About Prayer

Read this quote from Catherine Marshall, “The reason many of us retreat into vague generalities when we pray is not because we think too highly of God but because we think too little”.  Good reminder for us all.

I’m thinking that our prayer life can get too vague when we are lackadaisical (lacking life, spirit, or zest) about praying.  I started reading Luke 22 as I was delving into the reasons behind vague praying and immediately identified with the disciples.  Jesus had just finished praying in the garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion.  Verses 45 and 46 really spoke to me,  Luke 22:45-46 (NLT)
⁴⁵ At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. ⁴⁶ “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray…

I can hear Jesus saying to me, Yvonne, are you feeling sluggish in your prayer time, then be specific, and GET UP AND PRAY!  I am convinced that sluggish, rote prayers are a result of vague prayers – prayers that lack zest and enthusiasim.

How do I avoid that? I want to share two Scriptures with you that have refocused my prayer life…refreshed it and empowered my prayers to be more than generalities – more than “Bless, Betsy” kind of prayers:

Read Psalm 132:3 for some prayer direction. Psalm 132:3-5 (ESV)
³ “I will not enter my house or get into my bed, ⁴ I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, ⁵ until I find a place for the Lord….   The place for the Lord in my life involves prayer that trusts, ask specifically, intercedes, and doesn’t quit.

Read 2 Chronicles 14:11 and pray in such a manner that you recognize the power available to answering your prayers – it is a shot of spiritual adrenalin 2 Chronicles 14:11 (ESV)  ^…“O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

I really am filled with practical inspiration when I personalize my Scripture prayers…O Lord, there is none like you to help me, between the mighty and the weak.  Help me, O Lord my God, for I rely on You, and in your name I have come…O Lord you are my God; let no one prevail against you…

I want to share two more Scriptures which lift me up and encourage me to be a praying woman but before I do, just a reminder:  We are able to talk to God about anything…our hopes, fears, desires, and struggles. We do not have to be afraid to pray because we think our prayers might be selfish nor do we need to pray less because we are afraid God will not answer. Our prayer relationship with God is not based on our deserving it nor on our ability to pray; our prayer relationship with God is based on His Grace received through the gracious work of Christ in our lives and on His Power, not ours for sure!

Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)
²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Jesus assures us,as He did to His disciples, that He continues to delight in showing us His Grace:  John 16:24 (NIV) …Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

I want to close these prayer reflections with four cardinal rules of prayer written by Brennan Manning which I copied years ago:

1. The most important is: one learns to pray by praying. What is crucial is that we are really on the journey, not just thinking about the journey or reading or talking about it.

2. Pray as you can; don't pray as you can't.

3. Don't just pray when you feel like it. Showing up and shutting up is a discipline. Each day that rests on the twin pillars of the morning and evening prayer is a step on the journey from belief to experience, from theory to reality.

4. When a man or woman has an intense desire to grab aholt of God, they move and act, they respond and pray. Without that hunger, they are dilettantes playing spiritual games. If the intense desire is lacking, fall on your knees to the God you half-believe in and beg for the gift. As the late Rabbi Abraham Heschel remarked, "God is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance."

Reflect on these prayer thoughts yes, but most importantly PRAY WITH FERVOR AND ZEST!!!

Joyfully,

Yvonne