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Reflections on the Nature of Prayer
by Carol Balizet
June, 2002Prayer is the exercise of spiritual power. It is essential, commanded, important to God but often neglected. Some observations and insights on the subject.
Contents:
Why pray
There are two forces available to us which are endued with spiritual power. That is, they have the potential to release the power of God. These are faith and words. (Others may be available, but they're forbidden.) With our creative words of faith, we can penetrate that barrier between the realms of sense and of spirit, and by our travail we can "birth" the will of God on earth. It's pertinent to note here that He is called "The God of Heaven" all through Scripture, until He gets a man - a person - who will stand on earth in full agreement with Him, in faith, speaking that faith aloud for all creation to hear - and then He becomes "The God of Heaven and Earth". We can extend His reign, and that is astonishing! We can add to the power of an omnipotent Being by our obedience to pray! And this is because God, by His sovereign will, has chosen to limit Himself in some ways. And one way is: He will move on our behalf to the extent that we (or somebody else) will pray in faith. He does not necessarily respond to our needs.
On the subject of prayer, we start with the communication between Adam and Eve and God in the garden. Like everything else, this was damaged by the fall. Ever since then, even after the rending of the veil at the time of the Crucifixion, we have been struggling to find a language of intimacy. This is an enormously significant subject.
How do we sound
Here's an illustration. One day I had a letter to be mailed and I knew that my neighbor Mary was going to the post office. For some silly reason, I made my request to her as though it were a prayer, and it was revelatory. I said something like, "Oh, friend Mary, I just come to you now and I would just pray that you would just help me in my need, friend Mary. You have said that you were going to the post office and I know, friend Mary, that your word is faithful and true, so I would just ask that you would just take my letter, friend Mary, that you would just take it with you to the post office, friend Mary, and mail it if it by thy will. And I will be careful just to give you all the praise and glory, friend Mary." I have exaggerated, a little, but that's not far from what God hears all the time. We say the word just, which of course is limiting (just do this one thing, don't do any more...) And the word would, which of course is conditional ( You would if You could, but You can't so You shan't...) It is astonishing how this pattern is true almost everywhere English is spoken. I wonder if they do the same thing in other languages? Because we sure don't find that kind of thing in Scriptural prayers.
How biblical prayers sound
One thing I did as I studied prayer was to analyze every prayer in the Bible. With few exceptions (like Solomon's dedication of the temple in I Kings 8) they are pretty short; and they have no jargon. No filler words like our prayers.
In the Bible, instead of beginning, as most of us would, with something like, "Oh, Father, we just come before you and would just pray that you would just ..." , they usually begin by saying, in one way or another: "You are absolutely wonderful!" (Well, occasionally they start by saying, "I'm pretty upset with You..."). The second step for most of us usually involves "lifting up" something or someone, preparing to petition God. Those in the Bible often move from praise into "Now this is what you said..." Once in a while they give some reason why they are qualified to receive; usually they just sort of assume their position of being "blessable". And almost always their petition, the "this is what we want" part of the prayer, is the last thing they talk about. They talk about God Himself and what God has said, far more than they talk about their need. It's very refreshing.
Jesus summarized New Covenant prayer with what we call the Lord's Prayer. That's our pattern. We begin with "This is who we're praying to and how we're related to You; this is where You are; this is what You're like." And next comes what I think is the essence of our role, our duty, our responsibility, our glory. The pattern is "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". This is the heart of our prayer.
This is the way we can help establish the Lord's kingdom in this natural realm. We believe that God's will is done perfectly in His own sphere. It seems that only on earth, for a short while, He allows creatures to rise up in self-will against His sovereign dominance. (Maybe this is the only place in creation where His creatures want to rise up against Him.) However on earth, almost every thought, every word, every action, every intention and purpose is set against His reign. I often wonder how He stands it, when He is so strongly, consistently, universally and constantly despised by the creatures He loves so profoundly. Even the best of men must be a frustration and grief to His heart at times. And the thing that can change this, at least a little, is our prayer. We can enable, empower, support and assist the coming of His kingdom by praying that it will come; it will come into the area over which we are stewards.
What we're saying, and praying is: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth; here in the earthly areas of my heart, my home, my body, my words, my ministry, my children, my money, my cat, my driving, my attitudes, my goals, my responses to others, my eating, my use of time ... may Thy will be done in all of this, precisely as it would be done if You were really free to reign in me as you reign even now in heaven. Establish your lordship over me and the things You have put under my stewardship. Let it become more and more heavenly (more in line with your goals and principles) and less and less earthly (less in line with my goals and principles)." After He's really taken the throne of my life, I can better pray for others.
(I can't come this far in discussing the Lord's Prayer without commenting on a remarkable fact: I have been a church-goer all my life and a committed Christian for almost three decades and with the exception of rote prayers which are integral to some churches' liturgies, I have never heard any Christian obey the words of Jesus, who said: "When you pray, pray Our Father, Who are in heaven..." There's a fad currently to pray the prayer of Jabez, and it's a Scriptural, effective prayer. But why are folks so eager to pray that prayer and not the one Jesus gave us and commanded us to use? If you have any insight, I'd really like to know. Inquiring minds want to know.)
Of course there is much more to the subject of prayer: I haven't even touched on what Paul calls praying "in the Spirit" which many take to mean praying in tongues. But this study is very cursory even for praying in a known language. For one thing there's a lot more than petition. There's repenting, thanksgiving, complaining, questioning, worshiping, explaining, stirring God to action, just visiting, and what we might call encountering. (Moses, Habakkuk, Elijah, Asaph and Job were among those who did this, with very interesting results). The prayers in Scripture were all remarkably real; they knew God and prayed for His ears, not the ears of those listening. No long, stylized, soulish prayers, but a heartfelt communication with a God they knew. They got mad at Him, reminded Him of His obligations to them, defended themselves from His actions, questioned Him, begged Him to "Awake! Awake! Help me!" None of it pointless. Here are some examples:
Moses: "Why have You burdened me with all these people? I can't stand it! If You're not going to change things, just kill me."
Hezekiah: "I don't want to die, and remember how righteous I am!"
Habakkuk: "How long do I have to keep praying before You do something?"
Elijah: "I was zealous for You, only me! Everybody else has forsaken You. I am the only one You have left and they're trying to kill me!"
Isaiah: "Woe is me! I am undone!"
Jonah: "I did what You told me, and look what happened! Just go ahead and kill me!"
Jesus: "My God, my God, why!!?"
This is not a formal, distant communication. This is not "saying prayers". This is praying! The Book is full of this kind of thing; a far cry from what we hear. I don't want to sound judgmental and condemning, but we need to re-think this subject. It is deep and serious and important - one of the three most important things we do in this life - and we can't just continue to learn how to pray from listening to each other. That leads to jargon and ritual, not to a living spark between God and man.
To balance the disapproving attitude I've shown so far, let me add this. Some friends of mine have a baby who is currently nine months old, and she's learning to talk. She can say "Daddy" and she is beginning to understand "NO". And you know what? Her little language is delightful to the grownups around her! Her father just melts when she says "Daahh". I think most of us are about at the same stage. We're learning to cry "Abba!" and maybe even learning a bit of what He means when He says "No". And I believe He is just like the father of this baby. God loves to hear from us; no matter how seldom, how distantly, how poorly we speak, we melt His heart when we say, "Daddy". Because the most incredible thing about prayer is: God really wants to hear from us!
biblical Suggestions for prayers
Of course we can't limit our prayers to our own arenas. We not only should pray for other things and other people, we must! Here are some of the topics for prayer which the Lord has commanded:
- The peace of Jerusalem - Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. (Psalms 122:6)
- Those who despitefully use you - 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 5:44).
- The Lord of the harvest; rain, workers - Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; [so] the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. (Zechariah 10:1) Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:38)
- That your flight not be in winter; that you be found worthy to escape - But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: (Matthew 24:20) 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. (Luke 21:36)
- For all saints; for one another - Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; (Ephesians 6:18) Pray one for another, that ye may be healed - The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)
- Kings and those in authority - I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, [and] giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and [for] all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. (1 Timothy 2:1,2)
- Those in bonds, the afflicted - Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; [and] them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. (Hebrews 13:3)
- Doors of utterance for the Gospel - Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ...(Colossians 4:3)
- Deliverance from wicked men - And [pray] that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all [men] have not faith. (2 Thessalonians 3:2)
- Daily bread - Give us day by day our daily bread. (Luke 11:3)
- Against temptation - Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak. (Matthew 26:41)
- Against the enemy - For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]... Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints... (Ephesians 6:13,18)
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