More About Prayer

More About Prayer

I have been reading Philip Yancey's book, “Prayer, Does It Really Make a Difference.” These are some of the points that he brings up that I have been pondering this week along with my own reflections.

First he refers to David Mains comment on making sure prayers are on target.

1. What do I really want? Am I being specific in articulating my hearts desire to the Lord? God required Solomon to be to tell what he desired of the Lord, he wisely chose wisdom to govern the people of God.

2. Can God grant the request? Is it possible that what I am asking for is actually against the nature of God? There are times that we pray for the absolute destruction and death of our enemies. We forget that God does not want anyone to perish, but that all would come to repentance.

3. Have I done my part? Am I praying to lose weight without dieting or exercising. James declares, “If you know how to do good and do not do it, that is sin to you.

4. How is my relationship with God? Are we on speaking terms? If I regard sin in my heart the Lord will not hear me.

5. Who will get the credit if my request is granted? Do I have God's interests in mind? We need to develop view of life from God's perspective with the understanding that it might never become fully developed until we are absent from the body and present with the Lord.

6. Do I really want my prayer answered? What would actually happen if I received what I am praying for? Think if this is really as good for me as I am thinking, or are there other lessons in life I need to learn before this prayer is fully answered? The Israelites demanded to have a king to rule over them like the other nations around them. Eventually God granted them a king in the person of Saul the son of Kish, but it was to their hurt.

Garth Brooks sings a song about the prayers he made regarding winning the favor of a high school sweetheart. He later figures out that it was not such a good idea as he sings this line in the song:

Just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean He doesn't care.

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.

Yancey brings up the prayer of John Ballie:

Teach me, O God, so to use the circumstances of my life today that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin.

Let me use disappointment as material for patience.

Let me use success as material for thankfulness.

Let me use trouble as material for perseverance.

Let me use dancer as material for courage.

Let me use reproach as material for suffering.

Let me use praise as material for humility.

Let me use pleasure as material for temperance.

Let me use pain as material for endurance.

In the book he also cites Dr. Harold Koeing, Psychiatrist at Duke University's 'Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health', by bringing up these chapter headings in his book “The Healing Power of Faith.”

Religious People Have Stronger Marriages and Families.

Religious People Have Healthier Lifestyles.

Religious People Cope Well with Stress.

Religion Offers Protection from Depression and Helps Those Who are Affected to Recover Quickly.

Religious People Live Longer, Healthier Lives.

Religion May Protect People from Serious Cardiovascular Disease.

Religious People May Have Stronger Immune Systems.

Religious People Use Fewer Expensive Hospital Services.

Dr Paul Brandt, who has been a friend and co writer with Philip Yancey reminds us that the word 'psychosomatic' comes from the combination of two Latin words psyche, meaning mind or soul and soma, meaning body. He states that he is never offended when his colleagues refer to some of what we call miracles as being psychosomatic, because it still does not demean the fact that the person was healed or that the pain went away. These are evidences that cannot be argued against.

We must always understand that we are looking through the glass dimly as the Apostle Paul put it. We might think we are at the point of full understanding in a particular area of our life, but as Thomas Merton said: We do not want to be beginners (at prayer).

But let us be convinced of the fact

that we will never be anything but

beginners, all our life!

These are ten lessons that Yancey suggests he has learned in prayer; I might say , I concur:

1. Hearts Desire: I have learned to tell God exactly what I want regardless of how impossible it might sound.

2. Lament: I have learned to complain; to tell God how I feel.

3. Confession: I have learned to confess my sin.

4. Be Peaceful: I have learned to rest in God.

5. Presence of God: I have learned to understand and experience the presence of God.

6. Compassion: I have learned that I can and must do something about my concerns.

7. Gratitude: I have learned to be grateful.

8. Faith: I have learned to have faith; both childlike and tenacious, even if I don't get what I want, I know that I have whatever I need.

9. Grace: I have learned what grace really means, a deep assuring peace in the midst of my trials.

10. Preparations: I have learned to prepare for eternity with the One I Love.

In closing F.B. Meyer says this about prayer regarding the possibility that it might or might not be answered the way or in the time frame that we have in mind:

The greatest tragedy in life

is not unanswered prayer,

but unoffered prayer.

What is on your heart? Please come and talk to God about it today.