I don’t find prayer easy. My mind wanders. And I led prayer teams here there and everywhere. Ah well God chooses the foolish ones?
My best rhythm is when I get out and walk and toward the end of the time felt a challenge that on a certain area of concern I was praying too much! Jesus warned us not to pray too much (‘do not pray like the pagans who think they will be heard with their many words’) and I realised that a percentage of my praying was due to anxiety over the situation and a lack of trust in God. If I pray more… The big issue was my anxieties – deal with them, the lack of trust in God and pray less.
Prayer is so complicated. Why pray? A standard response is that God does not need prayer (after all God is omnipotent and can do whatever) and that it is ultimately for us. I think that view is in error though as I have indicated in the previous paragraph prayer has a direct impact on changing us. However much it conflicts with our view on ‘omnipotence’ and ‘sovereignty’ God needs prayer. There is an agreement between us and God that is required. That key part of the ‘Lord’s prayer’ indicates a world view that the will of God is not being done: ‘Let your kingdom come, let your will be done’.
We must get rid of any idea that prayer (for example) changes God in the sense that we twist God’s arm so that now he will get on with the task of saving my friend Johnny. God wants all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth – thus I cannot buy into the choice of God from all eternity as to who is saved (maybe a post one day on predestination, election etc?).
God and humanity… Our vote is big when it comes to heaven’s activity. Prayer does not change God but it does change God’s activity and level of presence. It is so powerful – situations can change and in the process we change. And of course key to all this is that ‘earth’ is given to us, and we have consistently ‘fallen’ thus our sphere is that of coming out from under the one to whom we gave authority and nestling under the one who has authority ‘in heaven and on earth’. Prayer is to God but is to remove all areas that are under the authority of the ‘prince of this world’. All of that changes at the hour of the resurrection and we live the other side of that… and yet this ‘evil age’ continues. In comes prayer!
Next post I will jump into a reflection on the phase of my life when I was leading prayer teams (‘sowing seeds for revival’) to many cities in the UK and beyond.