“Prayer is something right at the heart of Christian living, and not something extra added on as a religious duty or a means of getting what we want. Prayer is the means of aligning our will with the will of God, of so communing with Him that we not only know what He wants done but are also open to guidance and responsive in obedience, even at considerable cost.” We need light on the text, wisdom in how to apply it, discernment of the problems, people and circumstances that we meet, and deep spiritual understanding of the reality of the cases we have to deal with – and all of these things, and more, depend on being in tune, and line, with God.

O Soul Are You Weary And Troubled

Perhaps like me, at this time in the year, you’re getting rather jaded. Rest and relaxation is usually ‘what the doctor ordered’. Even more important you need to recharge your batteries and get spiritually refreshed. So, as I blog tonight, I want to encourage you not just to take a time out, but to spend more time with God, to draw closer in your walk.

A Prompt to Closeness

As providence would have it, I’ve just been asked this week to write a short series of four articles on prayer. This is one occasion when I can honestly ask ‘Why me?’. It is true that a closer walk with God has been on my heart for years. Yes it’s been my deep desire for months to devote myself to prayer. I suspect many of us feel mere novices in prayer. I trust that this series will not go directly from head to pen but, en route, will traverse the deep wells of my soul!

Finally Unpacking Book Boxes

About the middle of the week I finally got around to putting up more shelves and unpacking long-boxed books. We moved in the Fall and I’m down to the final thousand or so! As I was transferring some good friends from cardboard onto wood (I wish – it is actually ‘El Cheepo Greeko’ MDF – no offense Athenian brothers and sisters [clearly a childhood Ulster saying]), I happened to put my hand on a book by Denis Lane, of O.M.F., entitled “God’s Powerful Weapon.” Having nearly finished it, the book is nothing special, but in the introduction and opening chapter he makes some helpful comments on prayer in the perfect devotional life of Christ.

Refuting A Prayer Myth

He begins by ‘doing-down’ a false idea on prayer. We must not use this tool to try to bend God’s will to ours. Rather, of course, when we really pray, what we actually find is that our will aligns with God’s. He then divides the New Testament textual witness on prayer into two key principles: the first aspect deals with ‘”our own concept of and personal relationship to God”, and second, “getting something done that affects our circumstances or the lives and circumstances of others.” What then follows both gave me cause to pause and also food for thought!

Note This Interesting Quote!

“The more I study the New Testament, the more I am convinced that the effectiveness of the second kind of praying flows out of the depth of reality in the first kind of praying. Our intercession is directly related to our worship of and communion with God. This means that the effectiveness of our intercession is directly related to our own spiritual life in relation to God and to our own personal prayer life.” Denis Lane continues “Dead prayer meetings may indicate poor relationships with the Father, and poorly attended prayer meetings tell us more about the spiritual quality of the life of a church than do extra chairs out on Sunday.”

Golden Rays of Dawn

‘Well I’ve known all that stuff for years!’ is maybe what you’re thinking. I guess what Lane writes is pretty much ‘old-hat!’ Of course, in the nature of the matter, talk is rather cheap. Yes, I, like you, might like to add a few caveats of my own, to counter any ideas of legalism or meritocracy in prayer. Still, I have to concede, the way Lane put it, gave me a jolt, and was a stimulus to pray. It took on a gracious hue when he wrote about Christ.

“When we look at the life of our Lord, we find these related aspects of prayer perfectly balanced. He was always in perfect communion with His Father, and full of confidence that whatever He asked of the Father He would receive.”

His Relationship With God

John’s Gospel, then, becomes ripe, fruit-picking, fields for prayer principles.

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