Prayer: That Powerful, Profound Mystery

“When all else fails, pray.” How many times have you heard someone say that? Perhaps you’ve thought it yourself at times. As if the primary purpose of prayer is like sending an ‘SOS’ to God, reserved for times of crisis and distress. 

The Scriptures teach that prayer isn’t to be treated as a fire alarm for use only when all other courses of action have been exhausted. Prayer, admittedly mysterious in some respects, serves as our means for uninterrupted communication with the God of creation, the One who declares, “Call on Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).

 

Yes, we can – and should – use prayer to present urgent needs to the Lord. That’s what Jonah did after spending three days and nights inside a great fish: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and You listened to my cry” (Jonah 2:2). Similar pleas for help appear in the Psalms. But we do ourselves – and God – a great disservice by limiting prayer to crisis management.

 

Recently I found these comments in a devotional book by Charles H. Spurgeon, the great 19^th century British preacher: “Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian…. Prayer is an open door which none can shut…. Prayer is never out of season…[it] gains an audience with heaven in the dead of night, in the midst of business, in the heat of noonday, and in the shades of evening…. Prayer is never futile. You may not always get what you ask, but you will always have your true needs supplied.”

 

This truth is expressed succinctly in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. It says we’re to “pray without ceasing,” while another translation expresses it in two words: “pray continually.”

 

Much is made of “the full armor of God” described by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:10-17 – “belt of truth…breastplate of righteousness…feet fitted with the gospel of peace…shield of faith…helmet of salvation…sword of the Spirit.” However, the next verse points to perhaps the most powerful weapon of all. We’re told to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” 

 

Then Paul adds, “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel…” (Ephesians 6:18-20).

 

I don’t know how many times I’ve been guilty of undervaluing prayer. Someone asks me to pray for them, and I promise I will, but then I forget. Or if I do pray, it’s more like a ritual than an act of sincere intercession. When the going gets tough, however, I suddenly remember how important prayer is.

 

I mentioned earlier that prayer is mysterious. We know from the Bible that prayer is an essential part of one’s relationship with God, but often it seems like one-way communication. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God.” It doesn’t say that He will get right back with us. Sometimes what we get is only silence. ‘Is God listening? Does He even care?’

 

This is where faith comes in. When we pray, we can’t see God, make eye contact with Him. We don’t hear an audible response. His answers to our prayers often aren’t immediate – and may be different from what we expected. As Spurgeon noted, “You may not always get what you ask, but you will always have your true needs supplied.”

 

How, then, are we to pray? Years ago, a friend, Bob Foster, offered a simple acronym that can help us in shaping our prayers and not saving them for emergencies only. The acronym is ACTS:

A – Adoration. For all that He is and all that He has done, is doing and will do, God deserves our sincere and fervent praise.

C – Confession. Even if we are born again, “in Christ” as 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, sin remains a perpetual problem. Jesus Christ died on the cross, paying the penalty for our sins, but when we do sin we confess, acknowledging them and repenting to restore our healthy relationship with the Lord.

T – Thanksgiving. God is at work in our lives every day, often in ways we don’t even recognize. In prayer we express our gratitude for what we know He has done – and for the things we haven’t realized, at least not yet.

S – Supplication. This is where we present needs to the Lord – our own needs and concerns, as well as the needs of friends, family members, our communities, missionaries, people in distant lands, and whatever He brings to our minds.

 

As I write this, I’m convicted that my own prayer life isn’t what it should be. We’re busy people, easily distracted, focused on myriad important and urgent things that must be addressed. But it may be that prayer is the most important thing we can do – even today. Even right now.

A Simple Prescription for Effective Prayer

One of the essential, yet mysterious parts of a growing relationship with God is something called prayer. We find it in many forms: long, eloquent public orations by very religious-sounding individuals; very formalized liturgy repeated every Sunday in some congregations; very simple, humble expressions of men, women and children. All hoping to connect with the divine.

Prayer is something we all know we should do, but many of us would agree, “It’s so hard!” Where’s the best place to pray? The proper posture for praying? What are the right words to use? It seems so mysterious, especially seeking to commune with Someone we can’t see or touch.

 

Workshops, even entire conferences, are devoted to the subject of prayer. Countless books have been written on the topic. And yet many of us continue to ask, “What is the right way to pray?”

 

I’ll never claim to be an expert on prayer. It’s something I know I should do more, probably with greater fervency. But when I find myself stumbling around, trying to get past a prayerful roadblock, I often resort to a simple formula for prayer that I learned years ago:

A – adoration

C – confession

T – thanksgiving

S – supplication

 

There are many other approaches that can be used, but this one seems to put things into their proper perspective. By starting with adoration – or praise – we place our focus on God, rather than whatever we think we need or desire for Him to provide. 

 

Confession effectively cleans the slate as we take to the Lord our sins – acts of disobedience or rebellion that create “static” and interfere with or disrupt our communication with the God of all creation.

 

Thanksgiving is grateful recognition of who God is, as well as acknowledgement of what He has already done and what we trust He will do in response to our prayerful requests.

 

Then the “supplication” portion comes, even though we’re tempted to start our prayers with that. Years ago, a man I worked with observed that sometimes as we pray, we act as if God were a spiritual “short-order cook,” serving up whatever we select from the “menu.” Preceding our requests by adoration, confession and thanksgiving puts us into a more worshipful frame of mind. We can find ourselves more aligned with the Lord and His will. Sometimes this might even change what we ask for – or how we ask.

 

We can find this simple model or something like it many places in the Bible, but one special example is found in the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. This cupbearer for King Artaxerxes of Persia had learned about the ruined state of his hometown before exile, Jerusalem in Israel. The distressing news caused him to sit down and weep.

 

Feeling compelled to personally engage in the repair of the once-proud city’s walls and gates, Nehemiah knew he would need the king’s permission. However, before approaching Artaxerxes with the uncertainty of how he would respond, the royal servant first turned to God in prayer. Recorded in Nehemiah 1:5-11, he began by addressing “O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands.”

 

Next Nehemiah prayed, “I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you….” He then recounted God’s promise to restore His people and “bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name….”

 

Only then did Nehemiah get to the matter at hand, his wish to lead the extensive rebuilding of the Lord’s holy city: “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man [Artaxerxes].” 

 

When asked why he looked so sad, Nehemiah received the opportunity to express to the king what had happened to the city, but silently preceded his explanation with another brief prayer to God for His wise direction. Artaxerxes did authorize his cupbearer to undertake the ambitious project, even assisting with needed resources and protection.

 

This is just one biblical illustration, but it shows that prayer is simply honest, sincere communication with God. In one sentence, Philippians 4:6 offers a summation of this process: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Couple this with the concise admonition of 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray without ceasing,”and we have a prescription for prayer that enables us to cut through unnecessary religious red tape.

 

Prayer is a privilege the Lord extends to His children as our Abba Father. Jesus Christ, by His once-for-all atoning sacrifice, has made it possible for us to “approach the 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). This is something we can “ACTS” upon with abounding joy. 

When All Else Fails . . .

It may seem old-fashioned, but perhaps these are times
when it would help it we remembered to pray.

It’s sometimes said that when you point a finger toward someone else, at least three fingers point back toward yourself. And as I write today, that’s exactly what I’m doing – pointing at myself.

Many of us, in one way or another, carry considerable concern about events transpiring in the United States – and around the world. We fret over terrorism and its ever-present threat to our safety and well-being. Issues of racism and other forms of discrimination weigh heavily on many of our hearts. Every morning the chatty news shows darken our moods, telling us about new dangers looming before us.

There are myriad other matters, ranging from poverty and economics to the present and future leadership of our nation to the incessant, often embittered cultural clashes going on all around us. We wring our hands. We mutter, grumble and complain. We verbalize our views via social media, as well as in casual conversations that can quickly escalate into debates and arguments. But in the end, we often feel dispirited and helpless, powerless to do anything to facilitate changes we believe are so needed.

What’s a person to do? At such times, I’m often reminded of the exhortation, “When all else fails…pray.”

Too often prayer – even for those of us who profess to follow and worship Jesus Christ, not only as Savior but also as Lord – becomes that last resort, something we turn to when nothing else has seemed to work. Admittedly, that’s the case for me. I worry, fret, vent my frustrations, even wonder how I could intervene directly. Then it occurs to me that maybe it might help to pray.

In actuality, prayer should be one of the first things we undertake, definitely something we continue to do as we are pursuing other courses of action. However, this doesn’t necessitate stopping in our tracks and dropping to our knees, or scurrying to some location that seems appropriately spiritual. Prayer should be as simple as the act of turning to a friend to converse, or picking up our cell phone and making a quick call.

One of the first Bible verses I ever learned was 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray without ceasing.” (How hard can it be to memorize a passage consisting of just three words?) If you prefer an even more concise version, it’s translated, “pray continually,” in the New International Version.

As I pondered these simple yet profound words, it occurred to me we’re being told to remain in a continual attitude of prayer, rather than restricting it to specific times and places. And I think that’s as God intends. One of the last things Jesus declared before ascending to heaven was, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Yes, prayer can take the form of  comfortable, casual communication, but there’s also a sense of urgency surrounding it. Repeatedly in the Scriptures we instructed to pray. James 5:16 states, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

Despite his lofty status as a leader of the early Church, the apostle Paul also understood the importance of prayer: “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel…. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should” (Ephesians 6:19-20).

I’ve made mention of this passage before, but in 2 Chronicles 7:14 God assures, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

The fact is, praying fervently can be extremely humbling. It’s an admission of our need for and dependence on God, and if we’ve waited “until all else fails,” we’re also acknowledging we’ve exhausted all other alternatives.

I know there are some who would disagree, but I’m convinced one of the reasons our great country has reached a crossroads of conflict and dissension, seeing a growing divide instead of unity which once defined our land, is because we’ve eliminated God from the equation. Instead of turning to Him for answers, for His mercy and grace and love to be manifested in us and through us, we’ve determined to do things our own way, apart from Him.

In the coming days and months, if the past is any predictor, divisions and disunity and discord figure to escalate rather than evaporate. Civil discourse seems virtually impossible anymore. So we can give up, conceding all is beyond hope. Or we can pray, humbling ourselves – getting over ourselves – and surrendering to God’s sovereign intervention as He responds to our persistent intercessions.

As we’re advised in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” I wonder what would happen if we determined to do this consistently and continually. When tempted to gripe and moan, instead we would pray. When inclined to type a sharp retort on Facebook or Twitter, instead we would pray. When moved to lash out in anger, instead we would pray.

Let’s face it: As we survey all that’s going on around us, it seems pretty obvious that all else has indeed failed. So let’s pray.