Prayer

I’ve done at least one blog on prayer before, but I heard a new (new to me) concept of prayer and thought I’d share it here with you.

When our children are young, try to include them in things we do.  One example might be when I asked my son if he would like to build a headboard for our bed.  I could have done it myself, of course, and it might have looked pretty much the same.  It might even have taken less time, but the idea was to include my son in something I was doing, to teach him a useful skill, and to give him self-esteem through achievement.  That’s how we’re to build self-esteem, by the way, not praising our children for everything and anything they do.  But, I digress.

Let me take this opportunity to throw a little philosophy and theology your way.  God chooses to exist in three divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The standard philosophical definition of God is, “that of which nothing can be greater.” I think that is a good definition.   If you can think of something greater than your concept of God, then your concept is incorrect and God exists in that greater form.

The Bible tells us God is triune, so existing in three divine Persons must be the perfect and greatest way for God to exist.  Since that is true, then God is a communal being and seeks interaction with others.  Otherwise, He would just exist as one Person. 

Back to the topic at hand: prayer.  I’ve actually always had a bit of a problem with prayer, it’s purpose, that is.  I’ve always seen prayer as fellowship with God.  God is a communal Being.  Therefore, I concluded prayer to be God’s desire to interact with His children, and I think that’s pretty much true.  But our Pastor put a new spin on it I hadn’t considered before.

In his concept of prayer sees it as more than just fellowship.  He thinks God wants to include us in His work.  I agree.

Like when my son and I worked together to create that headboard, God has a task He wants done.  Also like working with my son, God wants to include us, so He impresses on us the desire to pray for a particular thing: the healing of a friend, the loss a widow experiences, the financial needs of a child.  We pray for that healing or sadness, or need, and God grants that prayer.  He could have done it without us, of course, but He didn’t want to. 

Again, like the example of my son and I, God wanted to show His child how things work, how He does things, what is possible.  He may also want to improve His child’s skills.  For instance, when we pray for someone in the hospital, His answer is often, “Go visit them.”  After we’ve visited the sick in the hospital enough times, we don’t pray so much about it but just do it.  We feel more comfortable doing it, too, because God has taught us the skills of what to say, what not to say, some of the stories to tell, etc.  God had built in us a more Christ-like spirit.  We just know what He wants.

Sometimes, we’re not sure how to pray about something, but there are lots of things we can be certain are in God’s will.  We know God wants everyone saved, so we know that is how to pray.  James says we are to visit orphans and widows (James 1:27) and so on.  The more we know God’s Word, the more certain we can be on how to pray and act on those prayers.

I have a different view of prayer now, a more exciting view, even a more precious view.  I now realize some of my prayer life involves God tapping me on the shoulder to say, “Let’s do something together.”