Teach Us to Pray - Part One

Many of us suffer from a mediocre prayer life. We don’t pray as often as we should or want to, and we don’t see the results we long for. The end of the year is a great time to perform a self-examination and decide how to proceed in the new year. 

The other day I saw a friend who had lost a lot of weight. I asked him how he had done it and he responded, “I changed my whole way of life”. How do we make prayer our way of life? To build a good foundation for our new and improved prayer life, we must do some remodeling and demolish some concepts we believe about prayer and how we approach prayer. Put on your hard hats. We’re about to enter the Demolition Zone! 

Demolition Zone #1: I must sound good and make pretty sentences. This thought pattern must go. In Matthew 6:7 Jesus said; “Don’t think you’ll be heard for your many words.” He’s our audience and He is not impressed with pretentious speech. So let’s put away the changing of voices and the lofty tones once for all and just be ourselves. Talk to Him like you would a friend sitting in your living room.

 

Demolition Zone #2: I’m praying to the God who’s far away up in Heaven. Another wall that needs to be smashed to pieces. Jesus came near. He is right here in this room. He is a REAL person. He is Emmanuel, God with us. The curtain in the temple has been torn down. John leaned his head on Jesus' chest. Peter dove in the water and ran to embrace Him. No one who comes to Him in all sincerity is turned away. He wants us near. He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

 

·       Demolition Zone #3: I’m praying to the “what have You done for me lately God”. Nothing wrong with asking God for things. But if every time it’s about getting, we need to check our motives. We wouldn’t do this in any other relationship. The gifts are meant to draw us back to the Giver. Jesus said we have to come to Him like little children. Children were drawn to Him. They wanted to sit on His lap, hang out with Him and listen to Him. It was all about His person and not what He could give.  

Since we are talking about petitioning, here’s a free tip from me to you: don’t make personal prayer all about intercession. Intercession is only a part of prayer. Personally, I find intercession to be exhausting. When I pray for CBS, I know I’m coming against principalities and powers that would love to see this ministry bear no fruit. It’s war. Do you think satan wants your relatives healed, reconciled, or saved? He will try to keep and protect his turf. Intercession is messing with the enemy’s turf! It is laying hold of things that are humanly impossible. Intercession is work! And if prayer is nothing other than work, after a while, we’re going to feel weary and start to resent it. Take time to include adoration, confession and thanksgiving in your prayers as well as intercession for yourself and others.

Join us again next week as we visit three other demolition zones on our way to improving our communication skills with God.

Evelyne Calton
Prayer Chairman, CBS-Rutherfordton Class
Originally presented as the Opening Devotion for
the CBS membership