Are You a Prayer Warrior – Or Prayer Worrier?

Prayer is at once one of the most intriguing and most intimidating parts of the Christian life. We’re talking to a God we cannot see – at least in the physical, visual sense. And we approach Him with mixtures of praise, petitions, pleas and perplexities. Sometimes we feel the need to pray but have no clue about how we should pray or what we should pray for.

 

Preachers offer us prayer acronyms like ACTS – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication – but we’re tempted to shortcut through the praising, confessing and thanking portions so we can get right to the asking part – presenting our needs, concerns and desires. Praying, many of us agree, is hard.

 

Within our family of faith, there are those who are called “prayer warriors.” They have a God-given passion for praying. Some of them designate literal “prayer closets” or “war rooms” where they engage in spiritual battle with prayer as their only weapon. The Kendrick brothers even produced a movie called “War Room” about one such valiant woman.

These prayer warriors receive little acclaim – and do not seek it – but who knows the difference their faithful prayers have made within their families, churches, communities and even the nation? It’s said that at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England, where renowned British preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon served for more than 30 years, in the basement there was a “boiler room” (with no boiler, only chairs) where hundreds of people would gather every Sunday morning to intercede for him as he preached.

 

We sometimes hear folks speculating about whether we all have a guardian angel. Would that we each had a faithful prayer warrior to daily approach “God’s throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16) on our behalf.

 

But there’s another kind of praying person, one I would call the “prayer worrier.” I’ve fit this description at times. Prayer worriers are those who tend to turn to God in prayer only as a last resort, after they’ve exhausted all possibilities in trying to resolve their anxieties, concerns and worries. Then they don’t even pretend to go through the first three steps of ACTS. They plunge straight into Supplication, opening their prayers with something like, “God, it’s me again. We’ve got some troubles here…!”

 

This isn’t to ridicule such individuals, partly because I’ve been there. But the problem with prayer worrying is that we pray, presenting the dilemma to God, perhaps submitting a request as we entrust the matter to Him. Then, moments after our “amen,” we snatch back the concern and resume agonizing, trying to figure out how to solve it ourselves.

 

We don’t want to release the worrying part – at least it makes us feel like we’re doing something.

 

I haven't met many genuine prayer warriors, so I don’t know if sometimes they slip into prayer worrying. But worrying about something is about as effective as attempting to stop a raging river with the palm of our hand. That’s one reason we’re admonished in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 

We want to protest, “Yeah, but what about…?” As one Bible scholar put it, when it says “everything” in the Greek, it means…everything. No exclusions, no exceptions. Not the coronavirus, not the political scene, not when our children aren’t always making the best decisions. Everything.

 

But how can we make the leap from prayer worrier to prayer warrior? I’m hardly the expert, but I suspect a very short, simple Scripture verse can point us in the right direction. Writing to the ancient church in Thessalonica, the apostle Paul exhorted them, “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Or as another translation expresses it even more concisely, “pray continually.”

 

If we strive to stay in continual contact with God – like calling someone on the phone but never hanging up – the stresses and befuddlements of life are far less likely to consume us. When a little problem or major crisis arises, our first reaction is to pray, not to panic.

 

In introducing what we commonly know as “the Lord’s prayer,” Jesus said, “And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:7-8).

 

Do we truly believe that? Do we pray not to inform God of what’s happening, but to approach Him in reverence and trust, believing that in His time and His way He will answer our prayers, often in ways we could never have imagined? 

 

I love His promise from Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things that you do not know.” I’m all in favor of that – aren’t you?

Fear of God – Far from Common

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” This famous phrase had its genesis in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural address in 1933. As FDR uttered these words, several people at the event reportedly muttered, “I was afraid he would say that.”

This whimsically colored version of "The Scream"by
Edvard Munch is how some perceive the fear of God.

Fear is a funny world in the English language, conjuring up many images. For children, fear can mean apprehension the “boogeyman” might suddenly pop out of a closet or from under the bed. Or that mommy or daddy might abandon them at the mall. As we get older, an expanding array of other fears supplant the boogeyman.

It’s a word we attribute to a dog cowering in a corner, tail between its legs, hoping to avoid another blow from its abusive owner. Or employees who arrive at work wary of their tyrannical boss’s unpredictable behavior.

We use a convenient word of Greek and Latin origin – “phobia” – to describe fears, often irrational, of virtually everything, including heights, spiders, snakes, crowds, enclosed places, flying, specific colors, black cats, the number 13, and red-headed people. (Is there a phobia of red-headed woodpeckers?) Politically correctness has led to the creation of new terms, like homophobia and Islamophobia. 

But when you hear the phrase, “fearing God,” what comes to mind? That’s a legitimate question, since numerous verses talk about the fear of the Lord. The book of Proverbs, for instance, gives an admonition, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). Similarly, Psalm 111:10 states, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

For some, to fear God suggests being prepared to duck, hoping to dodge a bolt from Heaven the Lord might choose to throw down if He catches us doing something wrong. Is that what it really means to fear God – anticipating divine zapping when He feels inclined to do so?

Tame that down a notch, and some people regard fearing God as always being at risk of becoming the object of His displeasure and impatience as we repeatedly fail to meet His perfect, righteous, never-changing standards.

However, not long ago I talked with someone who expressed an opposite opinion. He posited there’s no reason to fear God at all, since He’s so loving that He’ll accept whatever we do. This makes Him sound like the parent who never corrects or disciplines her child, or the grandparent who delights in doting on the grandkids, knowing before long they’ll be going home with their parents to deal with the fruit of their spoiling. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Kids do the darnedest things!”

A definition of the “fear of God” favored by many is “reverent awe” or “admiring submission.” This involves understanding that while He is accessible – “Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16) – the Lord is, after all, Creator not only of this planet but also the entire universe. That’s not something we should take lightly, with a casual shrug. He made everything and can do whatever He chooses with what He’s made.

The foreboding image of the Lord lurking nearby, poised to yell, “Gotcha! I knew it!” is unfortunate and stands at odds with the concept of grace – God’s unconditional favor we could never merit or earn. We’re told, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Titus 3:5 seconds this motion by declaring, “he saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy.”

Nevertheless, this doesn’t justify an attitude by which we might regard God as “Bro,” or as our good buddy. We “fear” law enforcement officers, not because we suspect they might harm us, but because they have the power to enforce laws if we break them. I remember when I was in school, we also “feared” the teacher, knowing she or he had authority to discipline us or reduce our grades if we misbehaved or violated classroom rules. 

God is Creator of all we see – as well as everything we can’t. It reminds me of the parent who, in a peak of frustration, said, “Son, I brought you into this world – and I can take you out!” 

In most cases, because of His love, grace and mercy, God doesn’t act in a similar way. However, we know He can, and sometimes has done so. Think of those who perished in The Flood except for Noah and his family, or the residents of the sin-riddled cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, or the Egyptian army as they pursued the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Ananias and Sapphira, members of the early Church, thought they could get away with misrepresenting their generosity. They greatly underestimated how much God values integrity.

So we worship a God fully capable of doing fearsome things. But If we truly know Him, and have an accurate, honest appraisal of ourselves, He deserves our reverent awe and wholehearted worship, praise and gratitude. As Psalm 34:9-10 tells us, "Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him…those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.”

In the Presence of Greatness

Imagine having the opportunity to meet a legendary figure in any realm of endeavor that interests you. Let’s focus on people that have already passed from the scene, since we know they no longer can do anything foolish to smudge their marks in history.

Wouldn't it be fun to meet Beethoven?

For instance, if you’re a lover of music and have an appreciation for the classics, what might it be like to meet someone like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig von Beethoven or Peter Tchaikovsky? (Assuming you could converse either in their language or a good translator was available, of course.)

Would you simply walk up, give a nod of your head and say something like, “Hey, Wolfy,” or “Hi, Tchai, what’s up”? I doubt it.

Suppose you’re a huge sports fan and could meet Jesse Owens, who not only earned four gold medals competing in track and field at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, but also kicked dust in the face of Adolf Hitler, then a rising Nazi leader hoping to use the Games as a showcase for his evil ideology. Or maybe someone like Lou Gehrig, the great New York Yankee first baseman who became the namesake for ALS, or the astoundingly versatile athlete Babe Didrikson Zacharias.

Wouldn’t you feel honored to be in their presence?

Pick any other area of expertise: Science (how about Albert Einstein or Sir Isaac Newton?); medicine (Louis Pasteur or Madame Curie?); entertainment (Elvis or Judy Garland?); statesmanship (Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington or Rosa Parks?). The list could go on, but the point is, how would you react if you could meet any of these, or some other great person that comes to your mind?

Jesse Owens made an indelible mark,
both in sports and for humanity.

Chances are you wouldn’t take the visit lightly. You’d probably feel humbled and privileged to be in the presence of greatness, wouldn’t you?

Interestingly, we have the opportunity to do something like that – actually, even better – if we are followers of Jesus Christ. We can meet Him every day without ceremony, pomp or circumstance, simply through prayer and reading His Word, the Bible. Hebrews 4:16 tells us, “Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Through Christ we have immediate access to God, the Creator and sustainer of the universe.

The people I’ve mentioned above – and others you can think of – would receive our homage because of their accomplishments and contributions to the world. If we would do so for them, as mere human beings (very gifted ones), what should our attitude be toward the Lord who made everything – even gave these celebrated individuals the talents and abilities they used in such wonderful ways?

Philippians 2:10 makes the amazing declaration that, “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” I understand this to mean all people – even those that denied or even opposed Jesus and His followers in this life.

The heavenly scene described in Revelation 4:11 tells of 24 elders gathered around the throne of God, declaring, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

I’m looking forward to being a spectator of that glorious gathering. Maybe some of those listed above will be in the crowd also, joining in the praise, truly in the presence of greatness.