failure. So, I heard the answer I wanted to hear. Ever since that experience, I now remind myself of this: If it’s not good, it’s not God.
Other times, I have heard the answer I wanted to hear concerning things ‘I viewed as good’, such as “should I buy this car?” or “should I date this guy?”. This often happens when we really want something, even though we know we can’t afford the car, and the guy we are head over heels for is not good for us. For me, the guy I made this mistake with did not have the same Christian beliefs that I did, and dating him pulled me away from, rather than closer to, Jesus. Eventually, after some painful mistakes, I allowed God to reveal ‘His’ will and forced myself to walk away from the guy. In all honesty, this was incredibly difficult and painful. I suffered for a time following that breakup… but Jesus has been so very worth it! And today, having Joe as a husband is one of the greatest blessings I have ever been given!
God loves us beyond our understanding and His will is always perfect. But that doesn’t mean we can understand His will perfectly… at least not this side of heaven. The truth is, sometimes we get answers we just don’t understand. This is where faith in our Sovereign God is tested and some hard questions rise to the surface. Will we continue to follow God even when we don’t understand? Will we trust in the things we cannot see? My prayer is that we ‘will’ choose to follow and trust in our Lord because, with everything in me, I do believe He is worth it.
I want to leave you with this thought. Although God is so much bigger than we are, we are still made in His image. As a result, God has characteristics that are not unlike our own. He not only wants us to believe in and know Him, He wants a relationship with us (a two-way conversation). Not unlike a human, God desires for us to recognize and praise Who He is, His uniqueness, His greatness. He wants us to apologize when we hurt Him. He appreciates it when we acknowledge and thank Him for His gifts. And He wants us to ask Him for help when we need it.
Do you have a genuine relationship with God? Do you have a deep and fruitful prayer life? Do you adore Him? Do you thank Jesus for his everyday gifts and mercies? Do you apologize when you hurt Him? Do you see God for who He is, Holy and righteous? Are you reverent before Him? Do you want God’s will as opposed to your own? Do you see God as capable of seeing you through your greatest challenges? Do you trust Him? Friend, remember, God is everything and in need of nothing. And, yet He still wants to commune with us.
I believe prayer, practiced with a pure heart, to be another essential key to true success. Recognition of and joy in God’s amazing creation. Forgiveness for our shortcomings, and growth, through confession. A full and satisfied heart through thankfulness. Guidance from a Father who sees all and wants what’s best for us. Strength and wisdom through tapping into the power of Jesus. Joy and peace through gifts of the Holy Spirit. And so much more. Will you pray with me?
Lord, I know that you are Sovereign and righteous. I know I am broken and in need of your forgiveness and healing. Jesus, I know that you died for this very reason, and I thank you for Your eternal sacrifice. I accept your gift of salvation and I invite You into my heart as my personal God and Savior. Lord, please help me to live a good and righteous life, according to Your will, even if at the expense of my own will. God, I pray that you will change the desires of my heart to be in line with yours. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Colossians 4:2 NIV)
All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. (Proverbs 16:2 NIV)
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10 NIV)