Many Christians look at God as some giant Santa Claus in the sky who they come to with long shopping lists of desires for themselves. God if you just give me a beautiful wife, a beautiful home, or a new car I will serve you. God is not Wal-Mart. The only purpose of prayer should be to develop a closer relationship to God. If you walk close enough to God He will know your needs. If you find God, you will find all of your needs and desires there. Instead of seeking goals and wants, we should be seeking God. It is only in finding God that all those things I seek will be found. He will keep you from the evil one. What happens to your prayer life when God does not provide you with these things you seek? A common mistake made today is that material well being is being interpreted as a blessing or closeness to God. Nowhere is this attitude supported in the scriptures. On the contrary Jesus Christ said, “blessed is the poor.”[1] But again the modern Church has translated this teaching differently. If all my wants are met when will I seek God? Your only goal in prayer should be to seek God and the well-being of others.
What is prayer? Very little teaching is done in the Church concerning this most vital aspect of the Christians life. There are a number of Christians who do not even know what or how to pray. Other than the example Christ gave to us and his disciples they do not have a clue. But in that example is everything we need to know about prayer. The key to all we want to accomplish as a people, as a nation is in prayer. Many in their egotistical foolishness think that the key to resolving the problems of the world are in activities or in technology. As if we need to do for God what He cannot do for Himself. Any work we get to do for God is not for God, it is for our instruction and development. It is to prepare us for Him and His Kingdom. Prayer is coming before the presence of God in humility, not to receive anything. It is the transforming of our will to His will. It is the coming before God with nothing and expecting nothing. There is a reason Christ said, “He knows the things you need before you even ask.”[2] If you do ask, it is in the asking that you are drawn closer to Him. Most of us would be apprehensive to ask a stranger for anything, but would be comfortable asking a friend or family member. God wants that type of relationship with us. This type of relationship can only happen when we allow ourselves to be known by our Creator.
There have been many volumes written about how Christ taught us to pray and in this short space I would not even begin to attempt to cover all the nuances of it. However, I think it is important to notice that nowhere in His example does it mention me! Where is there in the prayer the part where we pray only for ourselves? Throughout the prayer it is us and we, the Lord is giving us instructions to pray for others. Even in the final hours of His earthly ministry Christ prayed for the Fathers will to be done. It was always the Fathers will in prayer. It was through prayer that He and the Father became one. Our goal should be to gain that oneness with the Father.[3]
“Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent
prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
James 5:16
The scriptures tell us that our prayers are worth much. The action of prayer does not prepare us for greater works; it is in fact the greater works itself. Time spent in prayer is not wasted. It is saying through our actions that we cannot God, but You can. Not only can You, but we are going to let You. The passage speaks of action following our prayers but with no timetable attached. This has caused many a Christian to fall, their impatience. Instead of spending so much time in conferences and meetings about fornication and sin, we should be spending more time in prayer. Fornication is a sin against God as well as man and to alleviate it from our midst will require God's intervention. Prayer brings God into the equation and that changes any equation. The world may not see the benefit of bringing God into any situation, but we believers should have no problem with that fact. We can preach and have rallies from now until Christ returns and not make the problem any better. In fact we would probably make the situation worse. God and only God can turn this sinful epidemic around and break this viscous cycle that we find ourselves in. Prayer is our way of highlighting the problem, of saying to God; yes God we also see the evil in this and want it removed. Remember the work is the Lords, people who are in a state of sin are not fighting against me, they are fighting against God. The battle is the Lords not mine. I am merely a hired hand who has chosen work in the fields. We should not be like the world and take credit for what God has done. It is the labor of prayer by the saints of God that gets results. Prayer is labor. Labor is not about excitement, it is about accomplishing the job. God needs warriors, prayer warriors. Our people requires saints praying day and night for our redemption as a people.
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