There are some simply wonderful books and teachings out
there about prayer. I have some favorites I could recommend written by Andrew Murray, Stormie
Omartian, Beth Moore, John Eckhardt, Germaine Copeland, and Dutch Sheets, to
name just a few. They each hold gems of truth that the authors have gleaned
from the Word of God and no doubt from their own personal experiences.
Some of their themes include praying out loud, praying
scriptures, praying in the Spirit, praying first thing in the morning, writing
out your prayers, thanking God in advance, praying continually, praying for a
designated hour, praying with others and praying privately, praying
persistently but not praying repetitiously, praying fervently, and praying with
right motives. The inventory of ways to pray could go on and on. It would seem
as if some contradict others, but that is not true. All of these methods are
biblically sound, have been proven powerful and are worthy of pursuit. Each has
its proper place in the course of our life of faith.
Now take a few minutes and compare how you talk at home versus
elsewhere, with elsewhere being job, home, church, hometown, unfamiliar place
(where you know you’ll never be seen again!), a courtroom, school meeting,
sporting event, crowded coffee shop, concert, etc. Then think on your varying
conversations with workmates, your boss, acquaintances, your pastor, siblings,
a counselor, in-laws, a police officer at your driver’s side window, your best
friend, your parent, etc. You get my drift? Perhaps a little variation occurs
in your vernacular with each one. If you were asking for a favor, a need, a
want, you might do it differently with each one, and with each request you
would already have a sense about whether they could actually make it happen.
Even how you greet, question, praise and have small talk with others may vary dependent
on who it is and what the circumstances are, right?
In each situation hopefully we consider the one we are
communicating with. And that very person always has an identity, a name, a
personality, a presence, a capacity that we are drawn to and gear our heart and
mouth towards. Sounds to me a little
like the varying ways we pray.
The key of real prayer, in all its many forms, is that it is
with the great I AM, trusting in the ONE whose life and death and life again was
to save and bless our very lives. And if we believe that the very name of JESUS
holds the greatest power to create or change things, we can use that name in
faith, believing. The rest just might be formal details.
You probably know someone who is a little self conscious
about praying in front of others; perhaps even in front of God. In fact it
might even be you! Maybe it’s just a general extension of being uncomfortable
speaking “formally” in front of others about anything.
Or it could be that compared to others you might feel less
proficient at prayer because you don’t know or remember all the right
scriptures or “lingo” of effective prayer. How regretful that anyone put a
quotient on prayer effectiveness. I don’t think that was ever God’s intent.
So what makes our prayers upright, worthy, acceptable and
accepted?
I guess that would be all about the Who they are directed to
and the relational trust we have in that Who.
So, about the person I mentioned at the beginning of this
post. She needed to get some things off her chest, and sounded pretty
comfortable doing so. She poured out her heart, voicing faults and hopes. I
gave some appropriate nods, a few affirming comments, a question or two for
clarification. But mostly I felt like I was eavesdropping. Because when she was
done I felt prompted to tell her what I had heard from God, which was …
“I know sometimes you feel like you haven’t prayed nearly
enough, or the right way …
But some of your best times are like today, when you just
have coffee with your DADDY!”
Gratefully HIS,
Jan
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