This summer I have been working at a day camp. It is not your typical day camp. It is an outreach to a hurting community. I have been assigned to work with the kindergartners through second graders. It has been an amazing experience. I have learned so much about not only myself, but people as a whole. Working with them has shown me that we truly are children. We are in need of attention. We are in need of love and someone to care about us. Every time it is
time to pray for lunch, my kids always want to pray, but never know what to say. I planned a day where we would talk about prayer, but that day ended up being July 4th and only one kid came that was in our group. Needless to say, I felt a bit disappointed that the others couldn't hear the great news about prayer. I am so thankful to God that he had one kid there. Perhaps she needed it most. She is also the one who remembers the most. Either way, it reminded me that even us Christians can forget how to pray. We tend to get caught up on ourselves and our needs and our wants and OUR everything. But, there are a few things about prayer that I would like to encourage you and challenge you with. This is the first part of a three part series on prayer.
Part 1. It's not about you!
I admit that I often forget this. Although God does care about whatever you care about simply because you care about it, it doesn't mean that you should focus on yourself when you
pray TO God. The thing about our relationship with God is that it is a relationship! What do we do in relationships? We converse. That is what prayer is. Prayer is when we converse or talk with God. The key word in that sentence is with. Often times we forget that conversations with God are conversations and that conversations require TWO people to be interacting, not one. Talking to God is not like talking to a statue. He replies to you. He has words to speak to you. Now, I know what you might be thinking, "I never hear God reply to me!" I completely understand that! I have gone months without "hearing" from God even though I was praying daily. The trap that I have found myself falling into is that I tend to talk AT God and not WITH God. How can we hear God if we are constantly talking at him? We can't! We get so caught up in bringing our requests before God that we don't take the time to LISTEN for a response.
I can hear you saying, "But, what if I listen and get no response?!" I must be honest with you. I don't fully understand why we don't always clearly "hear" God's response. However, I can tell you some of the things I've learned that "silence" to mean. It can mean that we are not truly listening, it can mean no, it often means wait and I will provide, or sometimes it can be a test of
faith to see if you are persistent. I have had many moments where I prayed for something and had to be persistent and patient before God provided what I had prayed for. Prayer requires trust. If we don't trust God, how can we ever have the faith and expectation that he will do whatever it is that we ask of Him? In Matthew 9:29 Jesus told the two blind men he was healing, "According to your faith let it be done to you". The blind men had faith that Jesus would heal them and so they asked. Jesus healed them simply because they had enough faith just to ask. If you say you don't believe in God, but one day you are as low as you can go and you cry out, "Lord, if you're real, save me!" you have faith. Why do you have faith? Because no one would cry out to someone who doesn't exist. Would they? Jesus says in Luke 17:6, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." You don't need a huge amount of faith to pray. You just need enough to expect a response. In Matthew 15:21-28
we have an example of persistence. We read about a Canaanite woman whose daughter was demon-possessed and suffering terribly. She called out to Jesus and laid her request that her daughter be released before Him and He seemingly ignored her. The disciples told Him to send her away and He says in verse 24, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." But the woman was persistent. She knelt before Him and pleaded. Verse 26 tells us that He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs." She replies in verse 27 with (this is one of my favorite verses because it demonstrates this woman's exemplary faith, persistence, and wit), "Yes it is, Lord," She said. "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Jesus praises her for her faith and grants her request. Because she kept asking, she passed the test and Jesus healed her daughter. What if she had left after he had seemingly ignored her? Her daughter would not have been healed.
I will be honest here too. Sometimes, I don't get what I pray for. I know that Matthew 7:7-8 says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." All I know is that God is careful about what he grants and what he
does not grant. He has plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). Sometimes we ask for things that are not part of his plan. If we all asked to become a super hero, no one would be a true super hero because we would all be the same and super heroes are supposed to stand out. Or if I ask for God to punish someone, then I am not following his word which tells us to pray for our enemies and not against. We must stay true to who God calls us to be as we pray. We must remember this. If we forget this, then we forget that moment when we became Christians and surrendered our lives over to God so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. We must keep God at the heart of our lives. Philippians 4:6 tells us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." So, in other words, it's not about you! It is about God. He created you. He paid for your sins. He loves you immensely. We can never thank him enough for all that he does. Pray about everything with humbleness, thankfulness, persistence, patience, and without ceasing.
Also, I must say that God does speak without ceasing. Job 33:13-14 says, "Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one's words? For God does speak-now one way, now
another-though no one perceives it." Although God has spoken audibly to people before (Abraham and Moses are examples aside from Jesus speaking to... almost everyone around Him) God speaks to us in many other ways. He does it through a sunset or the placement of a tree. He speaks to us through others and revelation. His Holy Spirit convicts us in our heart. He is the still small voice in our heads. Yes, the devil tries to talk to us too. He tries to twist our own thoughts against us. God will always be honest to you. He will tell you what you need to know and nothing more and nothing less. He will never lie to you or try to deceive you. He will calm you and not rush you. He will free you and comfort you. He will always be gentle. He will convict you. He will change you for the better. He loves you enough to not let you sit in your own sin and become more filthy than you already are. He loves you enough to clean you even though it might hurt A LOT. So, when you are in prayer and you think you have heard from the Lord, take these things into consideration. Be wary of what anyone says over your life. Pray for guidance in these things.
Note: Once all three parts are published, I will add a topic page. It will list various topics and have links to devotions and poems that are related. This prayer series will be included. Once this prayer series is finished, I will also add links to the others at the bottom of this first part. I pray and hope that these three devotions are helpful to you in your prayers. As always, be encouraged that you are not alone in your struggles.
Related Scriptures:
Matthew 9:29 "Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be done to you";"
Luke 17:6 "He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."
Matthew 15:21-28 "Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly." Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away for she keeps crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me! she said. He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs." "Yes it is, Lord," she said. "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Then Jesus said to her, "Woman, you have great faith!Your request is granted." and her daughter was healed at that moment."
Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
Jeremiah 29:11-14 ""For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to Prosper you and not to harm you., plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.""
Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
Job 33:13-14 "Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one's words? For God does speak-now one way, now another-though no one perceives it."
1 Thessalonians 5:17 "pray continually"
Luke 11:11-13 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Psalm 107:28-30 "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven."
Matthew 21:22 "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.""
John 14:13-14 "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
Matthew 5:44 "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Luke 22:40 "On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation.""
1 Timothy 2:8 "Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing."
Matthew 6:6 "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."