“One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and He prayed to God all night.” (Luke 6:12 NLT)
Prayer to the Father is our lifeline as believers in the Lord Jesus. Without prayer we are powerless in our fight against evil and for good. Jesus’ habitual praying was the foundation of His life as a human being and of His earthly ministry. His habit of prayer began early in His life and early in His day and it was a habit He carried with Him even to the Cross. Why was it so vitally important for even Jesus, God in human flesh, to maintain an ongoing conversation with His Father? How can we not learn from His example?
It’s sad that it took me so long to understand and practice the habit of prayer. Yes, of course, I said prayers, but they weren’t my lifeline, they were more my obligatory sentences to please myself than to communicate with my heavenly Father. I prayed more to suave my conscious than to storm the gates of hell, to be able to honestly say I’d “said my prayers”.
Honestly, I’m so sick of just “saying prayers” I could puke. Saying prayers is like reciting poetry, it may sound pretty, but it doesn’t change anything. I want to be invested in moving the heart of God to give me power to change, not only my own life, but to be an agent of change in the lives of others. Nothing of eternal value happens on earth except through believing prayer.
What is believing prayer? It’s prayer what is believable to the heart of God. Prayers that aren’t recited from rote, but come from the heart, motivated by a great sense of dependence upon Him and confidence that if He doesn’t move, our prayers are in vain. Nothing of eternal significance can happen unless we ask with full confidence that the Lord hears and will respond.
Miracles occur when God moves, but He won’t move unless we ask in full confidence that He will. It’s so easy to say words, it’s so hard sometimes to believe God hears and will respond. I remember a time early in my ministry when the Lord was teaching me about the ministry of prayer. I was reading every book about prayer I could get my hands on and asking the Lord to build my faith and allow me to learn to trust Him, I knew when I prayed, He heard and would move as I was asking. I had no doubt and my faith was strong. But then I began to believe it was because my faith was strong, not because my Savior was kind.
When the attention shifted from Him to me, He stepped back and allowed me to learn a very valuable lesson: apart from Him I am nothing! HE is the reason prayer is effective and powerful! HE is the source of all strength and resilience! HE ALONE is the reason the habit of prayer is so vitally important and necessary! We’re not trying to make ourselves better, we’re seeking to allow Him to show Himself in and through us more clearly and effectively. Apart from Him we are NOTHING!
Imagine the gift we would be giving our children if we could teach them how to really pray, not simply to recite words. J. C. Ryle was onto something huge when he wrote: “If you train your children to anything, train them, at least, to a habit of prayer.” What if rather than our prayer list, we laid ourselves before the Lord and became our prayer. What if, like the disciples, we came into the presence of our Savior with one, simple request: “Lord, teach us to pray!” Then lingered until we began to understand prayer is far more than words, it’s an attitude of the heart of complete surrender, trust, and dependence upon Him.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
