SHIP 005

SHIP 005

Duties
Prayer

Jesus said, "When you pray . . . ," not "If you pray. .  . " so it's a pretty good bet He expects us to be praying people.  And why would we not be.  Having access to the Throne of Grace is a great blessing and wonderful opportunity.  But, prayer can be tricky.

Huh????

Well, what is prayer?  Monologue?  Dialogue?  Petition?  Supplication? Praise?  Adoration?

Yep - that's it.

But for many folks it's a strange thing.  They struggle with the whole thing wanting to be sure they are heard and answered so they struggle to "get it right."

OK - a few basics.  Remember "who" you are talking to.  Remember you have every right to go to Him?  Remember that all prayers are heard and answered?  Graciously, there is no such thing as a "bad" prayer.

Jesus gave us a model to follow:  Matthew 6:7-13.  It's a very simple model.
Note the :  OUR Father part!  You are never praying alone!
Hallowing His name - thank You - thank You - You are the only God
Calling for His will to be done here - submission of all - especially "me"
Our daily needs - characterized by "bread"
Protection - from ourselves and "them" ;-}
Forgiveness- to receive and to give

We can even go to Paul for some direction:
Philippians 4:6 ESV
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

"prayer" - think worship
"supplication" think seeking, asking, entreating
"thanksgiving" - think acknowledging the source of ever blessing with gratitude
"let your requests be made known to God" - think - needs, desires, wants, questions, comments, etc.

In Matthew the model is "sandwiched" between two very important things:
Matthew 6:5-6 ESV
"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. [6] But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

and

Matthew 6:14-15 ESV
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, [15] but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Vss. 5 and 6:  Simply, prayer is between you and Him.  We may indeed take part in public prayers but Jesus wants us to understand that we need to talk with God when we talk with God.  We don't want to entertain or impress - we want to talk with the one who love's us best, knows us best and wants what is best for us.  We need private prayer - !!!!

Vss.  14-15:   Ouch - but if we go to Him with a lack of both the desire and willingness to be forgiving than we are usurping His perogative and putting ourselves in His place.  We do not come to Him as equals but as adopted children, blessed beyond measure.  Harboring a refusal to forgive poisons our hearts and hence our thoughts and then our prayers.

Now, about the, "do not be anxious about anything" part in the Philippians passage.  it certainy enjoins us to not be sinfully anxious but anxiety is common for fallen - even redeemed fallen men and women.  I refer you to, Triumphing Over Sinful Fear, by John Flavel if you reallly want to gain a better understanding.

But, to continue, there is an aspect of the term used here that refers to, seeking to promote one's interests.  It may be that Paul is using this term in a broad sense to include both sinful fear and self-promoting prayer.  

Here's my struggle, maybe it's yours as well.  Consider that I have a need - perhaps a big need and it troubes my heart.  Now, God has promised that He will provide for my common needs - the basics.  But this need, though not fundamental, seems to me to be overwhelming.  I run the danger of this "need" distracting me to the point that i only see it.  This affects my praying.  I begin well but find myself "hung up" on this one thing becasue "to me" it seems more important than any other need and more important than what I've been promised.  So my praying is distracted and uneasy.  

I've also been brought to a point where I have to confess that I am wanting to live by sight much more than faith.  I really want to ask for an immediate answer and find myself praying more about how I desire God to solve the issue than submitting to His will in it.  I even find myself telling Him how He can meet the need - oh presumption yu are a curse.

"It's hard to be focused when you think your hair is on fire!"  Or - "It's hard to remember that the original intent was to drain the swamp when you're up to your elbows in alligators."  

Anxiety is common.  ANXIETY is not healthy either physically or spiritually.  But how many of us are able to just say, "God's in control," and move on?  Not many of us.  This is because our faith s weaker than we thought.  Not to worry - think mustard seed.  But god desires to grow our faith and how can He do that unless we find ourselves in a position where we have only Him?  

Faith is either true or false.  Weak and strong are measures of faith that is true - faith that is.  If you didn't have faith you couldn't have weak or baby faith.  So please do not make this "anxious" thing some self-condenmnatory hammer.  You believe and you are lerning to believe better, broader and bigger.  That is a good thing.

I have several clients who struggle with praying.  They are in situations and circumstances where there are lots of inner and outer distractions.  They begin their prayer well and then find themselves circling around one or to issues.  Here's what I suggested for them.
1.  Make a list - stick to the list.
2.  Read the Psalms as prayers.
3.  Find an mp3 or something where the Psalms are sung and sing them.
4.  When the big anxiety issue pops in your head - pray then - asking God to calm your heart and help you wait His pleasure.  This is my favorite.
5.  Ask Him to help you see why this "thing" is such a biggie for you - this is a very intersting thing to do and leads to some real insights into our deeper needs.
6.  KEEP A JOURNAL DAILY OF HOW HE HAS BLESSED YOU AND THOSE YOU KNOW- NOTHING IS TOO SMALL!
7.  I had a mentor who when he was ovewhelmed with things would simpy go out into the woods, sit on a log and pray, "God, it's Travis," and then just sit and enjoy his surroundings.

May God bless you in your prayers and from your prayers and keep you from sinful fear.