Dear God

 

Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 

Philippians 4: 6, Concordant New Testament

It's one of the most talked about topics for every believer.  When we do it right, blessings abound.  However, when we are wrong, we're told that we risk having our heavenly Father not honor our requests.  A plethora of books has been written on the subject.  Many a pastor has spent many a Sunday sermon speaking to how it should be done.  However, in the end it comes down to just one simple concept, our time spent talking to God.  I'm talking about prayer, and it seems that everyone has a different opinion of how it should be done.  I recall a study a good friend of mine and I did on Jesus' sermon on the mount.  The Lords instruction on how we are to pray took us three months on its own.  So important was the message on how we are to communicate with the Father.  I grew up as many believers did, seeing prayer as something akin to a life preserver.  When times were good, I'd pray for the Lords provision.  When times were bad, my prayers would be for the Lords deliverance from said circumstances.  This was Gods job, it seems, to be there when we needed Him to be.  Yet, this is exactly what He has promised {Joshua 1:5}.  So, we're praying for something which He has already said He would do.  Sound familiar?  It should, believers seem to have a habit of praying for things which God has or will provide.  Maybe it's our way of assuring ourselves that He will do what He says He will.  Instead of trusting in the Father, we stack up prayers asking Him if He will do what He says.  Sounds a bit redundant to me.  Yet for something we spend A LOT of time doing, our own understanding of prayer seems to be lacking.  Are my prayers simply a wish list for God to consider?  Despite the fact that He has assured us that He already knows our requests before we even ask Him {Matthew 6:8}.  So this is what prayer has become for us.  Not a close, personal connection to the Father, but a glorified shopping list of requests.  Still, you might see where I'm going with this.  Prayer has never been simply a wish list, but a personal communication with God.  Somewhere along the way we've lost sight of that.  

And this is the boldness which we have toward Him, that if we should be requesting anything according to His will, He is hearing us.  And if ever we are aware that He is hearing us, whatever we may be requesting, we are aware that we have the requests which ye have requested from Him.  

1 John 5: 14-15, Concordant New Testament 

As I contemplated this writing, a thought occurred to me that we might understand prayer a bit better if we saw it in another context.  That is, a context few pastors speak to and fewer believers have come to know.  I'm talking about seeing our prayers as an intimate conversation with the Lord, which they always have been.  But how can someone who has never known God in a close, personal way see prayer as a close personal conversation?  Interesting question.  The traditional mainstream church all too often presents God to us in a way where He is often seen as separate from us.  God is in heaven while we are here on earth.  This is what we have been taught about God, I get it.  But is this how God wants us to know Him?  Does God desire us to see Him as some far off provider?  I doubt it.  From the beginning, God had a close relationship with His creation in the garden.  He interacted with man and most certainly communicated with Him.  Then IT happened.  Man was introduced to another voice, and the rest is history.  Adam and Eve chose to follow the voice of the accuser, accepting the lie that they could be "like God".  This produced the illusion of separation between God and man.  I say illusion because it's not true, which leads us straight into the truth of Christ Jesus we should all embrace.  The apostle Paul speaks to the truth of Christ in us in Galatians {Galatians 2:20}.  It is Jesus who became sin in our place {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  If we see Jesus for who He truly is, in us, then our prayers take on a whole new meaning.  The idea of a close, intimate conversation with the Father doesn't seem so far fetched anymore.  God is no longer simply a far off provider but an intimate part of our life.  

~Scott~