Prayer
It kind of disturbs me when people treat prayer as some sort of formula. What do I mean? There are some people that say if you pray in a certain way and use certain words you will ‘touch’ the heart of God. Furthermore, some say that if you are in a certain condition then you pray a certain prayer and continue to pray it. They sound as if by repeating that prayer that God is going to have to do it for them. As I ponder on this and read the Bible, I don’t see the Bible teaching anything like that at all.
Does the Bible ever teach that when you pray in a certain way and use certain words you will touch the heart of God? What does the Bible say? James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Did it say you must use certain words to pray? It just says ‘the prayer of a righteous man’. The condition for powerful prayer is not a formula but your standing with God. If we are right with God, we can be assured our prayer will be heard. Does God always answer a ‘yes’? No. A lot of people assume that when God answers it will always be a ‘yes’ because they followed a formula. If God was constrained that way, He would not be Sovereign. Even ‘no’ or ‘wait’ is an answer.
In consequence, what does being right with God mean? Firstly, it is accepting and believing sincerely that Jesus has died for our sins and receiving him as Lord and Savior. Secondly, it is an ongoing process whereby we continuously repent of our sins that we commit and strive to live a life that is pleasing to God. Please note that I am not advocating good works as a means for salvation. Good works is the embodiment of genuine faith in Christ. The Bible also says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Therefore, our faith must be genuine faith.
When Jesus taught the all time famous Lord’s Prayer, he was giving us a modal to follow. In the prayer, he says we can and should ask God to: give us daily need, strengthen us against temptation, help us to forgive others. It also says we should glorify and praise God when we pray and pray his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It basically sums up what is the meaning of prayer.
Another thing I find a bit out of place is the practice of invoking the different names of God. You can correct me if I am wrong on this one. I guess this practice was drawn from the Old Testament when Abraham and others build altars to remember God’s character. For example, in Exodus 17:15, “Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.” It was just a symbol to remember God and what he had done. In this case, he had just won a war with the Amalekites. But people seem to build on this and say we should pray invoking the name of God as if by invoking his various ‘names’ he will do as we ask. Some names are Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Tsidkenu, Jehovah Rophe and Jehovah Shalom. True, they are all after the God’s nature but never in the Bible was it taught to invoke these names as if to demand God for something. Example would be Jehovah Rophe which means the Lord who heals. Some may tend to pray, “Because you are Jehovah Rophe, you must heal me.” But there is a difference when you pray, “I know you are Jehovah Rophe and you are capable of healing as you have shown in the past. But you are Sovereign. In your mercy, if it is your will, heal me.” See the difference?
Sermons and discussions on prayer are legion. But why make something so complicated which God meant to be so simple? When you pray, just pray as if you were talking to a person. Is it hard at first? Yes. But the more you try, the Spirit will draw you into a deeper communion with Him. Don’t know where to start? Look at the Lord’s prayer as a modal. When I first began to take my walk with God seriously (about Form 2 I think), I prayed prayers which were short and mostly asking for stuff. But inside, I felt a yearning for a closer relationship with Him. Overtime, I began to pour my heart out to God; telling him about my deepest struggles I face in my body, mind and spirit. As I kept on reading God’s word, I began to realize that I can come before God with my requests and concerns. I confess my sins, though I feel ashamed before him. All I can ask is for forgiveness and strength and grace to not fall into the same sin again. Since nothing is hidden from him, and I know he won’t misunderstand me, I can just pour my heart freely to him. Not to boast or anything, someone said once my prayer was very good. I was like “what…?” Got good and bad prayer meh…? Someone also ask me how I pray. I was like…err…just pray….? :P ( not boasting or anything…just want to draw from experience)
So I just one to encourage you all to keep prayer simple. It was not and was never meant to be a complicated issue. Set your heart in seeking God and he will call you to Himself.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Soli Deo Gloria!
PS: Comments are welcomed:P If you think I misunderstand a certain part,feel free to voice it out.
Does the Bible ever teach that when you pray in a certain way and use certain words you will touch the heart of God? What does the Bible say? James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Did it say you must use certain words to pray? It just says ‘the prayer of a righteous man’. The condition for powerful prayer is not a formula but your standing with God. If we are right with God, we can be assured our prayer will be heard. Does God always answer a ‘yes’? No. A lot of people assume that when God answers it will always be a ‘yes’ because they followed a formula. If God was constrained that way, He would not be Sovereign. Even ‘no’ or ‘wait’ is an answer.
In consequence, what does being right with God mean? Firstly, it is accepting and believing sincerely that Jesus has died for our sins and receiving him as Lord and Savior. Secondly, it is an ongoing process whereby we continuously repent of our sins that we commit and strive to live a life that is pleasing to God. Please note that I am not advocating good works as a means for salvation. Good works is the embodiment of genuine faith in Christ. The Bible also says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Therefore, our faith must be genuine faith.
When Jesus taught the all time famous Lord’s Prayer, he was giving us a modal to follow. In the prayer, he says we can and should ask God to: give us daily need, strengthen us against temptation, help us to forgive others. It also says we should glorify and praise God when we pray and pray his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It basically sums up what is the meaning of prayer.
Another thing I find a bit out of place is the practice of invoking the different names of God. You can correct me if I am wrong on this one. I guess this practice was drawn from the Old Testament when Abraham and others build altars to remember God’s character. For example, in Exodus 17:15, “Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.” It was just a symbol to remember God and what he had done. In this case, he had just won a war with the Amalekites. But people seem to build on this and say we should pray invoking the name of God as if by invoking his various ‘names’ he will do as we ask. Some names are Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Tsidkenu, Jehovah Rophe and Jehovah Shalom. True, they are all after the God’s nature but never in the Bible was it taught to invoke these names as if to demand God for something. Example would be Jehovah Rophe which means the Lord who heals. Some may tend to pray, “Because you are Jehovah Rophe, you must heal me.” But there is a difference when you pray, “I know you are Jehovah Rophe and you are capable of healing as you have shown in the past. But you are Sovereign. In your mercy, if it is your will, heal me.” See the difference?
Sermons and discussions on prayer are legion. But why make something so complicated which God meant to be so simple? When you pray, just pray as if you were talking to a person. Is it hard at first? Yes. But the more you try, the Spirit will draw you into a deeper communion with Him. Don’t know where to start? Look at the Lord’s prayer as a modal. When I first began to take my walk with God seriously (about Form 2 I think), I prayed prayers which were short and mostly asking for stuff. But inside, I felt a yearning for a closer relationship with Him. Overtime, I began to pour my heart out to God; telling him about my deepest struggles I face in my body, mind and spirit. As I kept on reading God’s word, I began to realize that I can come before God with my requests and concerns. I confess my sins, though I feel ashamed before him. All I can ask is for forgiveness and strength and grace to not fall into the same sin again. Since nothing is hidden from him, and I know he won’t misunderstand me, I can just pour my heart freely to him. Not to boast or anything, someone said once my prayer was very good. I was like “what…?” Got good and bad prayer meh…? Someone also ask me how I pray. I was like…err…just pray….? :P ( not boasting or anything…just want to draw from experience)
So I just one to encourage you all to keep prayer simple. It was not and was never meant to be a complicated issue. Set your heart in seeking God and he will call you to Himself.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Soli Deo Gloria!
PS: Comments are welcomed:P If you think I misunderstand a certain part,feel free to voice it out.
posted by child_of_God at 10:27 PM
16 Comments:
Hmm prayer...
Well if God answered everyone's prayer.
What is the point of life?
How would life be?
Most people's prayer are just selfish (in my opinion). How many of us during prayer meetings actually say, "My prayer request is to thank God for all the thing's He has done for me."? Most of the time it's, "I want God to help me study" or "I want God to cure my sickness" and many more.
Well, there is a reason WHY God made books and placed doctors all around us right? Unless it's some "I don't know whether I'll wake up the next morning" sickness lar then can ask God for help.
And moreover, alot of people pray asking God to improve their church and all. But what are those people doing? Are they actually helping the church or they are just waiting for God to actually do something?
My 2 cents. hehe
ah...thats why i said 'no' and 'wait' are also answers from God...not only 'yes' is an answer.
about praying to improve church...dats a questionable prayer. why do you want your church to be bigger, better and larger than the rest? to boast your ego? to show off? the person should ask instead for God to embolden him/her to spread the Gospel to bring more people into the worldwide church.
Nice one ian. I totally agree that there isn't something right about the way many people pray. the one that gets to me the worst is when people start "talking" during prayer. as in suddenly they're giving a short message (or telling off) during prayer, and it doesn't seem as if god is on the other end.
For example, I once had a debate with my friends right before prayer meeting about tongues and slaining. Suddenly during prayer time, the guy prayed something along the lines of "god, forgive us for the times where we question your ways and miracles and for those who...". I was furious! How can one simply pull of something like that. I hate it when prayer becomes a "hidden agenda" thing, ya know, like stuff you can't say out loud to your face you say in prayer cuz obviously its rude to do anything afterwords.
yeah. very true. i have heard prayers like that also but the one i heard was more like announcement rather than prayer. it was something like "we are having this event on this date at this time in this place. God, please bless this..." Announcement is announcement. Prayer is prayer. Let it remain that way.
Did you confront the guy after the prayer meeting?
Haha...funny that...
No I didn't actually. At that time it wouldn't have been the right thing to do. Plus, it like telling an American that potatoes are off the menu. It won't click. It would not have made sense to comment that his prayer was not exactly...yea...
er... improving not meaning as in wanting the church to be bigger, though many Christians want that. Especially the "C" Christians.
Improving as in... faith, spiritual strength and all that lar.
I'm sure you know of people who are like "Lord! Our church needs your help! The youths are straying!" and so on. But then after that, these people just... doesn't do anything besides "praying about it".
I'm not saying that we shouldn't be praying about it. We should ask God for guidance and not ask God to improve the church. God can do it with a snap on finger but why God doesn't? Isn't it because God wants us to NOT rely on Him too much?
And that's another issue for me. Why is it when we have decide between 2 or a few things at church. Most of us would say, "I'll pray about it". Come on... for me, God gave us the brains and "instinct" to make our decisions. Unless yeah you have the fear of making wrong decisions. Even if we did make the wrong choice, we can learn from it.
Haha. Yea like the person sharing one day said, "when God tells you to do something, you can't say, Ill pray about it"...haha...it was hilarious...
"I'll pray about it" hehe.. as funny as it is, you can actually use it to replace "I dont know yet. let me get back to you" but on a positive note is that when u argue with someone, u throw ur points till you have none, Then it would be "Sorry, I dont know yet, give me time to figure myself/this out and i will get back to you" There u have it 2 ways to looking at it. ;-)
Prayer has always been about talking to God, but sometimes people really complicate it. Sometimes people pray with hidden agenda, announcement. Those are the negatives but what if you pray to with the intention to encourage the other? is that wrong? dont really know the answer to that coz sometimes i do pray to encourage ppl in the room kind. But there is a fine line mer. you wanna talk to God or encourage ur fellow christians?
Also sometimes ppl use prayers with intent to help others but come off wrongly. Is that wrong actually? Their intent is all good but it came out wrong... also another thing.. is that when we are in a group praying. notice we tend to be concentrating on what the other is praying, shouldnt we be concentrating on God? I also fall in that category sometimes. I hate it but then Aik Aik. We become so judgemental on everyone around us that sometimes we just forget what we are doing it for.
What I meant by the "ill pray about it" thing is that God asks you to do something, and you go say Ill pray about it..its ironic cuz it was god who asks you in the first place and youre telling HIM that you are gonna pray about it (to Him)
Good post Ian. Believe me, I've been guilty of 'prayer abuse' (my term) many, many times during my earlier days in CF and church.
My first worry was when the Prayer of Jabez came out, and quite complicated books on prayer that I read when I was involved briefly in the Emergent church movement (Richard Foster's book is one of them)
In the end, I found the books too focused on one thing: Achieving the ends of man.
All of them are about getting what you want, and again; it's all about the self and what it is in for me etc etc
Whenever we pray, as long as God doesn't remain the center; our prayer, no matter how sincere, will reek of self-pride
It's tough for people to understand what prayer is as the concept of praying outside your ego is an alien concept (and it has been, from time immemorial)
waa...so many comments. ekek. hmm...about walking disaster's question on praying to improve the church...well...how improved do you want it to be? God has given us the Holy Spirit. What more do you want? The people should look at themselves and see whether they themselves are resisting the Holy Spirit or not.
By the way, in quotation you said, "Lord! Our church needs your help! The youths are straying!"
If they pray something like this, something is dead wrong. "Our church needs your help"? That means all the while God is not inside? That means all the while it was a Man runned institution? (i know you just used an example but couldn't help myself...:P lolz)
to glenn's comment...hmm..well...to encourage, you can always do it outside prayer. during prayer though, i don't think its wrong to pray something like, "God, I pray for this brother here, that he may grow closer to you and find strength in you to face this problem. May your Holy Spirit strengthen him and guide him through". God is still at the receiving end because you are presenting your brother's problem to God and asking for God's help.
"Also sometimes ppl use prayers with intent to help others but come off wrongly. Is that wrong actually?"
Lol. can explain a bit? i don't really get it...>.<
"notice we tend to be concentrating on what the other is praying, shouldnt we be concentrating on God?"
well...i guess you have to do both..you have to know what the other is praying. if not, how are you going to agree with him? It helps me to imagine the concept of group prayer by imagining that we are like a group of people present before God. When one person prays, its like it is his turn to speak before God while the others around him agree "Yes. Thats our request too". Then move on to the next person. As a whole, you are all concentrating on God as well.
lol. my 2 cents. :P
thanks all for your comments. :P continue discussing. :P
well... improving the people... there are many hypocrites at churches/mosques/temples... and this people would certainly spoil the name of their place of worship and their religion
"Also sometimes ppl use prayers with intent to help others but come off wrongly. Is that wrong actually?"
Aik..erm this is like ..when u wanna pray for some1s whos loved one passed away.. get it? or maybe that person is going through some family problems, ur intentions were good, but suddenly you said something sensitive. Example: "Let God cure your family" To some it will be "Oh let God take away or ease the pain" to others.. "Cure? My family is a disease ar now?!"
well basically, walking disaster, everywhere we go we see hypocrites. Trust me, you see them everywhere ler.. Its like you telling a small kid,
"hey don't do that"
but last time when you were a kid you did it, so you are hypocritical already here.
Sometimes its okay to be like that, but I get what you trying to say too. Where people will be like, talking behind your back on something and yet still doing it.
But why not look at it in a positive way.
If this people cant be helped, then let God do it. Do your part to plant the seed, let God do the rest I guess. ;-)
glenn...hmm...dat means you said the words wrongly...well...if there is any misunderstanding, they should confront and clarify...i don't think its wrong...just that inaccurate choice of words. :P
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