What is the Purpose of Prayer?

Yesterday I was going through one of my journals and discovered a post from 2 ½ years ago that was at the time quite a revelation from God. The unfortunate thing is that this time it was just as much of a revelation (which means that I didn't do much about it the first time). Here's the revelation: for most of my life I have had a warped understanding of prayer. There, I said it.

I've looked at prayer primarily as a "Trust and Obey" issue. I've never really had trouble believing that God will not only take care of me, but that He knows what is best for me. I've always felt that God knows all of my needs and will continue to provide for those needs. I've believed that He will close and open doors as He sees fit, and therefore my job is just to walk. When He opens a door, I should go through it. When He closes a door, I should yield. If that is my attitude, then what is the purpose of prayer? Or better yet, why should I bother with prayer? God knows what I'm going to say, doesn't He? He's going to take care of my needs regardless, right? Efficiency is the key word here.

My revelation then, and my revelation yesterday, was that God is not very concerned with my efficiency. Prayer is not about getting things done. Prayer is about relationship. At the time I first realized this I did not have a son. I now understand this better. My relationship with Adam has nothing to do with accomplishing something. I spend time with Adam because I love him. I desire for our relationship to continue to grow and develop. Intimacy comes as the relationship deepens. The relationship between father (Robert) and son (Adam) is a picture of the relationship between Father (God) and son (Robert).

God is not too busy getting things accomplished that He can't spend time with me. Neither should I be too busy that I can't spend time with Him. It does go back to my understanding, though, because understanding and belief determines behavior. I'm happy to say that my understanding is changing, and I trust that my behavior will also begin to change.

The role of prayer in our church

This past Sunday night Jason taught from 2 Corinthians 3 & 4. It seemed to me that the crux of the passage, and the evening, came with verse 4 of chapter 4: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” I think that God wanted us to camp out on that verse for a little while. Do we believe this verse? If so, what do we do?

First and foremost, it heightens our awareness that we are totally and completely dependent on God for salvation. Verse 14 of chapter 3 says that only Christ can remove the veil. There was a sudden realization within our group that we don't really pray, or at least we don't pray as we should. How desperate are we to see the veil lifted so that our friends can see "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ?" The good news is that God wants this desire to grow in us. I thank God for reminding us of this.

The second thing I came away with was that though darkness is all around us, God has created us to be light in the darkness: "For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ". A room can be completely dark, but one small light can penetrate this darkness. This again is God's grace. We may not be much, but we are light. We may not be many, but we are light.

In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."


If you want to read more on this passage, here is a great sermon by John Piper called "What Makes the Good News Good?"

Some tips on having a quiet time

I ran across this blog this morning. In four previous posts, the author talks about the what and the why of a quiet time, and in this post discusses the how. This is a great help for anyone who has struggled with setting aside a portion of each day to spend time with God. Here are some excerpts, as well as the link.

The essential elements of the quiet time are prayer to God and meditation on Scripture and this can take a number of different forms. After talking about what it is and why it is important I thought I would give some practical advice for those who want to start or reboot their quiet time.

While there are some exceptions to the rule, I am convinced that it works best for most people to set aside a particular time each day for private worship. So pick a time: in the morning before work, at work on your lunch break, or before you go to bed in the evening. These quiet times of worship before the face of God are an essential element to your spiritual health. Consider that time sacred. Guard it. Look forward to it for what it is - you are meeting with God!

People sometimes set good, if big, goals for themselves when beginning or restarting this discipline. Unfortunately, instead of building up to those goals they attempt to immediately master it all. My advice is, if you have been disengaged in this discipline for a while, start small. Pick an epistle, commit yourself to reading one paragraph a day, write down any thoughts you have on that passage. Pray for God’s blessing, provision, guidance, etc (more on prayer in a minute). This may wind up only being 10 to 15 minutes in length, but that’s fine. The important thing is to get this discipline going in your life. I have found that once you start it, it is easy to cultivate it and see it grow.

The Will of God

Of the many theological topics that interest me, high on the list is Discerning the Will of God. This started several years ago and has continued to grow. I love it because periodically I am able to sit down with friends and discuss it--not in theory but in practice. I have been with friends who were in this grueling process of trying to ascertain the will of God. It is challenging, enlightening, and absolutely invigorating to see how the Spirit of God is active in someone's life, even if they themselves do not see it. They don't see it because it is similar to the fog of war--you are so involved in the process that you no longer see objectively. I could go on and on.

This week I read an excellent treatment of a particular type of prayer, The Prayer of Relinquishment. I am reading through Richard Foster's book, Prayer, and it has truly taken me to some depths that I have not experienced in years. Truly, my readings, my conversations and other studies have been triangulated it seems, and The Prayer of Relinquishment spoke to me greatly. This topic is very complete, but let me try to explain just a piece of it.

The Prayer of Relinquishment is when we completely lay down our human will and say to God, "Not my will be done, but your will be done." However, if you are like me, there are about a 1,000 miles and 4,000 steps in the process of getting to that point of relinquishment. There are simply times in our lives where we sense that our will and the will of God are not in alignment. He is up to something. We sense it. We feel it in our soul. Sometimes this might be because of sin and then the answer is clear. However, there are times where we come to a cross roads and have to make a decision that not only impacts one little area of our life, but may in fact affect the entirety of the rest of our life. During this time we begin to seek God. We begin to ask questions, pray, and beg him to show us what to do. And, if you are like me, at times those prayers are selfish and manipulative and it seems like God simply doesn't answer as clearly as we would like. We don't necessarily despise the process because at least we are engaged with God in a dialogue, which is much better than feeling isolated and abandoned.

Have you ever gotten the impression that some people just know the will of God? They don't struggle and they seem to hear from God like he has their cell phone number and simply sends them a text message? Well, Abraham, Moses, David, Mary, Paul and, not the least, Jesus all struggled in prayer over the will of God for their life. Abraham struggled to give back to God his son, who was actually an answered prayer! Moses struggled over how God would choose to use him as a leader. David struggled as his infant son was dying. Mary, the Lord's mother, struggled to comprehend what the news meant as the angel gave her the news of who was inside her womb. Paul struggled with the thorn in the flesh. And then there is Jesus, who in the Garden of Gethsemane, was growing weary with the will of his Father: is this the only way? can't this be accomplish through another means?

[Short disclaimer: this is not to say that God always asks us to do things that we hate, late or don't want to do. I have many friends who absolutely wanted to live and work in a certain place and God obliged. ]

Jesus put into words what we each feel when life's decisions are difficult--let this cup pass. Surely this can't be the way you have chosen! You've got to be kidding! God would never ask that of me, would he? The blood-like sweat dropped to the ground, showing us that he was working hard to understand, to comprehend the mysterious ways of God. He wrestled, much like Jacob. Jacob had his hip torn; Jesus had his life taken.

It is okay to struggle. Relinquishment is not resignation--it is proactive, not passive. It is not simply letting go and saying, "God is sovereign; he'll work it out. He'll do it all." That is fatalistic. Relinquishment is letting go with hope. And it is not the obliteration of the will either. It is crucifying it with Jesus so that you may live a life of obedience to God just like Jesus did.

But there comes a time when we must Relinquish. This was true with Jesus and is no different with us, "Not my will but yours be done" (Luke 22:39-46). For your benefit and mine, I will give an extended quote from Foster. He writes, " We do well to meditate often on this unparalleled expression of relinquishment. . .here we have the incarnate Son praying through his tears and not receiving what he asks. Jesus knew the burden of unanswered prayer. He really did want the cup to pass, and he asked that it would pass. 'If you are willing' was his questioning, his wondering. The Father's will was not yet absolutely clear to him. 'Is there any other way?' 'Can people be redeemed by some different means?' The answer--no! Andrew Murray writes, 'For our sins, He suffered beneath the burden of that unanswered prayer.'"

I am extremely challenged by this message and the example of Jesus. I have seen this truth in my life. For many years the will of God was presented by some in a way that disheartened me, thinking that everyone should "hear from God" so clearly and easily as they. But that is not my experience and perhaps it is not yours either. But how many times have I cried out to God and said, "I don't like your will! Why must you chose that hard way? This is much easier! This is what I think is right and good!" And yet he graciously waits patiently for me, for all of us, to come to the Garden and sit alongside Jesus and pray as he did, "Not my will but your will."

ISG--the 80th Recommendation

Barb and I spent the weekend recovering from some kind of stomach bug. God was gracious in that when she was sick the first two days I was well and could take care of her. And when I was sick the last two she was able to help me. Robert and Mandy were good enough to call and drive by the house to see if we were still alive--yes, but barely it seemed. Two are better than one--and four are better than two.

There's a lot of t.v. watched during illnesses like that, for better or worse. I must say that this time it was for the better. I watch a very limited about of news every day (about 30 minutes) because much is repeated. Yesterday I watched a Sunday morning interview with the chair and co-chair of the Iraq Study Group--Baker and Hamilton, who, along with others, offered 79 recommendations concerning the current situations in Iraq. I continued to listen to a panel of foreign diplomacy experts and analysts. It was quite eye-opening. Each, as you know, have grave concerns over what's happening in Iraq. It was quite alarming to hear someone I respect say, "It's on the verge of a meltdown." Every word and every paragraph struck me with dread--10-15 more years in Iraq? A divided country? Bad and Worse options? 300 Iraqis die a week? Almost 3,000 U.S. forces killed? And this is what struck me the most as I lay recovering--my lack of prayer over the whole matter.

How is it that I, a follower of Jesus, could pray so little for such a great matter? I don't believe that it is hopeless and that such a thing is out of the realm of prayer. So what is it? I can't really say that I know, but I do know I'm ashamed.

And as I was writing this my mind was called back to a familiar passage, Luke 18:1: "Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up." The text assumes at least 2 things: his followers prayed and that they had given up.

So, today I ask the Lord to help me not give up on praying for peace in Iraq, for his intervention in our troubles as a nation, and to give wisdom and courage to our President as he is currently making strategic decisions in relationship to the war this week. The Study Group offered 79, but I think I'll just add 1 more--prayer, which should be moved to the top of the list. You'd have to be sick and secluded with the flu not to know that!