QUESTIONS ON
PRAYER
Introduction
The words 'pray' and
'prayer' are among the most used words in religious contexts. Except
for the atheist, everybody prays for something or other. Those who do pray,
especially in the sight of others, may either be dismissed as 'show-offs'
or considered to be holy and God-fearing depending on the bias of the viewer.
For most Christians, prayer
is, all too often, considered to be an expected activity, a sacred duty,
a ritual very much like those which followers of other religions
take part in. There are formal 'waking-time' prayers, 'grace'
or meal-time prayers, evening prayers and going-to-bed prayers, etc. Failure
to 'perform' these rituals may send some of these people on severe guilt
trips. Others are sure that negligence in this area leads to the removal
of God's protective mantle, leaving them open to sickness and calamity.
Some feel that they should
close their eyes and clasp their hands and kneel when in prayer. Others
prefer to stand and raise their hands and 'look up to heaven'. Some
feel that they should put in some fervent emotion in prayer, repeatedly
calling on God and on the name of Jesus, as if repeating a sacred mantra.
Some boldly stake a 'claim on the promises' so that God must grant
their petitions else His integrity comes into question. Some call themselves
'prayer-warriors', trained to pray with dedication and perseverance
for themselves as well as for others for desired results.
Christians organise 'prayer-chains'
so that there is a relay of prayers to effect a continuous stream
of prayers and petitions to God throughout a particular period. Others
organise teams to pray for others who lack the necessary confidence and
who, therefore, may not be such accomplished prayers.
Many there are, however,
who relegate prayer to times of emergencies or 'go through the motions'
when the thought comes up. To them prayer has little relevance to their
living.
Prayer is said to be the
life-blood of Christian living, but the word 'prayer' can bring
to mind different things to different people. This is why, perhaps, there
seems to be some difficulty in defining it and the subject has become rife
with confusion and controversy. Sometimes the word stands by itself. At
other times it seems to cover a number of other related words such as request,
petition
and pleading. And still at other times it falls under the umbrella
of worship.
It is said that prayer establishes
an opportunity to be in direct and personal contact with God, setting up
a communication facility with Him which becomes more proficient
through use. Some define it as a conversation with God where we
have the privilege of a private audience with the most powerful Being in
existence. Others assert that it is a communion with God.
Each of these aspects does
partly define prayer. To most of us, these words indicate a process which
we
initiate, which we establish, and which we sustain.
We
initiate and establish a link with God. We tell Him of our needs
and let Him know what we want from Him. We nurture a rapport
with Him. Our faithfulness and our integrity become factors
that draw a positive response from God. Does this generally accepted concept
concerning prayer accord with the truth of Scripture?
Death And Sinning
To understand the basic concept
of prayer, a scriptural backdrop is needed to provide a valid context.
We need to set up correct premises and to have a proper focus on the reality
of man's relationship with God. We must first establish in our minds our
position as creatures in relation to God as GOD! Some
crucial questions need to be answered.
How and why has
mankind come to be where it is?
How has humanity come
to be estranged from God? and
Why does it drift further
and further away from Him?
Guesswork and theories will
get us nowhere. The answers to these pertinent questions can only come
from God's revelation. And, to begin with, Scripture insists that:
Rom.8:20a
For to vanity was the creation subjected,
not voluntarily,
but
because of Him Who subjects it,…
This passage declares that God
determined, according to His Own purpose, the fact that the creation,
which includes mankind, will find itself impotent and inadequate
in its aspirations! There is no choice on the part of the individual in
this regard. It is written! And how did this work out to be so for mankind?
Rom.5:12
Therefore, even as through one man sin entered into the world,
and through sin death,
and thus death passed
through into all mankind,
on which all sinned
When Adam disobeyed God in the
garden in Eden through his eating of the fruit he had been forbidden to
eat, he incurred the stipulated penalty, death! It is this penalty,
death,
that has been passed down to every member of the human race. Death, therefore,
is inevitable! And death does not occur because we sin. Death will
occur whether we sin or not!
Rom.5:13,14
for until law sin was in the world,
yet sin is not being
taken into account when there is no law;
nevertheless death reigns
from
Adam unto Moses,
over those also who do
not sin in the likeness of the transgression of Adam,
And, very crucial towards the
correct grasp of this subject, at the end of verse twelve of the passage
cited previous to the above, Scripture asserts that death is the foundation,
the basis, of our sinning! It insists - 'on which
all sinned'! The Greek is quite clear on this for it reads '…eph ho
pantes hêmarton' and should not be translated as is done
in almost all versions. The whole point of the passage is lost in these
faulty renderings. When correctly translated, we are told that as descendants
of Adam, we are under the penalty incurred by Adam's act, under
the execution of the sentence passed on Adam, the 'to die shall
you be dying'. This
penalty, death, passed through into all
mankind and so, in effect, mankind is under a curse to be sinning!
Since, from then, death resides in our flesh, we cannot avoid sinning as
it is inherent in us to sin! For, by God's decision we have
been constituted sinners!
Rom.7:15
For what I am effecting I know not,
for not what I
will,
this I am putting into practice,
but what I am hating,
this I am doing.
Rom.7:18,19
...good is not making its home in me (that is, in my flesh),
for to will is lying
beside me, yet to be effecting the ideal is not.
For it is not the good
that I will that I am doing,
but the evil that I am
not willing, this I am putting into practice.
Rom.5:19a
through the disobedience
of the one man, the many were constituted sinners,...
Our God Must Be GOD
The fundamental fact is that
Adam did not recognise God as GOD, as the absolute authority in
all things. He, of course, did not have any precedent to demonstrate the
effect of the penalty due to his action. Though forewarned by his example,
however, we, too, have not been able to ascribe to God the supremacy
that is rightly His! This inherent inability initiates dire consequences
on humanity! It becomes 'natural' that we 'decide' to do that which
we
make out to be right according to our human wisdom. And, so, being
at odds with the wisdom of God, our decisions cannot help but
be
wrong in His eyes!
1Cor.3:18-20
Let no one be deluding himself.
If anyone among you is presuming
to be wise in this eon,
let him become stupid, that
he may be becoming wise,
for the wisdom of this
world is stupidity with God.
For it is written, "He is
clutching the wise in their craftiness."
And again, The Lord knows
the
reasonings of the wise, that they are vain.
Rom.1:21-23
…knowing God, not as God do they glorify or thank Him,
but vain were they
made in their reasonings, and darkened is their unintelligent heart.
Alleging themselves to be
wise, they are made stupid,
and they change the glory
of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image
of a corruptible human being
and flying creatures and quadrupeds and reptiles.
When we do not recognise God
as God, we give to someone else, or to something else, His
place in our lives. Our allegiance is transferred to these objects of our
attention. And, these alternatives, in effect, become our gods! And the
consequences take effect.
Gal.4:8
...having no perception of God,
you were slaves of those
who, by nature, are not gods.
Eph.4:17-19
…walking according as those of the nations also are walking,
in the vanity of
their mind, their comprehension being darkened,
being estranged from
the life of God
because of the ignorance
that is in them, because of the callousness of their hearts,
who, being past feeling,
in greed give themselves up with wantonness
to all uncleanness as a
vocation.
Once we lose sight of the proper
order of things, we cannot act in accord with that order. Our sense of
values is seriously affected with regard to God, to our own selves, to
our fellow men, as well as to the rest of creation around us. Scripture,
therefore, places idolatry and sexual aberration at the top of the list
of human 'tendencies'.
Rom.1:24-25
Wherefore God gives them over, in the lusts of their hearts,
to the uncleanness of dishonoring
their bodies among themselves,
those who alter the truth
of God into the lie, and are venerated,
and offer divine service
to the creature rather than the Creator,
Who is blessed for the eons!
Amen!
Rom.1:26,27
Therefore God gives them over to dishonorable passions.
For their females, besides,
alter the natural use into that which is beside nature.
Likewise also the males,
besides, leaving the natural use of the female,
were inflamed in their craving
for one another, males with males effecting indecency,
and getting back in themselves
the retribution of their deception which must be.
Rom.1:28-32
And according as they do not test God, to have Him in recognition,
God gives them over
to a disqualified mind, to do that which is not befitting,
filled with all injustice,
wickedness, evil, greed, distended with envy, murder, strife, guile, depravity,
whisperers, vilifiers, detesters of God, outragers, proud, ostentatious,
inventors of evil things,
stubborn to parents, unintelligent, perfidious,
without natural affection,
implacable, unmerciful:
those who, recognizing the
just statute of God,
that those committing such
things are deserving of death,
not only are doing them,
but are endorsing, also, those who are committing them.
These passages tell us that
these wrong attitudes and behaviour have their root in the fact that men,
from the very first one, have not recognised God as God!
From this we see that it
is death that primarily estranges us from God, and that it is death's
consequence, of sinning, that then increasingly alienates us from Him.
Scripture insists that, being constituted sinners by God, we
cannot do anything to change this situation. Only God can do that!
And only Scripture can give us His answer to our otherwise insurmountable
obstacle.
Fulfilment
It is in every man, in the
turmoil of his environment, to seek to be fulfilled. He senses a quality
of life that his experiences do not seem to reach. Something suggests to
him that death cannot be the end of his story for, otherwise, his life
and his very existence would be meaningless. This is the motivation and
teaching of all religion. Thus we witness, throughout history, the elaboration
of funeral rites and rituals, everything aspiring to a continuation of
life in a better environment. This is the fervent hope of every human being.
For, if death is the end of it all, why attempt to discipline himself,
why withhold his inclinations to self-gratification? It would be better
to enjoy life in its excesses - for on the morrow he will be no more, ever
again.
Rom.8:20-22
For to vanity was the creation subjected, not voluntarily,
but because of Him Who subjects
it,
in expectation that
the creation itself, also, shall be freed from the slavery of corruption
into the glorious freedom
of the children of God.
For we are aware that the
entire
creation is groaning and travailing together until now
1Cor.15:32
If the dead are not being roused,
"we may be eating and drinking,
for tomorrow we are dying."
Priorities
Too often are we concerned
about our existence, our longings, our experiences,
and our fulfilment. But Scripture treats these, so very important
though they are to us, simply as incidentals in a master plan. In
Scripture God speaks of His Being, of His character, about
His
objectives, and of His fulfilment. It is only as His intentions
are revealed to us that we realise that our fulfilment is unbreakably
bound to His! It is only as we come to recognise this greater reality
that we can begin to understand our relationship to Him and begin
to fathom what prayer really is.
When we recognise and acknowledge
God as GOD, we begin in true wisdom and a consequent realisation
dawns on us. What can we give to God that is not already His? What we have
is what has been given to us by God in His grace - even the life that is
'ours'! He is the Supreme, the Subjector (Hebrew El), the
Placer (Greek Theos). He determines all and is 'the One Who is
operating all in accord with the counsel of His will' (Eph.1:11).
Rom.11:34-36
For, who knew the mind of the Lord?
or, who became His adviser?
or, who gives to Him first,
and it will be repaid him?
seeing that out of Him
and through Him and for Him is all:
to Him be the glory for
the eons! Amen!
1Cor.4:7 For
who is making you to discriminate?
Now what have you which
you did not obtain?
Now if you obtained it also,
why are you boasting as though not obtaining?
Phil.2:13 for
it is God Who is operating in you
to will as well as
to
work for the sake of His delight.
That every one is a sinner,
utterly unable to be anything else but a sinner, is a fact that
has been decided by God for a purpose - His loving, deliberate
purpose. Thus, God, loving the world, sent His Son to save the world
(Jn.3:17)! And, so, when men are saved and made immortal according
to a set schedule (1Cor.15:22-28), it can only have come about by God's
gracious operation! It will be for His glory.
Gal.3:22
But the scripture locks up all together under sin,
that the promise out of
Jesus Christ's faith may be given to those who are believing.
Rom.11:32 For
God
locks up all together in stubbornness,
that He should be merciful
to all.
1Tim.1:14 Faithful
is the saying, and worthy of all welcome,
that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners,
Rom.3:21-23
Yet now, apart from law, a righteousness of God is manifest
(being attested by the law
and the prophets),
yet a righteousness of God
through
Jesus Christ's faith,
for all, and on
all
who are believing,
for there is no distinction,
for all sinned and are wanting of the glory of God.
1Cor.8:5,6 For
even if so be that there are those being termed gods,
whether in heaven or on
earth, even as there are many gods and many lords,
nevertheless for us
there is
one God, the Father, out of Whom all is, and we for Him,
and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom all is, and we through
Him.
1Cor.11:12
For even as the woman is out of the man,
thus the man also is through
the woman,
yet all is of
God.
2Cor.5:17,18
So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
the primitive passed by.
Lo! there has come new!
Yet all is of
God,
1Cor.15:28 Now,
whenever all may be subjected to Him,
then the Son Himself also
shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him,
that God may be All
in all
When we begin to see God's hand
in every aspect of our lives, our prayers will be ordered according
to truth and reality. We will not dare to even suggest to God a
better way of getting things done. We will not have the audacity to attempt
to strike a bargain with God. We will not request God to remove our trying
experiences once we are convinced that these are God-ordered for our benefit
and for that of those around us.
Rom.8:28
… we are aware
that God is working
all
together for the good of those who are loving God,
2Cor.12:7-10
... lest I should be lifted up by the transcendence of the revelations,
there was given to me a
splinter in the flesh, a messenger of Satan,
that he may be buffeting
me, lest I may be lifted up. For this I entreat the Lord thrice,
that it should withdraw
from me. And He has protested to me,
"Sufficient for you is My
grace, for My power in infirmity is being perfected."
With the greatest relish,
then, will I rather be glorying in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ
should be tabernacling over me. Wherefore I delight
in infirmities, in outrages,
in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses,
for Christ's sake, for,
whenever
I
may be weak, then I am powerful.
Yes, prayer is a communication
between God and us. But, communication is a matter of the mind,
a matter of understanding the 'data' that is being transmitted.
Otherwise it is all gibberish, meaningless. God has no problem understanding
what we would like to say, whatever language we pray in,
for it is He Who has made us the way we are (Rom.9:19-23) and it
is He Who has caused languages to be (Gen.11:1-9). The question
becomes, then, how are we humans to know what God says to us? We
have to turn to the Scriptures for His inspired 'pattern of sound words'
(2Tim.1:13). In the originals of the Scriptures, God used the Hebrew,
Chaldee,
and Koinê Greek. Today, especially, translations abound in
many languages. To effect a truly faithful translation, however, there
must be a sound, consistent, vocabulary and a proper set of rules to transfer
that information correctly. Only then can there be any
real communication.
Only then can we appropriately respond to God's word to us. (For
a translation with renderings that are most faithful to the originals,
we strongly recommend the use of the Concordant Version).
Prayer is, also, a
communion
with God. We should have an intimate rapport with God. But, how can there
be rapport if we do not really know Him as He reveals Himself to
be and if our ideas and concepts of him do not accord with the reality?
How can we know His thoughts and His feelings so as to be
at one with Him? Again, we must have recourse to the Scriptures, as craftsmen
endeavouring to correctly cut the word of truth with the expertise born
of constant practice (2Tim.2:15; Heb.5:13,14). Through its directives and
examples we begin to 'see' His mind and 'feel' His heart.
Prayer is a conversation
with God. By definition, then, it should be a dialogue rather than,
as is usually the case, a monologue where we do all the talking.
Rather, we should be responding to what God says to us in His word,
the Scriptures - for that is where He does His talking (2Tim:3:16,17).
Have we the blatant disrespect to ignore what He says and to insist that
He listen to what we choose to ramble about?
These considerations very
clearly indicate that our prayers should be based on a proper understanding
and appreciation of God's revelation of Himself to us. Only then
can we pray according to His will and intention! Only then do we
acknowledge God as GOD!
There will be times, of course,
when we are unable to 'see' for ourselves what the will of God for us is
in a particular situation. At such times, Scripture tells us that it will
be God Who will initiate, through His spirit within us, a spiritual
communion with Him.
Rom.8:26,27
Now, similarly, the spirit also is aiding our infirmity,
for what we should be praying
for, to accord with what must be, we are not aware,
but the spirit itself is
pleading for us with inarticulate groanings.
Now He Who is searching
the hearts is aware what is the disposition of the spirit,
for in accord with God
is it pleading for the saints.
September 2001
Proceed to:
...
List
of Questions on Prayer
Back to:
....Main
menu of articles
|
