Thoughts on Prayer

Thoughts on Prayer

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thess. 5:16-18

Introduction

I would like to start this note by saying that this topic is one of the more personal areas of the Christian life that I have had many questions about. I have often wondered many things when it comes to prayer, such as what the proper form may be, how much must it be done and many other things. Questions such as these have haunted me for almost a year now, and at long last, I do believe I am ready to answer these, and many other, questions.

The Common Error of Ritualism

Many have often assumed that there is a certain way that people must pray. Every religion on this earth has a set-form of prayer, if they allow prayer, and it must be followed to the letter, lest god not hear your scripted requests. Muslims must even have a small rug, otherwise the prayer is hindered.

When it comes to the modern idea of Christian prayer, many then assume that there is also a way to pray as well. Be it rugs, shawls, long speeches to a crowd, and the most popular, a drawn-out, boring list of requests that the people of a church have built up into a list that the pastor, or another member of said church, read aloud while praying.

So much of the modern "prayer" is scripted. Why is this? Because they figure that there is a certain way that it must be done. The error of traditional prayer has seeped into many churches and infected the modern human mind. So many churches now ask members to tell about their request, and then they write it down on a list with other requests and then pray, while going through the list. But what is the issue with this? Allow me to explain...

The Form

The list. The error with this form must be pointed out first, as it seems to be one of the main things that has spread throughout the smaller churches of America.

What exactly is this saying/doing? Is it not putting together a shopping list? "Alrighty God, we got here our list of stuff. Do what you want with it, but we would prefer that you answer them all "yes"..."

What sort of form is this? Do we know Who we are talking to? Do we even have any idea of Who it is we bring these shopping list to? This error is based in the main error of today's idea of prayer; that it must be a certain form.

This is the main issue with the modern thinking when it comes to prayer. People become so wrapped up in form that they forget what is truly happening in prayer. "Okay God, we ask for this, this, this and this."

What is this?? Do we have to bow our heads, lie down, and weep tears of blood? Or rather, do we have to follow form to the point of sounding as though we are entering the realm of sleep? Such idiocy.

What does the Bible say about form?

"who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation" (Mark 12:40). Firstly, I am not saying that there is no wrong form. When I speak of form [as of this paragraph], I am referring to those who do so for appearance sake. Long prayers seem to dominate today's idea of prayer. How many pastors do you know that will pull a prayer on for what seems to be hours, yet sounds like he is dying? Should these not be ashamed of themselves? These are the same pastors that ask for money, 24/7, no matter who it is, preying off of older, poorer and/or ignorant people of the world- including widows.

Now, don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that there is no wrong form. When I refer to form, I am referring to the ritualistic reasoning that most people use in their prayers. Scripted. Fake. Boredom. I will deal with true form later in this note.

But does God hear those who do pray in a certain form?

"Pray to God!" some will say. "He will hear all of your troubles!" Really? Who is this you are telling such things? If a believer, then yes. If an unbeliever, no. What? How can a loving God ignore a sinner?

"who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this,' will it?" (Rom. 9:20).

"We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him" (John 9:31). That seems rather clear to me. Direct, yes. But would we have it any other way? So many claim that Scripture is too deep- to complicated- yet when it is direct, as is here, they hate it! That, or they read into the text. 

Size matters... not

So many people today think that praying in large groups makes a difference. Does it?

Well, let us look at the reasoning for it. Why would a group of people gang up on a single person? Why does the Tea Party gather around the country? To send a message that is loud and clear. I am not against the Tea Party. However, I am against people gathering in crowds to pray, having the same reasoning as the Tea Party does. The Tea Party is gathering against the Government, as it is not doing its work right. People that gather into groups to pray are also saying that they need to send a loud and clear message to God. But what is this saying? Does not God hear the prayer of His people? (John 9:31). So, if one thinks that grouped prayer makes more a difference than a single person praying, that is directly saying that God can be changed.

"Prayer changes things." Really? Why, I ask, would we want things to change? Did God do a bad job? "who are you, O man, who answers back to God?"

If prayer changes anything, then God is not Who He says He is. And if that is the case, we are still in our sins. Thus, despair is warranted.

However, this is not the case. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever" (John Hebrews 13:8).

So, when people gather together into groups to pray, thinking that it makes a difference, they are dead wrong. In fact, this is nothing short of blasphemy.

Build it Up

Charismatics. One of the more offensive views of the work of Christ, in my opinion. When it comes to prayer, Charismatics believe that it must be done with excitement. Pain. It is entirely feeling-based, and is an error that angers me beyond words.

They believe that there is a certain form of prayer that must be done, otherwise it is not "real", thus it will be ineffective. This being a form of feeling. You must sweat blood, yell out and have your face to the floor, lest God not hear you. Large crowds yelling out, hopping up and down and thinking that God likes it more. Many of them believe that people must also know that you pray. "Go out" they say, "Pray in the streets. Show the world that YOU can talk to God and make a difference!"

Yet, all of this is grave error. In fact, there is a single verse that wipes this out entirely.

"'When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you" (Matt. 6:5-6).

"But look!" they say, "Those will get their reward in full!" Uh, did you not read what Christ called them? Hypocrites. This is not a kind thing to say to people who are trying to be holy, is it? Of course it is! As I have said in my previous notes, Christ was not the all-pleasant guy. This is the cold, hard truth. Something of which we must never tone down for the sake of another human being.

The next part to look at is what Christ tells us to do. In fact, what He tells us to do is the exact opposite of what the Charismatics (and others) tell us to do. He says to go into a quiet room, or as some versions of the Bible say, go into a closet. And, from the looks of it, if anything, God prefers our "secret prayers" over the open and loud ones. So, what then happens to the view that we must be loud and in some form of pain? Well, I am sure those walking by the closet would find it scary that someone is in there yelling out, in a sad attempting to speak in tongues.

What of pain? I do believe that any sort of pain should be a reaction, not a forced issue. God never tells us to beat ourselves. Many believe that we must bring up in ourselves some form of pain, and we must make ourselves excited over the truth, otherwise it isn't real. Yet, is this not a fake? Is this good in the eyes of God? Nay! If we must make ourselves feel horrible about our sins, and we must make ourselves joyous over Truth, we have other issues that must be dealt with. The pain should be natural, not forced. When Christ was sweating blood, this was a result of the bearing of all of the sins, past, present and future, of those who believe in Him. He did not make Himself build up any sort of pain or joy, but rather these were a result of His work throughout His life. Thus, for us, our joy and pain must be a result of God's work, not a thing we must push to grasp.

Truth

What is true prayer then? What are we doing when we pray? In short, we are speaking directly to God. Yet, so many treat it as a pain. As something we have to do, otherwise things will go horrible. Yes, we must pray. God commanded this of is. That is why we do not pray to change things. Yes, God has preordained all things. We pray because we have been told that we must pray, not to change things. Of course not. But does it matter? Should we not consider it a great privilege to be able to speak to the God of all things? 

The first question: Is there a proper form? 

The answer: Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that we don't just talk to God like He is some good old buddy of ours. He is Almighty God, thus we do treat Him with more respect than anyone or anything. Period. However, no, in the sense that God never gave us a certain way that must be followed every time we pray. There is a form, in a sense, such as showing respect, being humbled, and of course, staying focused. But we were never told that we need a rug to bow down on a few hundred times a day, nor were we told that we need to pray for a certain period of time per day. We are commanded to pray, yes, but if we set up a certain system as so many have, it becomes repetitive and boring. Look at the Catholics. You watch the nuns do their thing and, to be honest, it looks like a bunch of sleeping people wishing they could be somewhere else. We are human beings, thus any form of prayer that would have to be followed to the letter would make it something we do not cherish as we should. 

The proper form is shown in the way we speak. In a sense, the place in which we pray does matter. I do not think that one praying while using the bathroom is a sign of respect. We do treat this with caution. 

It is as Jesus Himself put it. "When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. ‘Give us each day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’"

Was He saying that we should pray like this every time? No, otherwise He would not have prayed as He did in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 42:22. 

What was this then? This is how we are to be in prayer. Notice how Christ refers to God. As "Father", not "Good old buddy". He puts into perspective that, no matter what happens, it is God's Will that we desire, not our own. He also gave an example of asking for our daily needs. And then He asks for forgiveness of sins (though He Himself had none). And lastly, He shows how we ask that we are not lead into temptation, being a point of weakness. The last three come in many forms. The forgiveness of sins, when we make mistakes, which are of course many (but of course we realize that we have been saved through Christ, so this is more of a form of venting). The daily bread refers to our needs throughout the day. And the last that we not be lead into a position of possible failure. Notice that these are not demands. This is key. Never are we to demand anything of God, as all is borrowed from Him. 

The second question: Why "In Jesus name"? 

The answer: Because it truly is in His name that we may pray. Without the work of Christ, we would never have been able to pray to God. Thus, it is in Jesus Name we pray. Now, the question may be brought up, "Can we take God's name in vain, as in using it as common, by praying so much?" Perhaps. If we end our prayers as a lot of people do, "InJesusnameamen", then yes, I do believe this could happen, as it is not taking into account who He is. This is Jesus Christ, the One who saved us from eternal damnation! Who are we to end our prayers with such a lack of respect?

The third question: Must we use certain words? 

The answer: Swearing is of course out of the question. Such is a sign of extreme disrespect to God, as it, by definition, is taking His name in vain. 

Of course, we do not need to pray in old English. Nowhere are we commanded to use certain phraseology, terminology or grammar. But I do believe personally that, if we are to speak to God, we use our best, as He is the only One who truly deserves our best. 

The forth question: Must we bow? 

The answer: As a form of respect, perhaps. Must we? Nowhere are we told. Remember Who it is we are talking to. We are, in a sense, coming before the Throne of God. So let us always remember that we are doing so, lest we treat prayer as another common thing. Obviously we can pray while running, sitting, or as some in the past, while being chained up. But to pray while doing thought-intensive things seems like it would be far more likely to distract us. 

The fifth question: Can we pray with boldness? 

The answer: Yes, I do believe, in a way, we can. We are not coming before the Throne because of anything we have done. Nay, we come because of the work of Christ, Who is God. So, that said, we are not to come up in any sort of bold demanding form, but rather, in a boldness that we can pray because of the work of Christ, Who is part of the Holy Trinity, which also includes God, the One to Whom we pray. That is why we can have great joy in our prayer. Christ is often looked on as the nice guy while God is mean and angry. Yet, when we remember that They are the same divine Person, we can pray with the joy that we are speaking to our Savior, and the God of all.   

The last question: Is there any power in prayer?

The answer: Most often people are inclined to say yes, and some say no. Which is right? Does prayer change anything? Allow me to clarify something; Yes, prayer does change something. Us. But how can this be? How could talking to someone else change me? 

A better question would be, does He answer prayer every time? Yes. Contrary to popular opinion, God answers every prayer. "No" is an answer too. And if He says no, who are we to question Him Who judges righteously? When we see for ourselves the answering to prayer, be it yes or no, this can change us (believe it or not). When He answers "yes", this can be quite visible. We can see how things are changed for us. We can see the answer, and this can (and should!) remove doubt. It certainly has for me. How much doubt was removed simply by seeing God's Hand in all things cannot be said. And when He says "No", it can change us. How many things have we prayed for that didn't happen that have turned out to be better than we thought, or worse? How many times have I asked for something, when it turns out that God saying "No" was an even better thing? Too many to count! Oh how God has spared me from horrible (and often embarrassing) situations by saying "No". This has changed me as I now am more careful for what I ask for. Sometimes God may say "Yes" to humble us also. 

The Reality

So, why pray? Simple. We have been told to first of all, and then we do so because it will change us.
Prayer is the bringing of all of our cares to the feet of God. We vent to Him. We hide nothing from Him, as He knows all our thoughts and desires. He is our best friend, and is truly the only One we go to for all of our troubles.Why would we go to anyone else? People are flawed, He is not. Thus, we go to Him, and we lay our burdens at the Master's feet. We thank Him for all things, and we praise Him for all His work.
If you want a job at Wal-Mart, you can't just sit around and wait for it. You need to apply for it! You need to ask! If you want a hamburger from McDonald's, you need to... wait for it... ask for it! "Ye have not because ye ask not" is something we must always keep in hand. Will God say "No"? Yes. But as was mentioned earlier, this is better for us than "Yes", even if we never see that. 

Prayer is something we must love to, not dread. So many people nowadays hate the idea of it, and in some cases, with good reason. So many pastors lead prayer in a way that would make a young toddler after having consumed an energy drink drop. Prayer is a great thing, not a ritualistic thing. Prayer is done because we can. Nobody ever seems to question why we can ask other people for things, do they? Perhaps far too many people think of God too lowly. Perhaps their idea of God is a meek and weak one. Thus, if our image of God is wrong, our prayer to Him will also be. So, when a pastor prays in a fashion that lacks respect and joy, perhaps one might be lead to wonder what he thinks of God? 

"With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak" - Eph. 6:18-20. 

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