Discipleship – Our Prayer Life

 “You may as soon find a living man that does not breath, as a living Christian that does not pray.”  ~ Matthew Henry

Our prayer life reveals a lot about our relationship with God.   And sadly, if you are anything like me, you likely feel rather inadequate in this area. I chose to explore this topic simply because it is a part of my spiritual life has a lot of room for improvement.  Even the disciples admitted their need to grow in prayer when they asked Jesus teach them how to pray.  Jesus often went to a spot he had picked out just for some alone time with the Father in prayer. The disciples knew where to find Jesus when he wasn’t around; likewise, Jesus did not want to be bothered when he was there praying. The Bible says that on one occasion when Jesus was finished praying the disciples asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray?”

This is often my question, especially when I stumble over my words in public prayer, or when my mind wanders in personal prayer, “Lord, will you teach me how to pray?” It is my question; is it yours? Do you want to learn how to pray more or better?  I do.

We all know that prayer is essential to having a relationship with God; knowing God is impossible without a fervent prayer life. You can’t claim to be a friend with someone you don’t communicate with – and you can’t be a Facebook friend with the almighty God.  The writer of the Hiedelberg Catechism (one of the confessions from the protestant reformation) recognizes our need for prayer when he asks the reader, “Why do Christians need to pray?” Note the word NEED.  The answer he gives is, “Because prayer is the most important part of the thankfulness God requires of us.  And also because God gives his grace and Holy Spirit only to those who pray continually and groan inwardly, asking God for these gifts and thanking him for them.  We see it in Paul’s writings:

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Our walk with God is meant to be just that – a walk with Him.  When you walk with your spouse for instance, you are constantly aware of him or her being right there beside you.  Just like walking with your spouse, we are free to communicate with God the concerns and joys of the moment.

Sometimes we need to “get away” to pray. As Jesus taught, we need regular times where we stop to pray and meditate on God and his Word. Much like a husband and wife need to work on their relationship, they must set time aside to look deep in each other’s eyes, block out the worries and cares of this fallen world and share what is on their hearts.

In the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6: 9-13), Jesus gives us a blueprint for praying. The Lord’s Prayer can be divided into 4 major elements:

Adoration

Confession

Thanksgiving

Supplication

These form the well-known acrostic A.C.T.S.  which teachers such as RC Sproul & John Piper suggest we use if we struggle with prayer. We should begin our prayers with adoration or worship of God. When we meditate on Holy God we quickly become aware of how unholy we are. In this way adoration of God can move us to confession of our sins.  When we confess our sins before God and bathe in the cleansing power of his grace, we are moved into saying thank you to God for his goodness and mercy. And once we have spent time adoring, confessing to and thanking God; we are able to ask God to supply our need – which is supplication.

I have recently started using this acronym in my prayers as a way to structure my prayer time. This acrostic helps me in two ways, first with public prayer; it breaks the prayer down sin to easily manageable “sections”, so I don’t lose my train of thought and it helps to prevent my stumbling over words.  Second, it has helped me to focus on God and refrain from having self-centered prayers.

When I pray, first I adore God for things like his wisdom, his power, his compassion and love, mercy and grace, and his holiness. Then I spend time in confession, sharing my deepest sins and struggles, naming my sins and being honest with God. Then I give thanks for all God has given me: the forgiveness of my sins through the redeeming work of Jesus, my beautiful wife, my wonderful children, my family, friends, a fellowship of believers to commune with, a good job, food, health etc. And when I get to the ”S” of supplication,  I ask God for everything I need: for my daily bread, for strength, wisdom, clarity of mind, a job, a good marriage and so on. But the most important thing we can ask God for is God himself. Just in case you missed that…  The most important thing we can ask God for is God himself. So I ask for the Holy Spirit empower, encourage and illumine me completely. This is the heart of why we pray.

This is where we not only pray for our daily bread, but for our spouse and children, our fellow believers, and the lost.  We pray because we want to know God and enjoy him forever. In prayer we ask God to come and feed us until we are no longer in want. We ask God to take away whatever complacency has set in and to remove us from any spiritual “luke-warm-ness.”  We pray so our life can be centered on Christ. We persist in prayer because it is our lifeline.   This is why Jesus teaches us to pray to ask for the Spirit, for he is the breath of God re-creating, regenerating, restoring, and renewing life within each of us. We pray to express our “groan” for God, who, by the way, promises to come to all who seek him. Prayer is our life line. Without prayer, we are without the Holy Spirit.  Without him, we die. With him, we live.