The Meaning of Prayer
Below are some quotes from E.M. Bounds about Prayer:
“Prayer is the mightiest weapon.”
“Prayer-secret, fervent, believing prayer- lies at the root of all personal godliness.”
“Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking TO god for men is greater still!”
“They so prayed that their prayer entered into and shaped their characters.”
These are powerful quotes- but they are nothing more than quotes and words unless we apply them, practice them and eventually what they speak of becomes ingrained in our innermost character. God is certainly revealing my weak prayer life, my lack of discipline in the area and my unbelief. I am challenged and spurred on to pursue a deeper intimacy with the Lord through prayer… I must remember that it is a two-way communication; I speak and He speaks as well, with the latter being of the utmost importance over the first.
I have seen what gets in between me and my God – it is the noise of our lives- the busyness, the activities, the technology, the demands of school and work, and even sometimes replacing time with our Lord with fellowship among the brothers and sisters. Lord, convict us to slow down and pull ourselves away from the noise long enough to hear your voice!
I have questions for you who read this to further aid my studies and practice of prayer:
1. How do you pray? There are different ways, different places, etc that we each pray- and I am curious to know how the Lord interacts differently with His own.
2. What is prayer? How does one define prayer? To me it is the alignment of my wayward will to His, and it is to again recall that this life is not mine, but for a reflection of His glory!
3. How is God challenging your own prayer life?
“Prayer is the mightiest weapon.”
“Prayer-secret, fervent, believing prayer- lies at the root of all personal godliness.”
“Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking TO god for men is greater still!”
“They so prayed that their prayer entered into and shaped their characters.”
These are powerful quotes- but they are nothing more than quotes and words unless we apply them, practice them and eventually what they speak of becomes ingrained in our innermost character. God is certainly revealing my weak prayer life, my lack of discipline in the area and my unbelief. I am challenged and spurred on to pursue a deeper intimacy with the Lord through prayer… I must remember that it is a two-way communication; I speak and He speaks as well, with the latter being of the utmost importance over the first.
I have seen what gets in between me and my God – it is the noise of our lives- the busyness, the activities, the technology, the demands of school and work, and even sometimes replacing time with our Lord with fellowship among the brothers and sisters. Lord, convict us to slow down and pull ourselves away from the noise long enough to hear your voice!
I have questions for you who read this to further aid my studies and practice of prayer:
1. How do you pray? There are different ways, different places, etc that we each pray- and I am curious to know how the Lord interacts differently with His own.
2. What is prayer? How does one define prayer? To me it is the alignment of my wayward will to His, and it is to again recall that this life is not mine, but for a reflection of His glory!
3. How is God challenging your own prayer life?
posted by Kate at 12:44 PM
4 Comments:
Kate;
Brothers and Sisters in the Faith;
Grace, mercy, and peace to you all,
I can but only take a moment to respond for now, though hopefully this may whet the appetites of some to either correct me or align their thoughts in my direction (either way may Christ be glorified).
I wish to never underemphasize the importance of prayer. For as Robert Murray M’Cheyne once said, “A man is what he is on his knees before God, and nothing more.” And as my favorite mortal, Charles Spurgeon, once uttered, “All hell is vanquished when the believer bows his knee in importunate supplication.” And not to mention the slew of Scripture that commands and extols us towards prayer (2 Chronicles 7:14, Luke 6:28, Matthew 6:9, Psalm 6:9, and James 5:16 etc). And so I find prayer of utmost importance in every believer’s life and surely something I greatly fall short in, may God have mercy.
And so with the proof of the importance of prayer I now turn to what prayer is. I am not convinced by the ever popular definiens that prayer is simply a conversation with God. I do not see this notion supported in Scripture nor do I see Christ telling his disciples when he taught them to pray that this is what it was (Matthew 6:9). I do not see Scripture promise us that when we go into the silence of our own rooms the Lord will speak back, what I do see promised is that when we bend our hearts towards him he shall hear us (Isaiah 65:24).
Prayer then, in my mind is not a conversation with God. Rather prayer is an avenue in which we ascribe ultimate glory to God the Father by the drawing of the Spirit and through the precious blood of Jesus (2 Corinthians 2:14, Hebrews 12:22-24). Prayer is a means by which humans are ever humbled in the presence of God to readily admit to him their hopeless estate in all matters and cast themselves at the tender mercies of God Almighty. This then is why we should pray to recognize the definite need for God in every aspect of our life whether we are sick or filled with joy, in trouble or cheerful (James 5:13-15). And when man seemingly sees and understands his lowly estate under the eternal heavens Christ’s glory shall be declared as the all sufficient provider of all good things. So stated simply, prayer is simply a means of glorifying God by recognizing our utter dependence on him in all situations.
However, surely we know that there is power in prayer, for Christ himself healed the sick with a prayer and raised the dead with prayer (John 11:41-45), he performed miracles through prayer (Matthew 14:19-20) and submitted himself to the Father through prayer (Matthew 26:36-46) and he interceded for his sheep in prayer (John 17). And all that Christ prayed for was granted unto him. And so James also exhorts us in saying that the prayer made in faith shall save the sick (5:15) and again he says that a prayer of a righteous man is a powerful and effective thing, directing our gaze to Elijah who through prayer shut up the skies for three years (5:16). And so not only is God’s glory declared in our recognizing of his grace but God himself declares his glory when he answers our prayers in the way he sovereignly and graciously chooses.
And so there is my first response as to what prayer is. I hope that if you disagree and Scripture speaks another word you would be quick to rebuke me and disregard what is written here. May we all learn to be faithful prayers, certainly more than we are now. Solus Christus!
In Heaven’s Delight,
Kyle
have to run to class, but I wanted to say that from my own relationship with the Lord, I believe firmly that prayer is very much about listening and hearing the Lord speak to us...sometimes through the Word, sometimes through His spirit more internally, but I do believe that is a vital aspect of prayer, while not the whole of it.
Let my words be few,
Kate
any bible verses supporting the fact that God speaks back?
though God 'speaking' to us during prayer is not specifically mentioned in Scripture, God does tell us that the Holy Spirit teaches us (john 14:26) and leads us to truth (john 16:13). this is what i consider God 'speaking' to me. it makes sense that people would correlate prayer to feeling that guidance that the Holy Spirit provides to us as God's children. when you are praying, you are clearly bowing before the Lord and focusing your attention on Him...it's simply easier for Him to get through to us then. =)
to me, God 'speaking' to me is not through spectular things such as a vision; the anointing that He has given me (2 john 2:20,27) works within me...the greek word used there for 'know' is to know by intuition, meaning something that is known almost by feeling and not by logic, something that is just given to you out of nowhere and with no explanation...the Holy Spirit works in more subtle ways than is expressed through the word 'speaking' which is perhaps why the confusion/disagreement.
prayer is a beautiful way of drawing close to God. for me, it has been the one thing that has reformed me into Christ's image the most.
karen
Post a Comment
<< Home