Reconsidering our prayers

Prayer is essential partly because it doesn’t seem to make sense

Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. —Acts 4:29–30

(Reminder: Friday posts for the last three weeks of Lent are on fasting, prayer, and the way of the cross.)

Prayer is the most central daily feature of Christian spirituality. It is also the most illogical one.

I have yet to figure out how the sentiments I express in prayer for people on the other side of the globe, or for countries mired in civil war, have an impact on the situation. That remains my greatest obstacle to engaging in intercessory prayer. I don’t grasp how it “works.”

But that may be exactly the point. God commands us, repeatedly and unambiguously, to engage in an activity that makes no sense to our finite minds. In doing so, he reminds us that he knows best and that we need to follow his clear guidance even when we don’t fully understand it.

Scripture indicates consistently (e.g., Daniel 10:12–14; Ephesians 6:12) that our real battles are with unseen forces—principalities and powers in another realm. We should expect the tools used in that realm to be somewhat less intellectually penetrable than the tools we use to build houses or cook meals.

But God also graciously inspires us to continue in prayer by giving us tangible blessings. Prayer doesn’t change God, but it changes us.

We may not perceive exactly how our prayers affect the world, but we know that through prayer we experience peace that transcends understanding (Philippians 4:7). If asked how long someone should pray in the morning, I would answer, “Pray until you feel peace in your heart. Then you are ready to go about your day’s activities.”

God uses prayer in my life in one humorous way. When I can’t find a lost item in the house, I search each room, becoming increasingly frustrated. After five or ten fruitless minutes, I remember to pray about the problem. On many such occasions, immediately after praying I have stumbled into the item or remembered where it is. Beyond the immediate blessing of finding it, I am reminded that when we need wisdom, we should ask God (James 1:5). Other people have told me similar stories about times when they prayed for a parking space.

Here are two gently provocative observations about prayer for your consideration and comment.

1. Often, I hear someone pray, “Lord, please be with Jane … .” I’m not sure what “be with” means in that sentence. I know that God sees the person’s sincere heart and honors their intention, but I think such prayers reflect believers’ lack of confidence. They don’t want to offer a prayer that might not be answered, so they say something that will certainly be fulfilled; after all, God is omnipresent, so we know he will “be with” Jane wherever she goes. I would encourage all of us to be bolder and more specific in our prayers. Sometimes we don’t have because we don’t ask (James 4:2).

2. We often criticize the extremes of the “health and wealth gospel,” but most prayers offered in small groups and Sunday school classes are about health or finances. If we really believe that God is committed to meeting our legitimate needs, we should lift those matters to God, trusting in his provision, and move on to prayers more directly focused on mission and the enlarging of God’s kingdom.

I hope that these thoughts may have a useful impact in your life—and that you will pray for God to correct me if you think I am off track.