On Prayer

Intro
When I was a kid, this was when I believed in a god but still wasn't a Christian, I would close my eyes real tight and pray for this awesome 10 speed mountain bike.

Is that what prayer is? Just asking for stuff from God as if He were some magical Genie Santa Tooth Fairy?

Jesus’ Prayer
Let's see if there are any examples of what prayer looks like. If we're going to look for examples, a good place to start is Jesus.

Before Jesus was betrayed by Judas, He prayed the following:

Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

- John 17:1-5

Jesus continues and prays for His disciples, others who believe in Him, and those who will believe in Him in the future.

Jesus sounds kind of selfish, "glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you". How often do we ask to be glorified. If anything, we'll ask that God be glorified rather than us. But if we understand the mission of Christ, who He was and His uniqueness, than this prayer makes complete sense.

Jesus knew who He was and understood that through His accomplishment, that the Father would be glorified. He knew that He already had "all authority", so when He prayed, he prayed with expectancy. Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen. He would suffer and die so that the Father may be glorified. There was no "if it be your will" wishy-washy-ness. There was power and confidence in His words.

It's like when I would ask my parents for money or for food. I wouldn't be like, "Hey, if it be your will, would you maybe perhaps make dinner?". It was more like, "Ma, I'm hungry." or "Ma, I need money for the movies." or "Ma, I need to buy new clothes because there's this new fashion trend and if I don't have new clothes I won't be cool."

Pharisee and Tax Collector
I know, for me, it's hard to relate to the Son of God, so let's look at other examples. We have the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

- Luke 18:10-14

First, we have the negative example in the Pharisee. Who's prayer is self-centered and self-exalting. He's praising himself in comparison to "other men". He even starts listing his resume: fasting twice a week, giving tithes.

Then we see the tax collector's prayer, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" That's it. One sentence. He knows who he is, "a sinner". He knows that he needs God's mercy. But he's not afraid to be honest with God, laying out who he really is. He prays from the heart. I know I don't want to admit that I'm a sinner. To say it from the heart, that this is who I am, a sinner.

When I was a kid, and I asked for a bike, I would try and negotiate with God. I'd promise to stop making fun of that ugly kid in class. Or I'd start being nice to that girl. Or I'd be like the Pharisee and cite how I've been good and deserve a new bike. Man, was I persistent at it. In that sense, I was on the right track.

Persistent Widow
Jesus gave another parable of the Persistent Widow.

In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

- Luke 18:2-8

This "unrighteous judge" eventually gave in to what the woman was asking, just so she would get off his back. Now, God, being righteous, wouldn't He be even more inclined to give justice to his people?

So how do we know that we should keep praying for something? It depends on the answer.

But does God answer prayer? No, really, does He? Think about your prayers. Think about the ones that He's answered and the ones that He hasn't.

God’s Answers
It's generally been said that God answers in 3 ways: yes, no, and wait. But this is only partly accurate. There's usually no ambiguity with the no and wait. No is pretty obvious. It's like when I asked for a new bike. I was asking for purely selfish reason. Of course God was going to say no. But aside from the selfishness, I wasn't doing anything to try and earn the bike. I wasn't working or trying to make money. I was just hoping that one day, I would open the garage one morning and see a brand new bike waiting for me.

Or when I prayed that God would heal my dad when he got cancer. It was a pretty obvious "no" when my dad died. It was partly selfish, because I wanted my dad to be around. But God wants to heal people, right? Was it fair that I would have to grow up without a dad? What about this whole thing about justice?

That's one way to look at it. But God answered in a different way. And I think this is where we often get caught up. We think that God is only capable of answering in binary, yes and no (wait is basically a delayed form of yes or no). But a lot of times, God answers in different ways.

God, creator of the universe, knew that there was more at stake than one physical life. There was my mom's spiritual life. Todd's life, Nancy's life, Hilary's life, my life, and many others at stake that I have touched and will touch in the future. Where I was only concerned with 1 life, he was concerned with a hundred lives. God was answering a larger need for spiritual healing.

Sometimes, God gives an answer that we don't like. Like my dad dying so that other people would be saved. Or when you ask,"what should you do with your life", He tells you, "follow and obey". Or when you ask,"chicken or beef", He says, "pork".

One of the common threads that we've seen in all these examples is the contents of the prayer. Not only are they honest and expectant, but they are also focused on spiritual things. Things that we have no direct influence over.

If I wanted a bike, I could find work to earn money which could be exchanged for the bike. That's my responsibility. But spiritual things are up to God.

How to Ask
Now, this doesn't mean that we shouldn't ask for things. But be mindful of how you ask. Is it selfish? Have you been diligent and responsible for your things? Is it honest and true from the heart?

Here are some practical examples.

• Instead of praying for school and good grades, pray for diligence and discipline to study and prepare.
• Instead of what college to go to, pray that your future education and profession would expand His Kingdom and glorify Him.
• In addition to praying that friends would come to Christ, pray for opportunities to share and be Christ in their lives.

If your prayer life has been anemic, it's time to do some house cleaning and get real honest with God. Like the tax collector, pray from the heart who you really are, what you're really feeling, and what you're really concerned about.

And if getting a bike will expand His Kingdom and glorify Him, you’ll get that bike.