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June 2001
WHAT IS PRAYER
by Jean LeStourgeon
Prayer is a mystery to most, neglected by many and consistently employed by few. Part of the mystery and subsequently the neglect of prayer lies in our basic understanding that God is omniscience. We know that God knows every word before it is on our tongues (Ps. 139) and He knows our needs before we ask (Mt 6:8). It is no wonder that at times we ask ourselves "Why should I bother to pray if God knows it all anyway?" In this edition of ChristianDiscipleship.com we look intently into the scriptures to unearth the treasures of understanding this awesome privilege called prayer.
Jesus, although in perfect unity and harmony with the Father, still spent long nights and early mornings in prayer. Such an example was Jesus' prayer life to His disciples, that one day after He had finished praying, one of them asked Him, "Lord teach us how to pray . . ." There was something about Jesus' private prayer life that intrigued His disciples and drew them closer to the Father. Jesus responded by giving His disciples a model for prayer known as The Lord's Prayer, which is recorded in both Matthew 6 and Luke 11.
Jesus replied, "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'" (Mt 6:9-13).
Within this simple prayer, there are several pieces of hidden treasure waiting to be unearthed. The clues to finding the hidden treasure are embedded in the seven elements of this prayer:
The first piece of treasure that we find in the Lord's Prayer is the jewel of knowing God. Each of the seven elements flows from Jesus' knowledge of who God is. If one does not know, for example, "the earth is the Lord's and everything in it," one cannot pray to God as their provider. But Jesus knew His Father and so He knew exactly which elements to include in this model prayer for His disciples. One could easily entertain the thought that this model prayer parallels Jesus' private prayers to His heavenly Father. In the Lord's Prayer we see Jesus acknowledging God as "Our Father", the Holy One of Israel, the Sovereign of heaven and earth, our Provider, our Redeemer and Savior, and Lord Sabbaoth our warrior and protector. Effective prayer flows from knowing God. A healthy prayer life will be fueled by diligent study of God's word combined with a hunger and thirst to know Him.
Matthew Henry says that the scriptures describe prayer to be our drawing near to God, lifting up our souls to Him, pouring out our hearts before Him.i J. C. Ryle offers another perspective:
"Prayer is the simplest act in all religion. It is simply speaking to God. It needs neither learning nor wisdom nor book knowledge to begin it. It needs nothing but heart and will. The weakest infant can cry when he is hungry. The poorest beggar can hold out his hand for alms, and does not wait to find fine words."ii
Prayer, in it's most basic form, simply requires us to acknowledge God as the hearer of our prayer. John Calvin said it is one of God's attributes that He hears prayer. Prayer is intrinsic to our being: the impressed image of God in man seeking the perfect image of God—like a flower following the sun.iii Yes, even the weakest infant can cry for his mother to feed him when he is hungry. The question is, are we content to remain as infants in our relationship with the Lord?
The second nugget of treasure is the jewel of relationship. God created prayer as our means of relationship with Him. One of the most common misconceptions concerning prayer is that it is a method for accomplishing what we want. As we truly familiarize ourselves with the Lord's Prayer we see that this is not at all the purpose of prayer, quite the contrary. Prayer is not a means to accomplish our will, but it is a means for accomplishing God's will in our lives.
Praying consistent with the elements of the Lord's Prayer brings our thinking in line with God's thinking. It brings our will in line with His will. It helps us to see our prayer concerns as God sees them. When we pray scripturally it is like getting our vision corrected. God wants us to know Him in a personal and experiential way and prayer consistent with His word is one of the means of grace our Father has given us for that very purpose. Jesus teaches us that because God is our Father, and we are His children, that we can boldly come to the throne of grace, with confidence and expectancy. As we grow in our relationship with God, we grow in our obedience to Him as well, and in this way bring greater glory to our heavenly Father.
The third piece of treasure in this prayer is not the spoken elements it is the unspoken elements. It is the attitude of the "prayer." As we pick up and examine each phrase, looking for the treasure within, we see the jewel of humility glinting and sparkling in the light of the Son of God calling upon the hallowed name of His Father. Asking something of someone, especially God, requires humility. It requires humility because in essence one has to acknowledge their need before they can voice their request. Asking God to do for us means recognizing that we cannot do for ourselves.
Another clue regarding the presence of humility is the request for forgiveness. Forgiving others and asking for forgiveness for oneself requires recognition of having done something wrong. The asking comes with a knowledge that forgiveness is granted with a requirement to forgive others just as we have been forgiven. As we work through this prayer, and examine each element, we see a humble posture of prayer beginning to emerge. Effective prayer requires a bowing down low in our hearts (as well as in our flesh). David said, "the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart" (Psalm 51:17). When we pray the elements of this prayer with sincerity we can't help but experience humility.
God uses it to draw us into a more intimate relationship with Him, which positions us to receive the fullness of His grace, resulting in greater obedience to His word, for the purpose of glorifying Him and advancing His kingdom. Many people get discouraged with prayer and as a result they begin to neglect their prayer life. They wonder why they never see answers to their prayer. Yet, Jesus gave us a prayer perfectly aligned with God's will, and guaranteed to grant us success in our prayer efforts every time. So take the Lord's Prayer and make it your prayer every day.
This month in ChristianDiscipleship.com we pray that you will grow in your understanding of prayer as you uncover the treasure that God's word has for you in this month's Bible studies and devotionals. Also, we pray that you will be encouraged by this month's testimony in Walking the Talk about the necessary provisions of confession of sin and corporate prayer that breathes healing and health into the body of Christ. For those of you who want to take your prayer lives to new heights, we recommend the Book Works review on Matthew Henry: A Method For Prayer. For practical application on improving your prayer life, check out How Shall We Live and glean some ideas on making the most of your prayer time.
i Matthew Henry, A Method For Prayer, pg. X
ii J. C. Ryle, A Call to Prayer, An Urgent Plea to Enter into the Secret Place, pg. 25
iii Archie Parrish quoting John Calvin during a lecture called The Prayer Connection, 1998 Ligonier Conference, Orlando, Florida
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Copyright © 2001 Alan and Jean LeStourgeon
