"Don't pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it.
A man is powerful on his knees." Corrie ten Boom
"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him." Psalm 62:5
"Pray without ceasing." 1 Thess. 5:17
After periods of prayer drought in my life, I often resist turning back to Him because it feels like that first awkward conversation with a friend you've neglected ... "Do you even remember me?" I sometimes even feel like I have to get the rest of my spiritual life in order before I speak to God - like I'm embarrassed to present myself to Him as I really am. (Like he doesn't already know?)
Then I'm reminded of my favorite author C.S. Lewis's quote*: "We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us." Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. As I embark on this 31 Day commitment, I will do just that. Prayer is the first habit that must precede all others, which is why I am beginning it before the official 31 day count -- a precursor to My Road to Proverbs 31, if you will.
Habit 1: Pray Daily. I commit to waking each morning before my child does and spending time in prayer. I will pray because it draws me closer to God, because He does hear and sometimes even grant requests, and because I am commanded to pray.
Sometimes I've heard people ask, "If God is Sovereign, why pray? Will He really change anything because I ask Him?" This is a question that most Christians ask ourselves at one point or another. I love C.S. Lewis's answer to this question in God in the Dock:
However, believing in petitionary prayer can lead to a skewed view of prayer - more akin to talking to a genie in a bottle than a sovereign God. A God that hears our prayers, granting some of what we ask but not all of what we ask can seem paradoxical. I believe C.S. Lewis gives a wonderful answer to this as well:"Praying for particular things," said I, "always seem to be like advising God how to run the world. Wouldn't it be wiser to assume He knows best?" "On the same principle," said he, "I suppose you never ask a man next to you to pass the salt, because God knows best whether you ought to have salt or not. And supppose you never take an umbrella because God knows best whether you ought to be wet or dry?" "That's quite different," I protested. "I don't see why," he said. "The odd thing is that He should let us influence the course of events at all. But since He does let us do it in one way, I don't see why He shouldn't let us do it in another."
"Prayer is not a machine. It is not magic. It is not advice offered to God ...
"Can we believe that God ever really modifies His action in response to the suggestions of men? ... He could, if he chose, repair our bodies miraculously without food; or give us food without the aid of farmers, bakers, and butchers; or knowledge without the aid of learned men; or convert the heathen without the aid of missionaries. He allows soils and weather and animals and the muscles, minds, and wills of men to co-operate in the execution of His will. “God,” said Pascal, “instituted prayer in order to lend to His creatures the dignity of causality.” But not only prayer; whenever we act at all He lends us that dignity. It is not really stranger, nor less strange, that my prayers should affect the course of events than that my other actions should do so. They have not advised or changed God's mind—that is, His over-all purpose. But that purpose will be realized in different ways according to the actions, including the prayers, of His creatures." Efficacy of Prayer (emphasis added)We're even given an example of petitionary prayer in Exodus 32, when Moses intercedes asking the Lord not to "bring disaster on [His] people". After which God relented and put his wrath on hold: "The Lord changed his mind and did not bring on His people the disaster He had threatened" (Exodus 32:14).
Even so, we know that God grants some requests and not others. And we know that these requests have nothing to do with the holiness of the person doing the asking. For we also are given an example of a request of the most holy man denied. When Christ asks "let this cup pass from me", we know that Christ's request did not fit into God's overall plan. So, His request was not granted. (Matthew 26:36-42, Mark 14:35-36, Luke 22:41-42)
In the words of C.S. Lewis, again:
"Prayer in the sense of petition, asking for things, is a small part of [prayer]; confession and penitence are its threshold, adoration its sanctuary, the presence and vision and enjoyment of God its bread and wine. In it God shows Himself to us ...
"Petitionary prayer is, nonetheless, both allowed and commanded to us: “Give us our daily bread.” Efficacy of Prayer (emphasis added)So, starting today, I will pray in adoration and confession. I will pray for God's presence and vision, and to enjoy being close to Him. And, yes, I also will pray in petition.
MY PRAYER TO GOD
Lord, You have said in Your Word that if I draw near to You, You will draw near to Me also. (James 4:8) I ache for a deeper and more intimate relationship with You. Over the next several weeks, continue drawing me closer to You until I reside in Your presence and walk in the center of the path You've laid out for me.
As I begin this 31 day "spring cleaning" of my soul, "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24) Lord, lend me Your wisdom and strength not only in choosing habits but in following through with them. (1 Chron. 16:11)
As Your Scripture states, "the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." (Romans 8:26) Lord, I know that I may not always know exactly what to pray for, but I ask for the power of the Holy Spirit praying through me. I ask for guidance in my efforts to be a good steward of my time, talents and blessings.
And, above all, I ask that You be glorified in ALL that I do -- whether as a mom, as a wife, as a daughter, as a sister, as a friend, as a worker and in every other facet of my life. I am so thankful for Christ's sacrifice, and over the next 31 days, I ask that You draw me to a life more evident of the "new person" I have become through You. (Galations 2:20)
In Christ's Name -- Amen
I know my first post has been quite wordy, but I appreciate you letting me have my catharsis with you.
"Efficacy of Prayer" by C.S. Lewis in its entirety may be read here:
