This is the first in an 8-part series on one of the most important aspects of the Christian life – prayer. Prayer changes the world, but just as importantly, it changes the one who prays.
Prayer is among the most powerful tools in a Christian’s life. It’s the measure of the depth of relationship a person has with God. It expresses who God is in our lives. For some of us, He’s the “backup plan”. He’s only invited into a situation when things are out of control. Because “backup plan” people don’t really know God’s love, they think that if they can make a deal where they put something on the table God wants, they can get Him to give them what they want. Primitive as it is, God will meet us in our deal making, but it’s far from the relationship He wants to build with us in prayer.
There are other types of Christian ‘pray-ers’. Some of us respect the power of prayer but have only a distant relationship with God. We know the relationship is not what it should be. God is like an aunt or uncle whom we visit from time to time, and when we do, we tell Him, in abbreviated form, what we’re doing and what we’d like for Christmas. The ‘shopping list’ is read off with the awkwardness of a text message sent to an acquaintance asking for a favour. The relationship is shallow and one-way and usually ridden with guilt.
There are minor variations on these two types of ‘pray-ers’ but the point I want to make is that vibrant, powerful prayer flows out of relationship. It happens most naturally as part of a bigger ‘conversation’. The apostle Paul describes this conversation as continual, or without ceasing. He says “without ceasing” so that we understand that everything in our lives is included in the dialogue. By doing so, we’re inviting God into every aspect of our lives through this conversation, and there are many benefits to including God in everything.
‘Surrender’ is one of the other powerful tools available to a Christian. The key to the door into the Kingdom of God is a surrendered life. When we choose God’s life over our own, we’re given a new life which is far superior to what we’ve given up. We are born again (start life over) with eternal life and live in and out of the resources and blessings of the Kingdom of God. We can be born again but not living in the full benefits of the Kingdom of God. Surrender is an every day choice. It is NOT a sacrifice to God. It’s the daily choice to enjoy the blessings of God. Love, joy, and peace are the highest values in God’s Kingdom because that’s the nature of its king – Jesus. When we surrender our lives to God’s will, we have access to the love, joy, and peace of the Kingdom. It’s these foundational values which become our internal strength, in which we can do or overcome anything. It’s in relationship that we learn to live out of and in the values of the Kingdom, and it’s prayer that’s the center-piece of relationship with God.
The Lord’s Prayer starts off with, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name”. Some people believe that this is a prayer we should repeat, others say it’s a model for prayer. Considering that prayer is about relationship, I propose that it is an allegory for relationship. It would be wearisome for anyone, including God, to have to endure a bunch of procedures that need to be observed before relationship can begin. So what was Jesus trying to tell us about our friendship with God? Friends just talk and hang out together, but there are unspoken dynamics in every relationship – it is these that Jesus speaks to in this “parable of prayer”.
The use of the word “father” informs us of the type of relationship God wants us to have with Him. It’s informal yet respectful, loving, intimate, and without fear yet grateful for His grace and mercy He has shown toward us. In the next section, He reveals His expectations for prayer. We are to ask Him to send His Kingdom (Lordship) to Earth and that “His will be done on (all) Earth”. These prayers would effectively end all evil. He is Lord already, but not all people honour His lordship. They’re like us; when we choose to live outside the Kingdom, we unintentionally do evil. The full Lordship of Christ on all of the Earth would bring love, joy, and peace to the planet.
Later in the prayer, He invites us to bring our needs to Him even though He already knows them all. He enjoys hearing them from us. Finally, He reminds us that if we live in unforgiveness, we can not access the resources (love, joy and peace) of the Kingdom.
As in our earthly relationships, it takes time to get to know someone. It’s in our ‘reading of their being’ that we come to know not just what they’ve done, but also what they will or will not do. Our friendship with God is primarily built on a foundation of trust that comes from knowledge of Him. It’s the knowledge of Him that’s at the heart of the Christian faith. It’s because we know Him that we can speak with confidence about Him. It’s why we worship and love Him. It’s in this relationship, that is the “source” of our life, that we are transformed by love and through which we transform our world. Without relationship with God, Christianity is dead religion. His invitation to the relationship of prayer is about love. He wants to “father” us. He wants to love and protect us. He wants to provide for us. It is pleasant. It is beautiful. It is wonderful and it is precious “life” to all those who enter into it.
Your comments are invited……
This is the first in a series of 8 posts about prayer. Please invite your friends to join the conversation. The image below can be saved to your computer by right clicking and selecting “save image as” and then it can be “attached” or “inserted” in a email message. You can also become a “subscriber” by selecting “entries RSS” and never miss a new post or follow comments by selecting “comments RSS” . Check out the “META” section of the side bar to the right.
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