Disciplines for Life/Prayer: Direct Dial to Heaven

From Gospel Translations

Revision as of 13:11, 16 May 2008

As I write this, Nancy has the flu. She’s been sick for about ten days now. Five days ago she lost her voice. She can’t talk beyond a whisper, and when she does whisper, it causes a painful cough.

Last night we sat on the couch after the children were in bed—a typical time to talk—and both of us ended up frustrated. She whispered, “Tell me what’s been on your mind.” So I told her. It took three minutes. She wanted to respond with a question or some thoughts of her own, but the coughing wouldn’t allow it. We ended up reading the newspaper.

Our love and commitment for each other haven’t diminished through Nancy’s illness, but we miss the inti- macy of conversation. Our relationship with God is the same. We can have a commitment to him without an intimate relationship with him. But if we want our relationship to grow, we must converse. The Bible calls such conversation with God prayer. Without this conversation our experience with God becomes similar to what Nancy and I have gone through during her bout with the flu: we love each other, but our lack of communication creates a sense of distance.

Still, we can’t take our love for granted and ignore prayer. With the distance of non-communication, love can be tempted to wane. Ask anyone who’s been through a marital crisis. So prayer is essential to our life with God.

Prayer is perhaps the simplest yet most profound of the spiritual disciplines. When we pray, we are simply communicating with God. No exotic spiritual hoopla, no mystical rituals—just dialogue. And yet it’s a dialogue with the exalted Lord of the universe. We have the amazing privilege of speaking directly to Almighty God! More remarkable still is the fact that he listens, and speaks to us in turn.

To keep us from getting tongue-tied or intimidated, Jesus took great pains to show us how to relate to God. He could have emphasized God’s role as Judge or King. Instead, Jesus presented him as Father—the kind of Father who welcomes his children with open arms (Mk 10:13-16). And while some of us may have bad memories of our own dads, our Father in heaven loves nothing better than to sit with us and hear everything that’s on our mind.

Why Pray?

Prayer changes us as much as it changes the situations for which we pray. This is usually unexpected. There I sit, praying for someone who has a bad attitude toward me, and suddenly I realize that the Spirit is playing his flashlight along the walls of my heart. “You seem very concerned about that speck in your friend’s eye,” he whispers, “but have you noticed the log sticking out of your face?” We rarely appreciate this information at first until we realize that God is answering our prayer.

Prayer also increases our faith. As I write this, my church is involved in a building program. When I think about the amount of money and effort still needed before our facility is built, I can get discouraged. As I pray, though, and affirm the fact that God is in control of the situation, my perspective changes. Not only do I gain faith that God can pull it off, but I get excited about the part I can play in making it happen.

Thus far we’ve not mentioned the most obvious benefit of prayer: It works. When we pray, God unleashes his power. Are you sick? Pray. Need a job? Pray. Want your family to know Jesus? Pray. Facing conflict with someone? Pray. We’ll be amazed to see the things our Father does when we ask for his help.

But is this work of prayer really necessary? If God is sovereign and controls the whole world, why do we need to pray? Couldn’t God do a far better job without our help?

There are certain things our prayers will never change. For example, Jesus will come back whether we pray or not. He will judge the living and the dead. These are fixed events in God’s purpose. However, our prayers do have an impact in other areas. There are things God just won’t do unless we ask. When we pray for a fellow believer to over- come sin, or for a child to be healed of cancer, our prayers are helping fulfill God’s will.

Not that God can’t accomplish his purposes without us. As John the Baptist noted, God can raise up stones to do his will if we refuse (Mt 3:9). But our involvement matters to God. He invites us, through our prayer, to help usher in his coming kingdom. Why? I’m not sure we can know beyond the fact that he’s chosen for it to be that way. Who am I to question him? The fact of the matter remains that though our efforts be sloppy and often weak, he’s chosen to accomplish much of his will through us: an amazing privilege.

The Power of Example

Reading about prayer can be helpful, but watching others pray is even better. I spent 15 months serving a church in Southern California in the late 1980s. Every Tuesday through Saturday the pastoral staff invited any- one who wanted to join them for prayer between 6:00 and 7:00 in the morning. No schedule conflicts there. When the church hit a crisis time, we decided to meet as pastors for an additional hour of prayer on those days before the other folks arrived.

I can’t say I always came freely. It was part of the job, and my attendance wasn’t always exemplary. But God used this imposed discipline in my life. I was praying with men committed to intercession. Not that they did anything fancy. And I could tell they were as tired as I was. Yet their fervency and perseverance made a lasting impact on me. By their example, these men taught me more about praying than any lecture or book ever could. Today I count those prayer sessions among my most precious memories of our time in California.

Jesus’ example had an impact on the disciples. The Gospel writer John noted that if everything worth record- ing about Jesus were put on paper, the world couldn’t contain the books they would fill. John had to be selective as did the other Gospel writers. When you consider this, it’s remarkable how often Jesus’ commitment to prayer gets notice.

Jesus prayed early in the morning (Mk 1:35). I personally find this the best time of day to pray. I’ve got no appointments. Rarely am I interrupted. The house is quiet. Even the air is still. For those who begin work early in the morning, this may not be practical. But there’s no better way to start a day.

Jesus prayed in solitary places (Mk 1:35). From what I’ve read, the ancients didn’t know you could pray silently. The Pharisees felt no inhibition in praying aloud in the marketplace. But Jesus seems always to be looking for a solitary place where he could pray out loud. Do you have a solitary place where you can seek God without distraction? I usually pray in my basement before the children are up (though they love to discover me). When I have more time I like to go to a “lonely” place. In California my lonely place was the Altadena Crest Trail high above Pasadena in the San Gabriel Mountains. Here in Maryland I head for the banks of the Potomac River. Any place where you feel comfortable talking out loud to God will work. (I would caution you, however. Make sure your lonely place is also a safe place.)

Jesus prayed after work (Mk 6:45-46). He wasn’t driven by a “this is my time to relax” mentality. I’m sure he knew how to kick back and enjoy down-time with his fishing buddies, the disciples, but he also knew that sometimes the end of the day was best spent alone with his Father. At a time when most of us feel we’ve earned the right to a little leisure, Jesus could be found up on a mountain praying. He knew the difference between relaxing and being refreshed. Those hours spent in communion with his Father renewed him from the pressures of a demanding day.

Jesus prayed in the midst of success and popularity (Lk 5:15-16). The best of times can be the worst of times—at least for our prayer life. Success deceives us into thinking we can get along without God for a while. That’s why it’s critical for us to acknowledge daily our dependence on him. “Who’s responsible for this success, God? You are! Please reduce my head back to its original size.”

Jesus prayed before making a major decision (Lk 6:12-13).When he chose the twelve apostles, Jesus knew he was choosing the future of the Church. He also knew he was choosing a traitor. He needed God’s guidance and grace. During an all-night session of prayer he found both.

If you’re facing a major decision—a job change, major purchase, move to another city, or marriage—nothing will clear your mind and straighten your priorities like with- drawing to a lonely place to pray. Before my wife and I were engaged, all our friends seemed to think we were perfect for each other. But I needed to know that God himself was confirming the relationship. So I spent a winter day in a New Jersey state park, sitting by an open fire and praying. By the time I left, I was confident God was giving us the go-ahead. Our marriage has been relatively stress free, but if it is ever severely tested, I know I will find tremendous assurance in remembering that snowy day when God made his will known as I sat and waited and prayed.

A night watch with God can be amazingly fruitful. There’s something about the stillness and sense of expectancy we experience in the wee hours that make us very alert to God’s voice. So instead of taking a dose of Nyquil next time you find yourself sleepless, consider watching for a while with God.

Jesus prayed with regularity (Lk 22:39). As Luke interviewed Jesus’ disciples before writing his Gospel, they must have emphasized the frequency of his prayers. That’s why Luke says, “Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives,” one of his favorite solitary places.

Jesus prayed honestly (Lk 22:39-44). As Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion, he was in anguish. Not only was he going to suffer excruciating pain, but his own Father would reject him as the object of his wrath for the sins of the world—an experience totally alien and horrible to him. If he prayed like some prayers I’ve prayed under pressure, he could have said: “Well, the big day is almost here, Father. I’m really look- ing forward to being flogged and nailed to the cross. Thanks for the privilege of serving you in this small way.”

But Jesus was honest, and so Luke records what could seem like a feeble prayer: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus felt free to express his deepest emotions in a prayer prayed through blood, sweat, and tears. He wanted his Father to understand the intensity of his struggle. But in the same breath he expressed his submission to his Father’s will.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of telling God what we think he wants to hear even though our fine-sounding words don’t agree with reality. It’s no use lying to the One who knows everything about us (even things we don’t know). Are you honest with God when you pray? Do you go to him and express your deepest desires? Your struggles? Your failings? “Yes, Lord, I snapped at her again. I knew it was wrong, but Lord, I was angry! Did you hear what she said? I’m sorry. Forgive me. Give me power to change.”

As we pray honestly, God changes us. And by expressing our emotions in prayer we release them to God, making us far less likely to vent them sinfully in some other context.

When my children were younger, they didn’t know how to hide their emotions from me. They were free to laugh and giggle in a way that adults would find embarrassing. They were able to cry deeply without the least concern for what I thought of their tears. That’s how we should be with God. He’s not impressed with our pious platitudes and our many words. He wants honesty—total honesty. He accepts us even when we’re angry, apathetic, or afraid. As long as we’re not disrespectful or disobedient, we can express the full range of our emotions without worrying that God will get upset.

Some people have real problems with this. Years of bringing one emotion to God—a kind of bored solemnity that pervades so many church services—seems to inhibit them. To get over this, I recommend reading the Psalms aloud. These are the Church’s prayers and they contain honest expression of every emotion known to man: from giddy joy to deep discouragement, from furious anger to intimate affection.

Praying the Disciples’ Prayer

The disciples found their inspiration to pray by watching their Lord pray and then making the connection between his public power and private prayer. But fortunately for us, Jesus left more than his example. He gave his disciples a clear model which has been preserved for us in Matthew 6:9-13. Though com- monly called the “Lord’s Prayer,” I like referring to it as the “Disciples’ Prayer,” because that’s what it was: a method Jesus recommended to his disciples for making their prayers most effective.

Before looking at the prayer itself, remember that Jesus was instructing us how to pray, not what to pray. This was meant to serve as a pattern, a set of principles— not a mindless ritual. Just before outlining this prayer, Jesus urged his disciples not to pray like the pagans who “keep on babbling for they think they will be heard because of their many words” (Mt 6:7). I find it incredibly ironic that for countless Christians, the disciples’ prayer has become exactly what Jesus warned against: meaning- less babble. Let’s take a careful look at it so we can learn to pray the way Jesus intended.

“Our Father in heaven”

Jesus starts us off by reminding us that our prayer is based on a special relationship. We’re praying to our Father. This sets a tone of love and intimacy, not guilt or fear. If we don’t begin with this reality in mind, all our other prayers will be skewed with a wrong perspective. The Pharisees thought Jesus was blasphemous for being so presumptuous in designating God as Father. But Jesus wants us to think aright about God. Our God is not “up there” somewhere, distant and aloof. He’s near to all who