Maturity in Prayer July 11, 2003
Today as I was driving and listening to a local Christian radio station,
I gained new insight (new to me) into prayer and the development of
the prayer habits of the Children of God. A caller to Dr. James Dob-
son's Focus on the Family program was experiencing problems teac-
hing a four year-old to pray. The youngster’s attention span seemed
inadequate. When she attempted to pray with her son, the mother
was frustrated with his inability to remain serious throughout prayer
time. The child would begin praying for things unimportant to adults,
then move from that, to making attempts at humor during prayer.
An adult spending time with a four year old must admit a four year-
old's jokes are rarely funny and for the most part do not make sense.
We have more than a factor working against successful prayer time
with a child. First, children do not place value according to adult val-
uess. Secondly, children have short attention spans, and finally; the
world is limited only by their imaginations.
Let’s look at this factor in “mature adults.” Do you think we, as
children of God are always on the same page as the Lord with respect
to the things we value? Is it possible His adult children at times, bring
things before the Throne of Grace that matter not in the least, to Holy
God? (I know the old adage; “there is nothing outside the interest of
our Heavenly Father relating to His children.”) You and I must admit
we bring trivial things to our Lord. At times repeating ourselves, make
nonsensical requests and lose our focus as we pray. Is it possible we
drift into patterns of prayer fueled more by imagination than careful
study of God’s Word? There is also this... One of my concerns is the
use of pattern speech when in prayer, similar or exactly matching the
way other's pray. Examples of these phrases are; "each and every
one" and "lead guide and direct."
As we consider the person we address as we pray, we must
admit He is so far above us, we must seem quite immature
to Him. When we come before the Throne of Grace, our
petitions may seem petty.
There are ways for us to avoid these pitfalls as we pray, but it
is not simple. I have come to the conclusion that God’s "simple plan
of salvation,” is a myth, since every time simple or a man of simple
thought is mentioned in God’s Word it is in a negative connotation.
(I must interject on this subject; God's plan of salvation is plain,
not simple.) The key to an "effectual fervent" prayer must be a com-
prehensive grasp of the Word of God. God reveals His will to His
Children in His Word and apart from the Word, we are at a loss to
to know Him or His will. It is plainly stated in 1 John 5: 14-15, when
one prays expecting an answer, he prays according to the will of God.
Any prayer outside the will of God will not be answered in the affir-
mative.
(14."And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask
anything according to his will, he heareth us; 15. And if we know
that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the peti-
tions that we desired of him.") kjv
Another thought train we might board as we consider the subject of
mortal man in communication with Holy, Eternal God. The prayer of
a new believer may seem to lack depth of the prayer of a senior saint
but as we remember how sweet the prayers of our children were and
are, it is probable that our Lord regards such prayer with delight. Just
as we took/take pleasure in watching our children grow and develop,
God must also take pleasure in the sanctification process of His chil-
dren. So, the plain prayer of a babe in Christ may be quite as pala-
table to our Lord as the prayer of a "mature" saint of many years.
Now comes the troublesome aspect of prayer as it is practiced today.
Since we are speaking generally, there are some comments to be made
that could not be used in a direct conversation;
First, we must deplore the practice of beginning prayer in public
addressing Deity, then getting sidetracked into a sermon to local
hearers. As sure as I am this is thoughtlessness, it must surely
be repugnant to our Heavenly Father. In evangelical circles, the
prayer read from a manuscript is rare indeed; however, a prayer
thoughtfully uttered shows the one who is praying to have given
thoughtful consideration to it, and is welcome in a public setting.
(When we consider Matthew 6: 5-15; we must give careful consi-
deration before praying in any public setting. Otherwise, we may
do damage to our eternal souls.)
When we consider to whom prayer is made, we must be highly
motivated to petition Him in an orderly manner using the Model
Prayer of Christ as our guide. There may even be some similari-
ties between an audience with the most powerful political figure in
the world and our petition to the most powerful person in the uni-
verse. We would not consider entering an appointment with, say,
the president of the United States or any world leader without a
thorough preparation, pertinent data and careful consideration of
the persons time. There is a vast difference in the importance of
the principals, but there are also important distinctives:
While the creator of the universe is more powerful, more impor-
tant, and the knowledge gap, the holiness gap and any other gap
we may recognize, is far greater, our relationship with God is a
personal relationship, because of His Son. He is more interested
in our welfare than any other is, and is not limited by time. Taking
up His time is not an issue, and we cannot use up His resources.
He is infinitely more concerned with our welfare than any mere
man could be. (There are occasions when the word "man" is used
genericaly and might apply to male/female.)
Personal, private prayer is where power to live a Christ centered
life is sourced. Without the consistent practice of thoughtful private
prayer, we will never have power with God nor man. There is reward
for “closet” prayer, as well as warnings in Scripture about public
prayer. The earlier allusion to sermonizing during prayer is the tip
of the proverbial iceberg. There is also the danger of being aware
of the local audience and letting that affect the “prayer.” The quota-
tion marks were used to indicate the fact that audience awareness
reduces prayer to something else. As our Lord in Matthew gives us
warning of praying to be heard or seen of men, Take heed! We must
enter into public prayer with trepidation lest our practice of true
religion become a travesty and our Lord held up to a public reproach.
I would prefer to never again utter a prayer in public than risk possi-
bility of bringing the practice of true religion into contempt, scarring
my soul, damaging the hearers and offending my God in the process.
Prayer is risky business when we address the Almighty with less awe
and respect than we might have for a mere human being, no matter
his station.
Finally, we come to a most common failing of modern day saints
with regard to prayer. From everything I hear and see, that failure is
prayerlessness. We rarely go more than a day without communica-
tion with close friends and family. At times we may go out of our way
in order to see and talk with friend, family or love interest several
times per week. How often do we make a special effort to communi-
cate with our Lord and Savior who happens to be the creator and con-
troller of this universe? If what I hear and experience is typical, we
have a serious dearth of private prayer on the part of most Christians.
If there is lack of prayer, it’s no wonder the power is also lacking.
Apart from consistent, private communication with our Lord on the
part of His Children, we will never see the state of pure religion
reach the point of revival in this land.. "Pure religion and undefiled
before God and the Father is this. To visit the widows and fatherless
in their affliction and to keep himself (oneself) unspotted from the
world." ( James 1:27)
(The "oneself" in parenthesis above is from the Scofield Study Bible.)
There have been times when one questions just what would be the
best use of his time and resources in respect to Kingdom endeavors.
The passage from James 1:27, above, settles the question for me.
ed. 3.10.17 donporter, sr. 8.27.12
