As I have been touching on certain aspects of prayer in some of my posts, I think we have gotten the jist somewhat that prayer is not just mumbo jumbo. It is a very articulate and intentional communication. I have (as I am sure some of you do) this old dude in my church that frequently prays before the offering. Sometimes his prayers last five or more minutes. Which for in-church, that is a real long prayer. When I was younger, I used to get restless by about the third minute, but now as I have somewhat matured in my prayer life, I am taken and moved by his prayers. He is not just rambling up there, but he is petitioning and specifying requests in a way that to me seems like an art.
You pay a lawyer a lot of money to study up before he stands before a judge and a jury to present his case. I believe it is similar with God, the ultimate judge. When you come before Him to petition for things that you want or need in your life, you have to be sure that the evidence you bring is relevant to your case. Whether you pray to a specific name of God or not, I believe this is a critical part to prayer. One way to specify your requests (as I'm sure some do) is to write down the things that you want to pray for, but next to these pleas, write out the verses, the promises, that you are going to use in your prayer. Again, prayer needs to be intentional and practical, not just something you just throw together. Obviously, I am not speaking about your breath prayers or short sentences you say throughout your day.
God sees the seriousness or intention behind our prayers. For an example, when I ask for forgiveness, petition His mercy in my life, ask Him to cleanse me and remove my specific sins from my and His mind; I will often quote Psalm 103:12 which states, "as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." And also Hebrews 8:12 states, "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." These are definitely symbolic portraits of God's forgiveness for us, how the the east can never meet the west, and how he forgets our transgressions.
See this way or idea of prayer shows that when you pray for each request, you are praying according to God's Word. I just use the comparison of a lawyer in a courtroom because it is easy for me to relate that to prayer. I mean, in court you wouldn't tell a judge to drop all the cases against your client because he is in actuality a really nice guy, no not at all. So why would you approach God, the ultimate judge, by, for example, asking for forgiveness because you didn't mean to do it. Isn't this when a prosecutor or someone yells, "Irrelevant!"? God didn't have His promises written out for them just to collect dust beside your nightstand. Those promises are meant to be ingrained in your heart and mind, and if you know them and believe them, I think I would present them in my case.
trying to die to myself,
-tmart
2 comments:
good post and comparisons. I definitely feel you on being the young guy in church during a prayer-a-thon and finding myself thinking about sportscenter's top ten or something.
i cant believe it took you 3 minutes. When I was younger it was lets see how we can count while this nonsense is going on. yuck....what a pagan. anyways, good post. that's two points about prayer you've dropped that I think will really help me. Incorporate Gods word into it and also find quietness before you start. preciate ya
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