Rev. Richard Smith
| Psalm 138:3 On the day I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with inner strength. |
The psalmist says, I called you, you answered me. I believe, as you do, in the importance and power of prayer! Let me offer some insights on this essential spiritual discipline.
Prayer Is Our Primary Connection With God
Jesus certainly believed this, as the Gospel accounts present a plethora of occasions he went apart to pray. My favorite passage regarding Jesus’ dedicated prayer life is from Mark 1:35-37. Mark writes: 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.
And he spends so much time in prayer that Peter and the other disciples come looking for him: Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: ‘Everyone is looking for you!’
Without question, we can strengthen our relationship with God through prayer. The more time we spend in prayer with God the closer we come to Him and He to us.
Conversational Prayers Can Help Us
There are everyday experiences wherein I find myself quickly conversing with God. A prayer I regularly pray conversationally is: God give me strength. God give me wisdom. God help me do your will. God help me care.
Prayers like this do matter. God does hear them. We can connect with God in such hurried moments. The key, however, is not to limit our prayer life to these kinds of prayers.
Prayer Is Not, However, Unchecked Promise From God
One of my favorite cartoons is one where a little boy is shown kneeling in prayer and is clearly expressing his disappointment with God and with prayer. The caption has him saying, while on his knees and looking up, Aunt Stella isn’t married yet. Uncle Herbert hasn’t gotten a job yet, and Daddy’s hair is still falling out. I’m tired of praying for this family and getting no results.
We’ve all had moments like that; when we wonder why God isn’t answering our prayers.
Well, if we’re expecting God to answer our prayers on our terms and in our timeline, we’re going to be sorely disappointed. One Christian thinker has rightly said that there are four ways God can answer our prayers:
God may say, ‘Yes’
God may say, ‘No’
God may say, ‘Not now’
God may say, ‘I Have A Better Plan’
What God will always give us, however, is Himself. He will always give us His Divine Presence.
Intercessory Prayers Matter
Some of you have heard me say that intercessory prayer, praying for the needs of another person, is like a spiritual electrical current going from us as we pray to the person for whom we are praying. In other words, just as an electrical current travels from one place to another, so our love and care and strength are literally carried by God to that other person.
How often have you heard someone say, “I felt your prayers”? These words, or similar ones, tell us that there is indeed a spiritual current which passes from us through the Spirit to others when we pray for them. That may sound hokey, but it’s true.
Be Careful What You Pray For
There is a spiritual guideline we all need to understand – When we pray for God to be active in helping someone or a situation, we need to be ready to be part of God’s solution. So, be careful that for which you pray!
It’s really easy to want God to take care of a concern; in fact, He wants us to bring our honest and sincere concerns to Him. Yet, we must also be willing to be vessels through whom He works to bring about that which is his will.
This, of course, doesn’t mean God will automatically depend on us, but it does put front and center a key spiritual mantra…If we believe something is worthy of God’s attention and response, we need to be ready to be used!
