The Power of Prayer III

God, Elohim, El Shaddai, Adonai, Jehovah, Theos, Alpha and Omega, a creator with many names but according to the canon of Scriptures, also know as the Bible, is approachable and accessible through only one source, Jesus, Yeshua. If you have not accepted the blood of Christ as the atonement for your sin, you cannot experience the fullness of relationship with God the Father through prayer. By receiving this gift, you are no longer a simple Earth dweller, rather, you become a child of the living God. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his (Jesus’) name, he gave the right to become children of God” John 1:12. Like a caterpillar that cocoons and through metamorphosis becomes a butterfly, so you too, transform from the dust of the earth, the old, into the new…that which is eternal (Revelation 21). It is this identity that makes prayer possible.

Jennifer Kennedy Dean states, “Prayer is an interchange of love between the Father and His child. That desire you feel to pray is His love drawing you to delight in Him. You only need to respond.”

For true Christians, prayer [Gk: "proseuche"] is "communion with God". Through prayer we actually experience relationship with God. The quality of our prayer life then determines the quality of our relationship with God. Prayer is talking with God. Prayer is listening to God. Prayer is enjoying the presence of God. It can take many forms - for example: worship, confession, thanksgiving, praise, petition (asking for things), waiting (silent, listening and sensing of God) and warfare (command). If we are baptized in the Spirit we can pray with the spirit, in languages unknown to us but not to God. (1 Corinthians 14:2,14).

“Prayer is what we do. It is our initiative to meet God, whether we are asking for favors, singing in celebration, or crying out in distress. Regardless of what shape or size in comes in, prayer is our effort to engage God.” Fred A. Hartley III

Our goal through prayer must be to know God better – to experience the fullness of relationship. Through prayer we honor Him. We give something back to the Almighty, something He desires greatly, and in the prayer closet, a term ministry leaders will refer to frequently that simply means a quiet place where you cannot be distracted in your time with God, He reveals himself to you. If you do not desire to understand the deep things of God, if you do not desire to give praise to the Father, then the rest of the material in this book is of no use to you. You have to be in a mindset from this point on that you will no longer accept mediocrity in your life and you desire more. You must be ready to breakout of your ritual or traditional prayer practice that may simply tout God as nothing more than genie.

For years, I struggled with one-way dialog in my prayer life. This was due to my narrow perspective of faith that derived from works. In my mind, I lived by my religious to-do list complete with check-boxes…go to church on Sunday. Go to church on Wednesday. Read the Scriptures once a year with a morning or bedtime routine of outlined chapters. Go to men’s groups. Tithe every Sunday. Oh, and be sure to pray before every meal and at the close of the day. These disciplines, though healthy, were my practices as my commitment to the Christian walk. They were not the outward expression of love for my God and King. They were my works.

I have been blessed to serve in ministry for over twenty years. During that time, I have noticed a common practice in the men of our church, they were motivated to express their faith by doing something. Their fire often started to fade when the conversations of God focused solely on the love, feelings and emotions of the believer. But the fire quickly revived when a task needed to be done, especially if the project involved a group of men working with their hands for something in the community. Why? It was tangible. The objective was clear and the goal was reachable. Rather than simply talking about the inner change, they were able to demonstrate the change and do something they considered to be kingdom work. There is nothing wrong with men or women expressing their faith and love of the Lord through works. However, prayer is often lumped into the category of the intangible so little emphasis is placed on the subject. As a man, it was easy for me to get caught up in the tasks because they were viable daily disciplines that I felt pleased God. Prayer to me was nothing more than talking into the air for a set period of time. But, I was able to check that box off at the end of the day. Another day of accomplishments was in the books. It is that focus on the works that becomes the foundation of religion and what you will find throughout Scripture is that God desires more than religion…He wants relationship. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20

For me, my prayer journey took another step when I began to understand that there was a living God on the other end of the “conversation”. My words were leaving the ceiling. But, I still did not fully grasp what prayer was intended to do. I am ashamed to say that it wasn’t until recently that I finally began to comprehend the idea that it is not about what God could do for me - but what I could do for God. If we fail to cry out to him – to praise him, the rocks will (Luke 19:40). I don’t know about you, but I don’t want rocks taking my place and filling a need that the Father has. Yes, God desires relationship and I was preoccupied with works. Not only that, I was preoccupied with self. When I went to prayer, it was a preconceived line of thought followed by my list of needs. And I was often impatient for results. In my mind, God needed to provide “fast-food” results and if my one prayer was not sufficient, I took measures into my own hands. Hey, at least I gave God a chance to perform and did what any good Christian should do, right? I was still missing the point.