Prayer

2 Chronicles 7:14 says “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 I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

To give a recap: In Part One we discussed why we pray, and in Part Two I discussed why it is important to have a Christocentric mindset when praying.  So in Part Three of the “A Life of Prayer” series I would like to discuss how we can pray simply.  In order to keep prayer simple and focused I suggest we take a lesson from Jesus himself. By consulting scripture we find that Jesus actually told us how to pray.  Often, many churches refer to this as the Lord’s Prayer. 

The Lord’s Prayer is simple; however it is not the key to salvation.  It is the result of a regenerated heart, but it does not necessarily cause the regeneration.  God’s grace causes us to draw near to Him and place our faith in Christ, and it is His sacrificial death that brings salvation.  So let’s make sure to get it correct from the start.

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I was convicted the other day about how sinful my prayers can be. My prayer is usually selfish because the purpose of prayer is to exalt Christ, bear fruit and glorify God.  Selfish prayer is sin, and it is scary to me because you can sin at a time when you talk to God.  Even if we do not realize we are being selfish, it is still sin.  In all cases even sin we do not know we are committing is sin.

 At the same time it is not always wrong to ask God for help and turn over to Him whatever burdens are on your heart.  After all, the second half of John 15:7 does say

 ”Ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.”
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Though prayer can sometimes be intimidating, it is essential to the Christian life, as we discussed in part one.  It is a common thing to see a new Christian say that he or she doesn’t know how to pray and stray away from prayer.  But it is so important to simply talk to God, and we cannot afford to struggle with our fear of prayer. Scripture constantly refers to a foundation in the Christian’s life, and 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 suggests that it is the foundation on which a person will be tested.  For when the foundation gives away, so will everything else in that person’s life be lost. So let us take a moment to understand the foundation of prayer.

Prayer starts with Christ.  We come to the Father through Christ (John 14:6) and we pray to God through Christ because He radically freed us from our sinful nature, crushing His son so that we may be seen as righteous on the final day.  All our prayer is because of Him and through Him.  Thanking God for these things should be reason enough for a lifetime of prayer.  Christ should be the very essence of our lives of prayer.

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Men ought always to pray. (Luke 18:1, KJV)

I will, therefore, that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. (1 Timothy 2:8, KJV)

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