Bible Students

God hears out prayers

When my wife and I were dating, we spent a lot of time long distance. During that time, we would occasionally write letters to one another for special events. After reading the letters, I was always so excited to call her and respond. Just like those sweet letters, God has given us a letter of His love: His Word. And just like how I was so excited to respond to my wife’s letters, we become excited to respond to God’s Word when we spend time in it. This response is what we know as prayer. 

Prayer is one of the most incredible things God could have given His children. Prayer is arguably the most important spiritual discipline, and the greatest thing His children can give back to Him. It is the power which all good things come through, for it is handing over one’s controls to God. This is the key to spiritual growth. Without prayer, there is no Christian. 

A Christian must be defined by prayer. He must pray for himself, for others, during spiritual warfare, and for worship. He must endure through unanswered prayer. If he does all of these things, giving the power to God rather than taking it for himself, then he is set on the path toward discipline. However, prayer means many things to many people. 

Prayer is speaking and listening to God. This must be done in humility, and with chastity. The aspect of listening is often overlooked by Christian circles, so it will receive special attention below. Additionally, though prayer should be simple, a few models for prayer will also be presented in the following essay. 

Prayer

As defined above, prayer is the talking and listening to God. How does one do this? Jesus’ disciples asked Him the same question in Luke 11:2, and Jesus responded to them, “‘When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our selfishnesss, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” (Luke 11:2-4, NKJV). Jesus’ model was clearly a reflection of a modern slogan: “Keep it simple, keep it real, keep it up.” 

One is to keep his prayers simple, because God already knows what he needs. God does not need to be “caught up,” so to say, because He has been through every situation with the one praying. He has not missed a beat. One is to keep his prayers real, for God knows his hurts and hurts with him. God knows the struggles each individual has gone through. There is no need on God’s end for the prayer to lack the real emotions the individual is feeling.

They should not be irreverent, but God already knows the hurt, and has hurt through Jesus’ crucifixion. One is to keep his prayers up, because communion with God in prayer is one of the most precious graces God has given. It is an absolute miracle that any sort of prayer is possible. Prayer is a pipeline straight to God, and should be appreciated accordingly. 

Prayer is a great gift to the believer. Prayer is a pipeline straight to the Creator, and as such there are many things that can be done through prayer which could not be done any other way. This is because prayer brings power which the Christian can not grasp on their own, that being the power of the Spirit. Because this is such a great gift, one should pray often, even without ceasing, that his prayers may be answered. This is not to mean vain repetitions, but rather a constant seeking of God’s deliverance.

There are many ways one can pray constantly, including publicly, privately, for oneself, for others, for spiritual warfare, or as worship. There are benefits to each of these. There are many example prayers that can be prayed, and many templates. Two of these will be discussed below. Prayer is a great gift from God to us, and as such, it will be discussed below as a great gift to others. 

Intercession

Prayer as intercession is a humble and honorable task. Intercession is the practice of praying on behalf of another person. Christians are able to pray for their loved ones, for their friends, and for those who persecute them. Through intercession, God teaches His children how to love others, both friend and foe. It teaches humility and love, two essential attributes for Christians. In order to intercede for someone, one must take time to recognize God’s providence and power over creation, the individual’s helplessness, and the awe-inspiring opportunity God has given for the individual to change the course of history through prayer. God answers prayer, and so by praying for others

Christians have the opportunity to be a small part of changing history, by the power of His Spirit. Additionally, prayer for others brings one into greater communion with God, for prayer and intercession is what God does. 

To intercede brings one closer to Christ, for it is Christ who lives to intercede on our behalf (Heb. 7:25). Christ intercedes for Christians. Prayer for others brings one closer to the Spirit, for it is the Spirit who prays with groanings not utterable (Rom. 8:26). The Spirit, likewise, intercedes for Christians.

Prayer brings one closer to the Father, for it is the Father who fulfills these prayers (Eph. 1:3). Participation in the intercession for others is a grace both to those who do it, for they are able to participate in an action of God, and for those who it is done for, for they receive the blesselfishnessg of another’s prayer. Another area where prayer is of great importance is in spiritual warfare. 

Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual warfare is outlined in Ephesians 6:12, where Paul states that the struggle of the Christian is not against physical things, but against spiritual things. This is placed at the end of Ephesians, a book of commands regarding relationships. At the end he writes, in essence, that the strife between individuals is not of a physical nature, but of a spiritual nature, with demonic forces prodding them. Prayer, being of a spiritual nature, is given to combat the spiritual nature of warfare. Spiritual warfare is all around.

One must fight against spiritual warfare in order to bring glory to God, and the tool for fighting is prayer. Prayer is used to focus oneself on God during times of spiritual struggle, which both takes away the old selfishnessful affection and replaces it with a new one, namely Jesus. Spiritual warfare will take advantage of all sorts of selfishnesss and hardships, however, when one is anchored in the Rock, the torment of the enemy will not shake them. The anchor which plants one on the Rock is prayer. 

Worship

Prayer is, additionally, a form of worship. In prayer, one gives back to God the things which He has given him. One learns to exercise humility in prayer, before the throneroom of God, and learns to hold things with their hands open. This sort of posture before God, especially when done regularly, creates a lifestyle of thanksgiving and worship. There are a few models for prayer, including the Examen and praying the Bible. 

The prayer of Examen is a prayer done at any time, where one reflects on a certain time period (usually a day), and allows time for reflection and a heightened awareness of God’s presence. This prayer is a time of quiet reflection, where God is able to speak about His presence throughout the day. One must reflect on His goodness, and bring greater awareness of His presence. For those who prefer to speak, they are also able to pray psalms. 

Additionally, one is able at all times to walk just a little bit slower, in order to take in nature, beauty, and the wonderful world which God has made. This kind of observance allows one to have a deeper appreciation for the creation and, by extension, a much greater appreciation for the Creator. 

The Psalms are a great way to pray the Bible. The psalms are an approved mode of what may seem to some to be irreverence. Being upset, angry, depressed, and a flurry of other emotions are approved of in the context of certain psalms. These psalms allow one to safely express the hurt of their hearts, without trouble that they may be irreverent. Of course, one must have the correct heart posture toward God, but the psalms are a book of man talking to God which has been preserved for over 2,000 years. One is even able to cry out to God for unanswered prayer, which will be discussed next. 

Unanswered Prayer

What does one do about unanswered prayer? Many in today’s culture, under the influence of scientism, would object that all prayer is unanswered, since God, if He exists, could not interfere with natural law. This presumption is not based in reality for a number of reasons, though most valuable to note here is that God clearly answers prayers in the Bible (e.g. Joshua 10:12-15). Prayer is not meant to be something done once and then forgotten about. The Christian must labor over prayer, exercising their prayer muscles a small bit each time, until they are able to pray often, long, and with fervor.

A Christian must endure through seasons of unanswered prayer. Seasons of spiritual drought are meant to stretch the Christian beyond their current capacities. Even in seasons of unanswered prayer, the Christian is able to grow in their relationship with God. Prayer is a constant companion on the journey, for it makes Christ an ever-present, even if seemingly distant, guide. 

Personal Application

I desire to go into vocational missionary work. Prayer is something I can not be lazy in. As such, I need to be fluent in prayer. I need to be praying always, without ceasing. I need people praying for me back home. I need to pray for those who I am evangelizing and those who I am discipling. There are so many things to pray for and so little time. Prayer is of the utmost importance to do now, to do often, and to do with great fervor. Prayer is an essential part of wisdom. All reasonable decisions should use prayer. Wisdom must include the use of prayer.

Leaders, especially on the mission field, must be men of prayer. Leaders must pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:16-17), and they must pray in gratefulness for all of the opportunities given to them. Prayer must be a constant part of my life, and I must fight for my relationship with God in ministry. I must be disciplined in my prayer life, otherwise there will be no power in what I do, for the power comes from the Spirit, not from me. Building a church, likewise, must be completely saturated in prayer. The building up of the church body in a new church plant must consist of regular prayer. 

Most unique to the vocation I am moving toward is prayer for the cultures I am attempting to proselytize. Prayer must be the central component of any missionary work. If not, then I am attempting to do things out of my own power, which is absolute foolishness. Only God can soften the hearts of those who do not know Him. Though I am there to give the message, God could easily raise up another, more faithful messenger, if I choose to neglect the power of prayer.

In my current day-to-day life, I am able to pray Scripture while reading through the Bible, pray the Examen in times of meditation, and prayerfully observe the Sabbath. Additionally, I am able to slowly go through life, walking slowly, especially on Sabbaths, in order that I may appreciate God’s creation, while both speaking and listening to God. All of these sorts of prayers bring forth a posture of inward humility and outward love, which otherwise might not have come about. I am thankful for these practices, especially for later in life on the mission field, allow me to seek wisdom and humility through communion with God. 

Conclusion

Regardless of whatever prayer one chooses to do, whether for oneself or for another, reflection on prayer is a wise path. Prayer must permeate the entire life of each Christian if they are to even attempt to walk in the will of the Father. There are many kinds of prayer which will bring this kind of conformity, including contemplation, silence, intercession, the Examen, praying the Scriptures, and many others not mentioned. Prayer is the most important spiritual discipline, as it covers all areas of spiritual life, and allows one to speak to God on behalf of themselves and others, allow God to speak to them, change the future (in the case of answered prayer), and most importantly give the control of one’s life over to God. The posture of humility and open-handedness which comes through cultivating prayer is among the most valiant Christian virtues, and is what I need most of all in the field I am moving toward.