Did you change the prayer, God?

“Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. (Luke 11:5-10)

If you keep knocking long enough. Those are telling words - words that might just reveal how much faith we have and how tenacious we can be with our faith. God's plan of prayer isn't just to 'get to know each other', but that is where it starts. As we come to know him better, we might just find ourselves knocking rather 'tenaciously' on his door about some things that need to be different in our lives or the lives of others. Does he get offended when we keep on 'knocking'? Absolutely not. We may not understand the delay, but we keep on knocking. If God shows us that there is something he wants to work on within us FIRST, then we don't give up on the knocking - we just allow him to work on that area within us while we still knock!

He isn't too busy. He isn't unconcerned. The 'delay' as we see it isn't resistance to our request - it may have a totally different purpose. Don't be ashamed to ask and keep on asking. But...don't be closed off to hearing what he may be telling you while you await the door to open. It could be that we are knocking on the door while harboring some form of resentment in our heart, and he asks us to let the other person off the hook, so to speak. He asks us to forgive them, let go of the offense, and maybe even pray for THEM as much as we have been praying for ourselves! When God doesn't answer immediately, we might do well to ask God if there is a reason for the delay. If the timing isn't right, he will show us. If the heart isn't right, he will reveal that. 

One more thing - don't be 'weak' in your requests. Don't just 'dink around' in prayer. Be direct. Be honest. Be truthful about what you need. Be determined. In other words, don't give up when you don't hear from God immediately, or see the door opened exactly in the timing we want it opened, the need being met almost instantaneously. Get in there, lay it all out, and keep on laying it all out until God shows you otherwise. If he changes your heart in the process, he may well change the prayer you have been praying, as well! Just sayin!

Pray and keep on praying

When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! (Matthew 6:7-8)

As a believer in Christ, we pray. Did you stop to consider that others who do not believe in Christ actually 'pray'? They recite phrases, repeating them over and over, to whatever it is they believe will help them. Prayer is not unique to Christ followers, but it does stem from a heart changed by his grace. It is conversation with God, out of a heart that has been renewed by his touch, and with the intention of getting to share what is in your mind, emotions, and spirit. 

What some fail to recognize is that sin actually puts a barrier between them and God. Once sin is confessed, the barrier is removed. When sin is confessed, the blood of Jesus wipes away the guilt and we stand 'right' with God. Does that mean we can go on sinning and just constantly confess our sins in order to 'stand right' with God? No, it means we have been redeemed by grace, set right, made new and now follow a different course than the one we were on before we asked God to rule and reign over our lives. Yes, we might do the opposite of what he asks on occasion, but we return to him for grace and forgiveness, seeking different choices.

Prayer requires a humble heart, an eagerness to listen to his instruction, and a willingness to yield our will to do as he asks us. In fact, prayer might actually be where we get a little humbler than when we first came to Jesus with our concerns, hopes, or thoughts. The more we talk with him about the issue at hand, the more he may show us where we need to change. That is pretty humbling, but we took the first step of humbling ourselves enough to actually truthfully lay our hearts bare before him. There is no one else in our lives that we can be as open and honest with as Jesus. He doesn't judge our shortcomings, nor does he interpret them as something that will never change. He knows exactly what to say, where to focus his attention, and give his direction.

We pray because we desire our relationship to grow. It is genuine, open, and thoughtful sharing of one's hurts, hangups, and hopes. If we can't trust the one who gave his all for us at Calvary with those things, who can we trust? Just askin...

Why is prayer so hard??

A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being. (James E. Faust)

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. (Colossians 4:2)

I once read that one cannot truly develop a relationship with another without communication. There must be some form of communication - even in the wildlife we can observe there is a form of communication that occurs that welcomes, warns, or wins the attention and affection of others. To be a Christian and NOT pray is kind of like saying you want a relationship, but you aren't willing to see it develop. You want the 'association' without the 'communication'.

Paul's instruction to us is to 'devote' ourselves to prayer. When we devote ourselves to something or someone, we are concentrating on it, appropriating time and attention to that pursuit. When we 'devote' ourselves to prayer, we are making a conscious choice to share a little bit of our heart with Christ, allowing him to share a bit of his with us. Each time we communicate in prayer we are opening the door just a bit wider for that sharing to occur. 

Prayer involves an alert mind. That might just put an end to some of the 'rote' prayers we have gravitated toward in so many religious circles. To recite the same prayer over and over again doesn't really require us to engage the mind, much less the heart. When the words come from our heart, even though they aren't many, nor are they 'fancy' or 'polished', they mean so much more to Jesus. His heart responds to ours and we begin to form a 'relationship' as a result of that truthful and heartfelt sharing.

If we want to grow by leaps and bounds in this Christian walk, it begins in prayer from an alert mind and a thankful heart. It may seem a little hard at first, almost like you have to 'make conversation' with him for a bit, but the more you share, the deeper the connection will become. It will get easier. You just need to make that first connection. Just sayin!

Pray for others

Since the day we heard these things about you, we have continued praying for you. This is what we pray: that God will make you completely sure of what he wants by giving you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding you need; that this will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way; that your life will produce good works of every kind and that you will grow in your knowledge of God; that God will strengthen you with his own great power, so that you will be patient and not give up when troubles come. (Colossians 1:9-11)

It is good to hear that someone is praying for us, isn't it? If we are struggling with even the simplest of things, we want that support behind us. We also want someone to be lifting us before the throne of God when it comes to our spiritual growth. We want to know that no matter how much the trials and temptations come against us, we have an advocate lifting us up over and over again, don't we? God listens for those prayers with an intense desire to answer each of them!

How should we be praying for each other? 

• With continual focus - never giving up on lifting that individual up in prayer, even when we don't see change.
• Seeking God for them to have spiritual confidence - in other words, that their faith would become certain, well-grounded, and not easily swayed
• Asking him to give them wisdom and spiritual understanding that is beyond their present understanding, opening the scriptures to them where it has been hard for them to understand them before, and to build upon past learning until one precept is laid upon another
• With a hope that God will create a desire deep within their hearts for more of his grace, power that is beyond their own abilities to overcome even the hardest of life's habits, and that life change would occur that brings about a living life testimony that honors God in every way
• Continually lifting them when we see troubles surrounding them, and even when we don't see those troubles plainly, so they will be covered with a hedge of protection much like a hedge of thorns kept out the wolves from the shepherd's flock at night

We may not realize how much our prayers on behalf of another can help them not only get out of troubles but avoid them entirely. We might find it easy to pray these things for ourselves, but never forget that God wants us to pray them for each other, as well! Just sayin!

    

Prayer 101

The Lord hates the offerings of the wicked, but he is happy to hear the prayers of those who live right. (Proverbs 15:8)

We don't have to have all the right words to reach out to God when we need help, assurance, peace, or even comfort. What we do need is a heart that is humble, a spirit that is submitted to him, and just a little bit of faith that he will hear and answer. Even if we are lacking in the last one, God can make up for the faith we lack right at that moment! 

Sometimes we go to God in prayer as though it were some sort of 'transaction' between God and us. The 'here I am, what are you going to do for me now' kind of prayers are not really what God is after when we go to him in prayer. Yes, he delights in meeting our needs, but he takes much delight in us acknowledging him, giving him thanks, and allowing him to show us exactly what we need.

To treat prayer as something we 'do' rather than a means by which we connect with our God is also not entirely right. We might think we say a particular set of words and then all will be well in our lives, but it isn't in the 'specific words' we speak that the need is met. It is in the honest sharing of our heart. Some of us need to exercise a little more 'heart' in our prayer than 'wordiness'!

Prayer isn't about the time we spend in prayer or the length of our prayers as much as it is about the exchange of truth. We are truthful with God about what we are feeling and experiencing, while his truth begins to be revealed about the circumstances and how he is using them to reveal something in us or through us. Prayer is always about connection. Sometimes we just connect heart-to-heart and walk away refreshed, but there will be times when we connect with the truth about an area where our heart isn't quite right yet. Either way, the connection is powerful.

My pastor said something the other day that I'd like to close with. We don't need 'magic words' or 'proven' formulas - we can just pray the scripture. When we are at a loss with what to say, maybe we just pray the scriptures. We can never go wrong with reminding our hearts what God says to us in those sacred passages! Just sayin!

Hey, my prayers aren't getting answered!

I love the Lord for hearing me, for listening to my prayers. Yes, he paid attention to me, so I will always call to him whenever I need help. (Psalm 116:1-2)

We all experience times when we don't think our words are getting through to God - times when answers are delayed, times going from rough to horrible, and even times when we want to hear from him, but there doesn't seem to be anything coming our way. I haven't found any evidence in scripture that says God doesn't hear some of our prayers, or that he only hears certain ones. Even when the people of old were praying to him with impure hearts, he heard! It is important to understand there may be a reason for God not immediately answering. As soon as we can discover that 'reason', the better!

God will not listen to our prayers when we have unconfessed sin in our lives. "I cried out to him for help, and I praised him. If I had been hiding sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened to me." (Psalm 66:17-18). "Look, the Lord’s power is enough to save you. He can hear you when you ask him for help. It is your sins that separate you from your God. He turns away from you when he sees them." (Isaiah 59:1-2) If we feel our prayers aren't being 'heard', the first thing we should do is ask God if we have any unconfessed sin in our hearts. Even if he hasn't answered those other prayers, he WILL always answer this one!

"We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), God cares about what we say. He listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us whatever we ask from him." (I John 5:14-15) Sometimes we have been praying so earnestly for things that are just totally outside of God's will for us. We might not realize it at first, but God will show us his will, and if we have been seeking things outside of his will, it is time to lay that line of seeking down at the altar. We can desire a relationship he doesn't want us to have - a thing we may have pursued with earnest but come to realize is not really taking us places God wants us to be either spiritually, emotionally, or physically. Lay it down! Don't hold onto things that don't agree with his will.

"You want things, but you don’t get them. So you kill and are jealous of others. But you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You don’t get what you want because you don’t ask God. Or when you ask, you don’t receive anything, because the reason you ask is wrong. You only want to use it for your own pleasure." (James 4:2-3) We can all be guilty of not even asking God for whatever it is we need, then blame him because we didn't receive something. We need to ask - according to his will, in his timing, and with faith. We also might ask for things for a very wrong reason - out of selfish ambition or pride. Whenever we do this, God cannot abide the 'motive' behind the requests. Don't expect God to just jump when you ask selfishly - his answer may be a resounding 'no'! Just sayin!

Groaning a bit?

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. (Romans 8:26-27)

Do you always know how to pray for whatever the need is that is set before you? There are times a friend will ask me to pray with them, but they aren't specific about their need. At other times, I know I 'need' something to change, be different inside me, or transpire, but I have no clear idea what that should be. When those times of prayer become 'difficult' because we 'don't know', it is time to trust the Spirit of God within us to lift our need to God's ears. Scripture says God even knows the meaning of our groans and sighs, so is it too hard to believe he would give us assistance in our prayers?

Prayer is probably one of my 'weaker' areas in this Christian walk. Yes, I pray, but am I always confident in my prayers? Not always, but I know God hears them, knows what is needed, and goes to work even before I ask. I know the Spirit of God within me is 'in tune with' the will of God and helps with expressing the need. It is true - there are times when words are just not sufficient to express the urgency, depth of a need, or the challenge to our faith that particular prayer is right now. God's plan was always to give us the Spirit to help us when we are not able to find 'sufficient words' to express it.

Have you ever 'put off' praying because you just didn't know what to pray for? You are not alone on that one, but we might want to reference this passage from time to time whenever that happens. I have actually said to God that his Word says I would have help to pray for the need before me. I have quoted back this scripture as my prayer - trusting that God 'gets' what I am saying and knows I am having trouble putting it into specific words. Why? He knows all hearts - yours and mine! He 'gets it' because he knows the depth of our heart's need and wants nothing more than to help with it. When we don't know what to pray, maybe we should remind God that we are trusting him to know our heart and hears its groanings. Just sayin!

Teach us to pray

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”... And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. (Luke 11:1, 9-10)

Teach us to pray. These are words of gold to our heavenly Father. They are words that will bring down the warriors of heaven on our behalf and send the enemy of our soul running in fear. Prayer is more about coming into connection with God has for us than it is us telling God what it is we need from him. We might think it is all about the request, but God knows in the request comes the opportunity to change things within our hearts and minds that need change. Yes, we express our concerns and bring our needs to him. Yes, we are free to express our fears and hopes. But...as we do these things, God begins to work in our hearts in ways we might not have even known we needed his work!

Boldness to come before God with our needs - even when we aren't quite certain what to ask, or what specifically we have need of at the moment. This is the privilege of his children - to come to their heavenly Father, opening up to him, and then pressing into him until we receive our answer. Will our answer always be exactly as we believed it to be? Not hardly! God's answers oftentimes come in the timing and ways we didn't count on. Keep on knocking, asking, and seeking - don't be afraid to be the 'pesky' kid who just keeps bringing their need before him. Why? For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Stop for a moment to consider the sequence of events Jesus shared here. Knock - there will be an answer. Ask - what we have need of is going to be fulfilled. Seek - for what is sought will be discovered. Did you ever stop to consider the answer we so desperately need might just be hinging on us having knocked, asked, or sought with this type of tenacity? James 4:2 reminds us we have not because we ask not. Don't be intimidated by the 'door' you see in your full view right now. Instead, pound hard upon it. Seek to have it opened. Ask and keep on asking. Perhaps that door isn't really blocking your answer - it might just be helping you to realize how much you need it and are willing to go after it! Just sayin!

Pray because of who he is

"Never limit your prayers because you think you are sinful or undeserving. You're not praying because of who you are - you are praying because of who he is." (Missional Women Facebook) 

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)

We cannot let the 'hugeness' of our sin, impending disaster, or difficulty stand in our way of coming to God with our need. If we waited until we were 'worthy' of his grace or goodness, we'd wait an eternity. God's grace makes a way of approach - his goodness makes provision for our biggest need - PERIOD.

Be strong and courageous may seem like an odd verse to consider when thinking about approaching God with our need, but I think it fits the bill entirely. Why? God isn't after timidity - he is seeking to make us bold in his power, strong in his might, and ever certain of his presence with us. Our 'condition' means we need to be in his presence. Our 'need' means we need to seek his grace and goodness.

Wherever you go - whatever you face. God isn't just a God for the difficult times - he desires for us to approach with this boldness each and every time we enter into prayer. If we limit our prayer time to those times when we find life too difficult, we are likely trying to live life on our terms, in our own strength, and within our own abilities. There is no more desolate place than that wilderness known as 'self-assured'!

God's instruction is clear. "So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." (Hebrews 4:16) Come boldly, come as often as you need, don't be afraid to ask this time and the next. There is no limit on his grace. There are no set words we must use. We just come, talk things out with him, and let him speak to us. Just sayin!

Ask, Seek, Knock, then keep on knocking

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)

Jesus is telling us how important it is to pray - to take our concerns, needs, hurts, and hang-ups to him in prayer. In other words, we are to use our words to express our need. What happens if we don't know what to pray for - when the situation is there, but we have no idea what to ask him to do for us in that situation? We seek wisdom. Sometimes we don't know what is happening in our lives, but we know we need God's help in that moment. We lay out our need, both the one we recognize easily, as well as the one we have a hard time articulating. Then we listen. Prayer is about asking, seeking, and knocking (importuning). We don't always ask, so how do we expect to receive. We might not always seek so as to discover. We may not realize it, but when there seems to be no answer, we might need to make the request over and over again. It doesn't mean God isn't listening, it could just mean he is waiting on us to be ready to receive, act, or change the course we have taken.

Ask (aiteo) - ask for with urgency. This word speaks to the attitude of a suppliant (one who makes a humble, earnest plea or entreaty), the petitioning of one who is lesser in position than he to whom the petition is made. To ask means to call on for an answer, which indicates that we believe there is someone listening. It also implies that we expect Him to answer. Ask is present imperative indicating that we are to keep on asking. This is to become the pattern of our life, a continual act of devotion. Jesus calls us to be in His presence continually.

Seek (zeteo) means to attempt to learn something by carefully investigating it or searching for it. Seeking is asking plus acting, implying that type of earnest petitioning that is coupled with an active endeavoring to see needs fulfilled. When you seek something, you rearrange your priorities so that you can search for what you desire until you find it. If we don't receive by asking, we seek. If we don't receive by seeking, we knock.

Knock (krouo) - to rap at a door for entrance, but then to keep on knocking. The English word "knock" comes from German word meaning to press for what you desire. The idea might imply praying in the face of difficulty or resistance. If you knock like this, you don't give up on expressing your need. You keep on pressing, until you receive the answer.

We might ask, but do we seek? If we don't receive what we need the first time we ask, do we keep our eyes and ears open to discover what God might want to teach in the moment? Search out God's answers. Don't just expect them to fall into your lap. When you learn to ask, seek, and knock, you learn to lean on Jesus more than on your own ability or strength. Just sayin!

Taken for granted?

The wise in heart will receive commandments, but a prating fool will fall. (Proverbs 10:8)

Those who "talk to hear themselves talk" might not actually know how foolish they can sound on occasion. They just ramble on and on as though all the world was listening. At times, they might actually have something to say, but the "world" is so tired of listening to their pointless talk that even if they have some nugget of purposeful information in there somewhere, no one is really paying close attention! This might be why scripture reminds us of the way we use our words - not in excess, not hastily, not in idle talk. When we have a tendency to just make "conversation" for the sake of "passing the time", we don't really have much to share which will really lend to the building of relationship or receiving of instruction. When I want to build relationship, I usually am very focused on learning certain things about the other individual. I may be drawn to them because I see they possess a skill set I don't. This might start a rather "instructional" or "professional" relationship, but it will lack depth if that is all we ever talk about. I still don't know much about them. It isn't until I spend time with them, really getting to know their movements, understanding their expressions, grasping the meaning of their deep sighs, and seeing clearly the pain or joy in their eyes that I come to know them well. It isn't just focusing on hearing the stories they tell. These are important, but we actually get to know another by studying them a little - not just listening to the words they share. We need both in order to really come to a place of intimate relationship with each other. If all we do is go on in endless prattle, our words might actually drive us away from relationship - not toward it!

The wise in heart will receive commandments - they receive his teaching. The words God speaks are not those of a prating fool. They aren't spoken to fill pages in a book, or to fill the air with sound. They are directive, instructional, and purposeful. They are faith-filled, challenging, and sometimes even exasperating. Yep, sometimes his words are kind of "rough". Sometimes God's words are a little "rough" to take - they seem to almost "prick us" with their sharpness. I cannot think of a more faithful companion to speak those type of words into our lives, can you? The most "telling" truths he can speak are those which make us sit up and take notice of how it is we are living! A prating fool will fall - become nothing because he is too busy talking to take time to listen! This is the danger of using words as though they were a "cheap commodity" - we lessen the value of the words we hear because we are so busy talking over them that we cannot hear them at all! To receive, we need to listen. To listen, we need to be quiet. To be quiet, we need to be comfortable enough to not need to be the center of attention! God challenges those who are constantly chattering on and on with this word of warning - there is a fall in your path if you continue on in the senseless chattering of empty words. Why is that? We don't have the depth of relationship with him or others to sustain us in the difficult times of life!

Herein is the balance we must find. We have to be open enough to develop solid relationships, but also to have balance in what it is we share. When we begin talking, we must consider the audience, understand the relationship we have with them, and realize the value in what it is we are sharing, there is quite a different conversation which occurs. This is most true in our relationship with God himself. We need to know our audience. He isn't "unsettled" by our endless chatting with him, but he does look for us to get to purposeful conversation with him at some point. Then we need to understand the relationship we have with him. He isn't there to be our "go to" when times are bad and then ignored when all is going well. He wants to be part of our ups AND downs. Nothing is more disheartening to him than to be taken for granted when the things in life seem to be going our way and then to be the center of our attention when we find ourselves in need. He wants us to share the things of our heart with him - not just the superficial stuff. There is a depth he wants us to cultivate in relationship with him, but without honest sharing, we will never get to this point. We need to trust him to take what we share and then use it to "better" us in every sense of the word. Just sayin!

Stepping Out

"Never limit your prayers because you think you're undeserving. You're not praying because of who you are, you're praying because of who God is." (@SHETHEROAR)

You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me. (Psalm 119:7)

I know I can be guilty of thinking I know perfectly well the course I am supposed to be walking, not even considering God may have a perfectly different and dynamic course for me, launching ahead without much thought. The 'road' we walk is best walked when it is 'revealed by God'. We shouldn't always just amble along through life and hope God will meet us along the way. We might do well to stop, take some time to pray for his wisdom, and then allow him to guide us along the path HE has determined to be the best for today.

Too many times we feel a little like we are 'bothering God' with the small stuff, but have you ever tried to maintain a relationship with someone without the 'small stuff' of conversation? If all you do is talk about the 'deep' or 'hard' stuff, your relationship is kind of scary! We talk with God about everything - the small, deep, and hard stuff - not because we are super-cool, super-righteous, or super-anything. We talk with him about it because of who he is - and believe it or not, who WE are matters to him because we are his chosen, beloved, and grace-filled children.

Steady steps come quicker to those who seek God's direction with those steps - that one just makes sense. So why do we resist asking him to reveal that direction to us? Why are we stubbornly just trudging ahead on our own? It could be we don't feel he should be bothered with the 'small stuff', but it could also be we don't feel 'worthy' of asking. Nothing could be further from the truth - for we are declared to be of the greatest worth. Why else would he give his Son as a sacrifice for our sins? 

As our psalmist shows us, guidance comes to those who don't consider it too much or too hard to take those steps to God BEFORE they take them. We learn the pattern of walking the right path because we take the time to discover it at his feet. There is nothing mystical about prayer - it is just us talking with God like we do each other. While I know some raise lofty prayers, filled with all the 'thee' and 'thou' words, it is not the way I speak with God. I just talk with him like I talk with you. Why? He doesn't need my 'pretty words' - he needs my needy heart expressed in openness and truth. Just sayin!

Great things happen when...

When a believing person prays, great things happen. (James 5:16b)

There should be no doubt in the power of prayer - God delights in hearing from his kids, even though he may not hear from us as often as he'd desire! Great things happen in those times of conversation with him. Just in case you haven't noticed, he brings seed thoughts that we can think upon the rest of the day. There is no substitute for spending time just sharing our heart with him.

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. (James 5:16a)

This is the other part of this verse - something we also should not overlook as we consider spending time with God in conversation. There is power in confession - it is the beginning of our healing - emotionally, physically, spiritually, and relationally. The more we open up to him, the greater the opportunities for him to begin to bring order to our confusing life.

When we are uncertain what to pray, just pray for God's wisdom. Did you forget that God gave us his Spirit within to help us with those prayers we don't know how to pray? He knows the need and he has a way of expressing it to our heavenly Father even when we don't. Mark Twain said, "A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation." God has a way of exposing our true character in times of prayer - this is the beginning of our healing.

I don't know about you, but I find myself telling God some of the same things on occasion - how much I need his help with a certain habit, what I am struggling with in my thought life, and where I need his intervention in the lives of those I love. He isn't bothered by my continual 'reference' to these things. In fact, he is delighted I trust him enough to continue to bring those things to him. The prayers of a believing heart accomplish great things - belief begins in trust.

You can trust God with your heart's expressions in times of prayer. He isn't going to trample on it. If we are truthful here, we may not trust ourselves well enough to be totally honest with what it is we know to be our real need. Lay out your need - the need of others around you - and even those 'unseen' needs you really cannot put your finger on. He is delighted to hear your voice expressing your trust in him to take each one under his wing. Just sayin!

I'm challenging that...

You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. (Matthew 5:43-45)

How on earth do we let our enemies bring out the best in us? That seems like an impossibility. If we are to allow them to bring out the best in us, we need a change in how we view the potential we have 'against' our enemies. It isn't that we are setting ourselves up 'against' them, resisting them and entering into war. We are 'embracing' them in a way they have no clue we are even capable of doing! Respond with the 'supple moves of prayer' and see how much difference this 'stance' can make when encountering our enemy's moves. They won't expect it. They won't even know we are doing it most of the time. They will begin to sense there is something 'amiss' with our response to their attack, though. They will expect a 'counter-attack' for certain, but they won't expect us to embrace their attack in prayer!

Prayer does more than you might imagine because it 'moves us out of ourselves'. It takes our thoughts away from how we 'feel' when attacked and allows God to begin to 'counter' the attack with his 'special moves'. There are no 'moves' we can make that are quite as effective, or to the point. God knows what will move our enemy. He knows what will shut-down their attack and send them running in the opposite direction. He also knows what will cause them to notice something within us that makes them just a bit more curious about the grace of God! He can use our prayers as a means to open the door for his grace in the lives of our enemies. Most of us don't even begin to think about God's grace being extended to our enemies while under attack, but God challenges us to get out of ourselves and allow his grace to get into us! In turn, his grace will begin to impact the lives of our enemies. 

I am going to be totally transparent here today - I seldom think to pray for my enemies as the 'first' maneuver. I admit to 'getting into myself' a bit too much when under attack. I want to 'counter' the attack with as much hurtfulness as my enemy has launched against me. Am I in this position of being a little bit too much 'into myself' while under attack? I don't think so, because some of you just felt a little twinge of guilt when I asked that question. I don't always understand the power of prayer because I don't always see the immediate answer to prayer. I do know it works - maybe not in the moment, but in the long-term. I do know prayer moves me into a place where I am able to remove myself from the 'feelings' associated with the attack of my enemy and into the place where God can talk clearly to me about the response I should have toward them. 

Prayer may not be our first thought when under attack, but I am praying God will help our enemies bring out the best in each of us, not the worst. In order to do that, we might just find ourselves taking things to God we never have before - things like our hurt feelings, our sense of 'injustice', and our pride. Who better to deal with those things than God himself? In turn, God will begin to change our 'point of reference' - helping us see how our enemy needs our prayers. One thing I noted when I began to embrace praying for my enemy - those prayer times usually begin with getting things right in ME long before they change to asking God to get things right in THEM. Just sayin!

Talk to me

If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open. (James 1:5)

I used to pray a whole lot of 'open-ended' prayers. I would just ask God to move - not really all that specific in my requests. I found it didn't lead to a very deep relationship between us. Think about it - if you had a close friend and never talked about anything but the weather or the stock market trends, would your relationship grow any deeper? Not likely. You might be 'up to speed' on current issues, but never really learn what the other needs. There is something about being transparent with each other that helps us develop that depth. 

This kind of depth requires an ability to put things out there - to really open up before him. I know that makes some of you squirm a little because you don't like to do that with anyone! It took me a while to realize I could be 'bold' with God. That doesn't mean I tell God what to do, but I do express my frustrations, fears, and hopes. I put my plans out there and sometimes I hear a loud 'amen' deep within my spirit; at others I feel a deeper sense of caution. Is that sense of caution really God showing me my 'plans' are not specifically his 'plans' for me right now? It usually is!

There were things I didn't think God needed to talk with me about, but I was totally wrong with that one. God loves to just hear how things are going for us, what we feel is going well, and what we know we need some help with because we have been struggling to get anywhere in that area. It isn't just the 'issues' he wants to hear about - it is also what we realize is going well. That is a form of praise in our prayers. When he hears us acknowledge the goodness of life, it warms his heart. When he hears us share the challenges or rough areas of life, it moves his heart to act.

Prayers are nothing more than 'solid communication' between two individuals who are deeply in love with each other - God and You. If this is the case, we will be bold. We will lay things out there, believing he has our best in mind when he responds. We won't always like what we hear, but if we want consistency in our walk with him, we need this kind of bold openness. The heart sometimes is burdened by things we shouldn't even be pursuing - hearing we have been pursuing the wrong stuff may sting a little, but when acknowledged and laid down, what freedom that brings! Just sayin!

This is not unspoken

“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?" (Matthew 7:7-8)

I know it is sometimes pretty hard to admit our true need, but try as we might to 'skirt the truth', the first step to seeing that need met could just be our admittance of that need. There are times we go all around the issue when we talk with our Lord, trying to get it out without really having to say what it is we are looking for in our meeting with him. We seem to want our need met, but we aren't being direct about what that specific need really is. This is one reason I cringe when someone says they have an unspoken prayer request. God can and does meet the 'unspoken' requests, but if the majority of our 'requests' are 'unspoken', we might need to ask ourselves why that is the case. Bargain with God and you may find the 'bargain' costs you more than you really ever intended to give. 

Do you know what it means to be 'direct' with God? It means we are open and sincere in our request. Open - not ambiguous, totally sincere, and thoroughly forthright. I might be a little blunt on occasion in how I say things, but truth doesn't need a whole lot of 'fanciness' to make it truth. It is plain, forthright, and to the point. Why should our requests be any less? If we notice what God says here, we aren't to always be asking for what we 'want', but rather for what we 'need'. It took me a long time to sort out my needs from my wants. I want a whole lot of things, but my needs are really quite simple, direct, and to the point! 

Bargaining suggests some form of 'haggling' with God. When I first went to Mexico, my friends told me not to pay the first price at the street marketplaces. I needed to 'haggle' with the vendor to get the best price I could. In a sense, I thought it was a little unfair to 'undercut' their price with a 'low-ball' price, but on occasion I knew they had given me a very high price as the initial price and I needed to ask for a more reasonable one. This doesn't work with God. We don't step into his presence with our need, hear what he asks of us, then offer something 'less' in hopes he will accept that offered 'price'. We hear what he asks, then we learn to trust him with our lives as we obediently step out in faith to do as he asks.

Prayer is just a fancy word for talking and listening. We talk a bit - openly, honestly, with forthright transparency. We listen a bit more than we talk - open to the leading we receive; not scheming to find another path than the one he directs. It takes a bit to learn how to enter into his presence this way, but once we figure out he has our best in mind, lovingly directing our lives even when we might not fully understand what he asks, we come away fulfilled. Just sayin!

Tell him what you think...go ahead

So tell me what you think. Look at the evidence. Put your heads together. Make your case. Who told you, and a long time ago, what’s going on here? Who made sense of things for you? Wasn’t I the one? God? It had to be me. I’m the only God there is—The only God who does things right and knows how to help. So turn to me and be helped—saved!—everyone, whoever and wherever you are. I am God, the only God there is, the one and only. I promise in my own name: Every word out of my mouth does what it says. I never take back what I say. Everyone is going to end up kneeling before me. Everyone is going to end up saying of me, ‘Yes! Salvation and strength are in God!’” (Isaiah 45:32-23)

When we 'get' to say all we want to say, it is not always what you might want to have anyone else hear! Sometimes you actually learn things about yourself - other times you learn things about the other person - and sometimes you learn things about other people not even involved in the conversation! Imagine being in the most "open" and "sharing" of relationships with someone. I like to call this a relationship with transparency and intimacy - the freedom to share your heart. You are able to share things which you might not want to share with other people, right? I think God gives an open door to each of us to enter into this type of relationship with him. We can come boldly into his presence, sit right down and "unload" even the deepest and darkest of secrets - all with the confidence of knowing he will take what we say only as far as OUR relationship! It stays there because he knows the value of this type of sharing - it is the closest of heart-sharing and means there is "strength" and "stability" in the relationship. Imagine God speaking to the hungering heart - one just looking for someone with whom they may have this type of close and stable relationship - the place of sharing just between two. God opens the door for conversation. 

Sometimes we believe WE have to be the ones to open the door! The truth is God has already done the deed of opening up to us, just so we can enjoy the privilege of opening up to him! He then asks us to tell him what we think. God knows what we will say before we say it - he is all-knowing (omniscient). Even though he already knows everything about us, there is something about being open in our communication which he encourages and even allows! Even when it is some complaint, frustration, anger, fear, or even regret. What I think God does in our times of open communication with him is to actually help us "examine the evidence" revealed in our words. He loves hearing our voice - even the "voices in our heads". Yet, in the outward speaking of the words, WE are actually the ones who begin to see a revelation of truth we might not have seen before. Have you ever began to complain about something, then without really realizing it, you begin to see the selfishness in your complaint, or maybe the emotional response you had which was actually an "over-reaction" to the moment? I have! The more I speak, the clearer it becomes that the words I am speaking kind of get "sorted out" in the process of speaking them. If you have ever watched one of those crime scene shows, what do the detectives always do? They talk things out together! Why? In the "talking it out" phase the evidence becomes a little clearer and truthfully, two heads are ALWAYS better than one.

God wants us to know we don't have to "figure things out" on own - he is the one who makes sense of the matter! We might begin to see the evidence, putting piece one together with piece two, but he makes all the pieces come together in perfect order. God is the only one who knows how the fit - so why is it we avoid bringing the pieces to him? We often struggle with being open with him because of our shame over what the "pieces" represent. The truth is, the shame is really "self-imposed" - God is not associating our broken pieces with shame, but with grace. Shame is OUR feeling - nothing we "feel" about our brokenness causes God to feel "shame" - the inward feeling produced by guilt that we deal with. God asks us to plainly allow him to assist us to see the evidence - not to bring us shame, but to set us free from guilt and, in turn, to set us free from the "feelings" associated with our guilt. When we begin to examine the evidence of our actions - communicating openly and honestly about them, we often find the greatest challenge comes in letting go of the "emotion" associated with the past actions. God's encouraging words to us - turn to me and be helped! God's words to you and I are to turn to him - to come face-to-face with him - opening the way for the embrace. It is WHERE we position ourselves which makes it possible for him to help. Open arms don't do us any good if we remain shut off to their embrace - shame has no way of being removed until grace embraces the "evidence" of wrongdoing in our lives!

God actually listens - then he talks to us! At first, God has to listen a lot, because it takes us time to realize our "talking" is kind of like a cathartic action. When we finally get it all out - he is there to pick up the pieces, sorting them out carefully, and then revealing what it is he hopes we will get out of the time we have spent together. He may speak back just a simple, "Thank you!" Why? Simply because he has waited for us to be THAT honest with him for a long time. He may speak back a word of encouragement, "I understand". Why? It is because his Son walked this earth and DOES understand the pain we experience. He may speak back some "action words", telling us clearly what steps we take next. Why? He asks for us to take what we have learned and put it into action in our lives. It is not because he judges us, but because he knows just how much those actions will bring us closer to the evidence of Christ within us! Next time you need to get it off your chest, you might just want to start with the one who will help you sort out the evidence, come to the realization of truth, and then actually assist you put the truth into action! Just sayin!

Not always an "ah-ha" moment

Honestly, there are times in this world when I feel like I am talking and I don't think anyone is even listening - not a human, not an animal, and not even God. There have been times as a mom when I was saying something to two very blank faces staring back at me in what many would call their looking at you, but we don't hear a word you say kind of face!  There have also been moments when I have tried to just engage someone in conversation, only to find they have never been listening to a word I said because their answer is so totally different than the question I asked! I chuckle now at some of the things mom answered when she heard something so totally different than what I ever said or asked, just because she was hard of hearing and in the early stages of dementia. We've probably all been in this situation at least once where we find ourselves chuckling over what we thought we heard, but it was totally different than what was spoken! Thank goodness God is really listening when we want to speak with him, but I wonder how much of what we 'think' we hear from God is 'made up' because we aren't really listening as intently as we should be?

God's there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it. He does what's best for those who fear him—hears them call out, and saves them. (Psalm 145:18-19)

God truly hears each word we speak - even those not really spoken out loud, but being shot up to him in silent "help, I need you!" moments!  It is beyond my brain's comprehension to understand how God could possibly be listening to all of us at the same time, but one thing is for sure - if he could create you and I out of mere dust, I am pretty convinced he could (and does) listen to more than one person at a time! Some may think of prayer as those moments of "devout", on your knees, head bowed, hands interlocked moments with God when you pour out your heart to him. The truth is, prayer is really an attitude of heart and mind. In fact, it is often better translated as "communion" - the interchange or sharing which occurs because there is connection. The thing we may need to hear most today is God is listening for all who engage in this type of interchange - who make connection with him.

As a kid, I certainly had a curious mind. I'd poke sticks in holes, not knowing what dwelt in the recesses. Once I was rewarded with a gila monster attached to the end of a stick, jaw firmly clamped down on this menacing object that had invaded its home. That one discovery set me running because it wasn't what I expected. I am honestly not sure what I expected when I stuck my stick into hole after hole, but a big old lizard capable of delivering one mean bite didn't even occur to me! There were a whole lot of times when I'd walk away with disappointment because nothing stirred, nothing bit on the stick, and my efforts just didn't yield a thing! You don't honestly expect the bad stuff to get stirred up when you pray, but have you ever experienced that? You kind of 'poke a stick' in a 'hole' somewhere in your life or relationships, and then when something emerges that seems a little threatening to your usual way of life, you run!

We miss "connection" with God because we never take the time to explore the recesses of his counsel (his Word), or the intensity of his power. We just 'dabble' in prayer - we don't really ask so as to listen, nor do we listen so as to hear. We may think he is too busy to listen to our "little" issues - but he is THERE -- listening! Not just THERE -- but listening attentively, ready to respond to us. There is benefit to the "devout" times of "knee prayer" - but don't discount the times of just sharing your heart "on the fly". God doesn't have a "deaf ear" to turn regardless of the length or 'depth' of our prayer! There are times with God when I am simply "poking around" to see what I will uncover. These have been some of the greatest times I have had in connection with him. I may not get a 'wow' or even a 'ah-ha' reward each time I speak with him, but I get something from each moment I spend just exploring God and his intense love! This is connection - this is communication. It is two - sharing from the heart - just listening to each other. Don't count on the excitement of the moment to ignite you each time, but know their exists something exactly for the moment when you need it the most! Just sayin!

Never a wasted word

I have found people have a harder and harder time communicating with each other these days unless it is done in some sort of emoji, tweet, or text message. We just don't interact face-to-face all that much anymore. The smartphones have given us access to our 'friends' 24-hours a day - pinging away with each newly composed message, cute video feed, or stunning social media post we receive. God isn't a 'social media' kind of guy, though. He really hasn't changed from his original plan of face-to-face interaction! It is called prayer and very few of us really 'get' how prayer works any longer because we have forgotten how it works to really share - to speak, listen, restate a conversation, mull things over together, and get down to the heart of the matter - all while being connected and vulnerable face-to-face.

God keeps his distance from the wicked; he closely attends to the prayers of God-loyal people.
(Proverbs 15:29)

There are times when we feel that our prayers are seemingly unanswered - just spoken words into a void that somehow absorbs them and doesn't do anything with them - like sending a text and not knowing if the other person ever saw it because there was no acknowledgement. Then there are other times when it seems that the words are no sooner spoken and they are answered - life's catastrophes avoided, circumstances changed, hearts mended - intervention comes quick and sure. Regardless of the "timing" of the answer, the promise we want to hold onto is that God closely attends to the prayers of his kids - those words spoken and shared with an open, vulnerable heart.

His attention to the "details" of our life is not accidental - it is purposeful and totally intentional, because he doesn't have to get 'caught up' on his 'timeline' or 'social feed'. I cannot fathom with my human mind how God keeps all the details of my life, the lives of my friends and family, not to mention the other several gazillion  people who live on this earth in his sight and constant attention. I don't have to understand the "abilities" of God to know whole-heartedly that I can count on them, though!

The promise is that God "closely attends" to the words of his people. Not the tweeted ones we post so often, but the ones we speak and those that have to be 'nursed' from our souls as we sit quietly together.  There are times I would rather God not hear the words of doubt intermingled in my prayers, the words of fear spoken in moments of terror and my undoing. Yet, in his intense love for us, he hears each and every one of the doubts and fears - taking them to his heart and wrapping them in his care. He does this because he is our "close" friend, our "caring" father, and our "compassionate" Savior.

Prayers are nothing more than the expressions of our heart. When we learn to share our heart with God in an open and realistic manner, he is there to "closely attend to" the various needs of our lives. Sometimes we don't think God wants to hear about our doubts - but how will he help us overcome them if we cannot express them freely? There are times we think it is not very "spiritual" to have fears, to be angry, to feel frustration - it may very well be that those "emotions" are what God needs to see and hear expressed in order to open us up to what it is he desires to do within.

Prayers can be desperate or easy, frantic or calm, rapid-fire or bubbling forth in a free-flow of expression. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to pray - the simple matter is that God wants to hear what is on your mind and in your heart. As he does, he attends to us like no other could possibly do. He intentionally intervenes wherever, whenever, and however we intentionally share our need. Open up to God in the honest expression of your heart and mind - learn how closely God attends to that open communication with him! Words spoke to God are never wasted words. Just sayin!

Not just the easy stuff

Do you ever ask questions, only to find you already knew the answer? Sometimes we ask the question because we want to be certain we do indeed have the right answer already, but there are times we really doubt that we do - making the question really kind of like a fact-finding mission. We ask, hoping to receive, but we aren't sure we will receive anything that we didn't already know. The questions we ask can be 'conditioned' on the type of answer we really want to receive. For example, if we ask only a very superficial question, we are probably seeking only a superficial answer. If we want to get to the nitty-gritty, down and dirty truth of the matter, we might just ask the harder questions. The answer is almost predicted by the question posed. There is a quote that says, "Good questions outrank easy answers." (Paul Samuelsen)

But Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Yes—and if you embrace this kingdom life and don't doubt God, you'll not only do minor feats like I did to the fig tree, but also triumph over huge obstacles. This mountain, for instance, you'll tell, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it will jump. Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God."
(Matthew 21:21-22)

While this passage is focused on learning a little bit about prayer, we can see Jesus is concerned with his disciples learning more than the superficial - he wants them to get to the root! Jesus focuses them on the condition of heart that is necessary to receive what is desired from God in prayer. We need to have an embracing heart that is filled with faith if we are to receive as God intends for us to receive. It is often difficult to live above doubt - often because the impossibilities look way too menacing and too prominent - so we ask what we think will be simple or easy. Overcoming, or at least stepping out in spite of our doubt is a challenge for most of us - we don't like the potential 'unrest' getting to the root of a matter will bring if we ask in that manner. We need to pay attention to the entire passage here - embrace God first, then overcoming our doubts is easier - we won't fear asking the harder questions.

When we fully hold on to God - really drawing close to him - we find it easier to step out, even when there is a hint of doubt in the way. The key is relationship - the closer we are to God, the closer we are to asking according to his purpose and seeing the fulfillment of what we ask for. When we are in close relationship, we understand that all the blessings and promises of God are for us - there is no question in our mind. We also need to see that we must ask - unspoken requests are not really a thing that God works too well with - even when the questions are not really seeking the 'easy answers'. He wants us to express our hearts to him because it develops the intimacy he desires with us. As we open up to him about what it is we have need of - the deep inner desires of our heart - he is able to embrace us, pulling us closer, and he meets us there. The promise to us is this - if we believe, we will receive whatever we ask for in prayer. Condition - if we believe. Promise - we will receive. Condition - whatever we ask for in prayer. The promise of God has two conditions - we must ask and we must believe. Our doubts are dealt with in the presence of God - our needs are expressed in the times of prayerful sharing - not just the easy stuff, but all of it.

To receive carries means we come into possession of something - this is what we really almost always gravitate to as the definition of receiving. Yet, see the components of this definition a little clearer - WE come into POSSESSION. In other words, we step out in faith and we come into a place where possession is possible. The impossible becomes possible in this place of faith. The action is one of being open to acquire or take it as our own - when we talk openly with God about our needs, we are trusting him to allow us to take that which we desire as our own. Nothing delights the heart of God more than to meet the needs of his kids. To ask means we are also willing and ready to act as a receptacle or container for whatever comes by asking. When we ask, we need to be readied to receive. Why is there a difference between the time we ask and the time we realize the answer? It is often because we need to be readied to receive - our "container" is not ready.  When we ask with an open heart, purposing to take in what we are believing God for, we find that our hearts are open to experience the fullness of God like never before. We are open to assimilate through both our minds and our senses all that God is doing. We are enlarged. Our invitation today is to receive - the condition of our receiving is to ask. The method of asking is to do it while drawing close to God and relying on him more than we believe in our doubts. We don't just ask for the easy - we are ask, knowing we will receive, even when the answer might be a little hard for us to receive! Just sayin!