Pray Network Forum

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My Problem with Prayer (as it's Performed)

Posted by Rob Griepentrog on December 27, 2016 at 10:21
2016 has been a year where I've prayed for extraordinary prayer within my life, within the Church, and also throughout the entire world.  I've been encouraged as God has shown me people and places where He's answering that prayer.  Yet, I witness many times where prayer is offered quickly, and in a perfunctory manner, that is anything but extraordinary.  In fact, I sometimes find myself deeply desiring to see a new "ordinary" established within the Church, within the lives of many other Christ-followers, and even within my own life.  Here's what I mean...

"Let's say a quick prayer before we..." 

It's a phrase I've been guilty of using, and it's one I frequently hear prior to church meetings, meals, and other activities.  But let's think about what we're really communicating.

1. It gives a "tip of the hat" to God's presence, but nothing more.  We acknowledge God's presence by offering the brief prayer, but it typically goes no further than that. God isn't invited to participate in the time (which, if we're honest, is His to begin with), nor is there any desire for Him to lead or control the time (we want to dictate that ourselves).  Is there any wonder why church often appears to many as a glorified country club?

2. It says, "this is a tradition."  Going along with number 1, the quick prayer often seems to serve as a place holder.  It's something that's done before meals, meetings, or events, that continues a tradition that's gone on for months, meetings, or years past.  Again, God is acknowledged (sometimes barely), but the real desire is to get on to the fellowship, the meeting details, or the meal that we're gathered for.  Should God be dryly acknowledged as a guest, and then promptly forgotten about?  Let's consider our ways!

3. It says, "there's a greater agenda at hand, and we best not waste much time before the 'main event.'"  This is the point that most troubles me.  The short prayer, or at least the way it's presented as such ahead of time (as quoted above), insinuates that God is not to be the center of attention or focus.  Instead, the meeting agenda, the fellowship, or meal is the REAL desire of the gathering, not God Himself.  We turn our hearts towards lesser things, and we think we're better off for doing so. Yikes!  Should God take second or third place to our bellies or our desire to gab?  Should the "fear" of food cooling on our plates really be a consideration or motivation to pray briefly?  Again, let's consider our ways!

Let's me propose some extraordinary ideas.

What would happen if the church business meeting turned into a prayer service among the church leaders?  What if God dictated the meeting agenda?  If the church meeting is yielded to God, and it happens to open with 45+ minutes of prayer, and then concludes with only 10 minutes of meeting details and discussion, could not immeasurably more be accomplished in heaven and on earth, than with a 30 second prayer, 59 1/2 minutes of discussion, arm twisting, and a man-driven agenda?  Let's not fear yielding to God.  He IS a God of order!

What would happen if, during a pre-meal prayer, God was worshiped and sincerely invited into the meal and fellowship time.  What would you say if, during the course of the meal and fellowship, God leads one or more attendees into a place of repentance for their sins?  What would you say if God guides conversations to a point where one or more unsaved family members or guests repent and give their lives to Christ?  The fear of a few tummies growling due to a prayer that extends for more than 15 seconds suddenly seems frivolous as God and His Spirit are invited to lead and take over the fellowship time.

These things sound extraordinary, however I'm not certain that they should.  For a long time, we've treated prayer, and connecting with God's heart, as something for special church gatherings, and not as purposeful, powerful, daily opportunities to witness God work in and through our lives.

To change the quick prayer mindset, we must first seek God to make that change within our hearts and attitudes.  One way is to ask Him to grow our love for others to a place where it's greater than our love for ourselves.  Also, we can ask Him to grow our love for Him to a place where it's greater than our desire to be accepted, liked, seen, or known in front of others.  Lastly, (and there are certainly many more ways to pray about this matter) we can worship God privately, or where two or more are gathered in His name.  God inhabits the praises of His people.  Worshiping God in prayer opens your heart, and the hearts of others, to experience God in deeper and in life-changing ways.  That's where extraordinary begins!

Let's consider our ways, and invest time in prayer. 

God first.  All others follow after Him.

In His grip,

Rob Griepentrog
This blog post is also posted at Pray OnSite

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Prayer Discovers God’s Agenda

Posted by Debbie Przybylski on March 5, 2014 at 15:15

"Every time the Lord faced an important decision, He prayed. When He was being tempted to do things by the world's methods instead of the Father's, He prayed (Matthew 4). When it was time to choose His disciples, He prayed the entire night (Luke 6:12). If the Son of God required a night of prayer in order to determine the Father's mind, how long might it take us in prayer to clearly determine our Father's will?" Henry and Richard Blackaby

Let prayer set the agenda of your life. Many of us often worry about our lives. What should we do next year? Where should we live? What school should we go to? These are all good questions that need careful thought. But if most of us were honest, we would admit that we worry needlessly. It is right to get wise counsel and weigh out the options; however when concern turns into unnecessary anxiety, we are not trusting God, who knows exactly how to handle every situation we face. Life becomes simpler when we learn to seek God for every aspect of our plans. Our times spent in prayer will bring revelation of His agenda for us. We can be confident that in the final analysis, it is God who knows what is best for us and what will give Him the greatest glory.

Prioritizing prayer and letting God set your agenda brings great peace. We lived for five years in Asia and experienced the typhoons that are so common in the Indian Ocean. Primarily they move in circles instead of from east to west or north to south. Before navigators understood their movement, they would try to maneuver out of the storm and often suffered serious destruction in the process. With a better understanding of typhoons, navigators have learned to locate the center of the storm—where it is totally calm—and go there. This is much like prayer and discovering God's agenda. As we pray, we are able to circle in on God's agenda and find the center of His will. In this place, we experience His peace. When we try to get out of His will, we find destruction and chaos. Through prayer and renewing our mind in God's will, we discover God's perfect and pleasing will (Romans 12:2).

We must learn to pray about everything and trust in God’s wisdom, which far surpasses ours.  At times we may sense His direction and feel the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit even though nothing may look logical according to our human perspective. I remember a time when my husband and I began to pray about lengthening our ministry time overseas because we felt God might want us to extend our visit to certain countries. We had already been traveling for two months, we were tired, we had much to do in the U.S., and my father was ill, so an extension needed prayerful consideration. There were other reasons why going home would have been the right choice from a human standpoint. The problem is, often God's viewpoint is different from ours. He sees things far in advance and from His perspective, which far surpasses ours. 

Through prayer, we discovered God's agenda. We sensed His peace in staying longer, even though going home would have been easier and seemed more logical. In this case, we felt we had to go with the leading and peace of the Holy Spirit. The real key for us was prayer and waiting upon God, listening and hearing His voice. 
 
We may not know the full picture of why we were to extend our time overseas, but we do know that we had to take that step of faith that was guided and empowered through prayer in order to do God's very best. We knew that we were in the right place and that when we did return home, we had completed what God had for us. 

God loves to hear us pray with fervency and then listen and step out in faith according to His leading. Perhaps there is something you need to pray over regarding God's plan and purpose in your present circumstances. Praying through every decision, listening to His voice, and leaning upon His wisdom will enable you to determine His agenda. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Guidelines to Hear God's Voice in Prayer

"But as for me, I will look to the Lord and confident in Him I will keep watch; I will wait with hope and expectancy for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7, Amplified).

How can we hear God when we pray? Here are some guidelines to help you hear His voice as you seek Him in prayer:

  • Bathe your life in prayer - Pray about all the decisions in your life daily. Ask Him for direction so that you may fulfill His will for your life for that day. Continually bring major decisions to Him in prayer. Pray, listen, and wait with expectancy. 

  • Believe that God does speak to you - Accept the promise in John 10:27, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." 

  • Find time to be alone with God - Take time to pray and listen. Most of life is very busy, but time with Him is of utmost importance so we can hear from Him. Often the Lord responds with a thought planted by His Spirit into the mind or heart.

  • Keep a journal of what God says - We can better evaluate guidance and see what God is saying when we journal on a regular basis. Journaling helps us to ponder our thoughts and impressions so we can clearly discern the path God wants us to take. 

  • Test what you hear - What we think is God’s voice may come from the Holy Spirit, the enemy, or from our own souls. Ask the Lord to confirm what you think He may be saying. First John 4:1 exhorts us to test the spirits. It's good to seek confirmation from at least two other Christians before taking action, especially on big decisions.

  • Carefully check all guidance with Scripture - God’s Word is truth. What we think God is speaking should line up with Scripture. This is why we should examine everything carefully with the Bible.  

  • Obey God - We must be willing to act on what God has told us. When we obey God, there is blessing. If we still doubt what we think God is saying, it is good to continue to ask Him for confirmation until we sense His peace.

Let's follow these guidelines and practice listening to God. Let's learn to eliminate the distractions in our life.

"Jesus knew that His mission was not to attract a crowd, but to remain obedient to His Father. It was prayer that set the agenda for Jesus' ministry (Luke 6:12). Prayer preceded the miracles (John 11:42-43); prayer brought Him encouragement at critical moments (Luke 9:28-31); prayer enabled Him to go to the cross (Luke 22:41-42); and prayer kept Him there despite excruciating pain (Luke 23:46). Follow the Savior's example, and let your time alone with God, in prayer, set the agenda for your life." Henry and Richard Blackaby


Intercessors Arise News

Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff
deb@intercessorsarise.org
www.intercessorsarise.org

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Prayer Format: Fullness

Posted by Reimagine Curator on September 7, 2012 at 22:20

Prayer again last night yielded a 'run' on thoughts geared to FULLNESS.
 
1. Fullness of God and all His attributes.  How exhausting this is to not be able to comprehend all His attributes of their fullness!  And that God is complete in all of them.  A truly mesmerizing, thought provoking, heart searching, mind yielding to how great is our God, the Lord God Almighty.
 
2. Fullness of time - for us time is complete, whether our lifetime, or generations or the whole of time since God stepped out and said, 'Let time begin.'  Fullness of 400 years for Israel to be in Egypt; fullness of 70 years the land had rest while the captives were away at Babylon; fullness of each dispensation of law, grace, church. God has all this in His hands.
 
3.  Fullness of creation - of His people, purpose, and all that is found in the earth that He created; He knows each stone, each water drop, each snow flake, each animal, He knows the fullness of all HIs creation.  In us as His people, He has our fullness in His hand and thoughts, He knows how many hairs we have, how many breaths we take, the intents of our hearts, the actions of our lives, our words, He knows all for all 7 billion souls on the earth.  Thsi is the fullness of God's omnipresence, and omnipotence.
 
4.  Fullness of Your ways, O God - complete, perfect in all fullness for His glory.  Consider again attributes and aspects of who He is.  Fullness in holy, perfection, entire in all ways of salvation, redemption, santicfication, justification, glorificeation.  
 
5.  Fullness of being filled with the Spirit - 'Be ye not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit of God.'  And they souls in the upper room were filled on the day of Pentecost.  It is necessary and needful for us to understand this, seek for it, find it and walk with Him in it.
 
6.  Fullness of the cup of wrath - each sin, each actions taken by men against God, puts another drop of indignation in the cup of His wrath.  And when that cup is full, He pours His retribution upon the souls of the wicked.  I often think while I am in prayer, that if the sin of a nation, people, family, or myself, or His church, puts drops into the cup; how much our prayers and intercession take drops out as we seek His mercy, forgiveness and cleansing.  But if no souls are seeking His forgiveness, then no drops are taken out, and it fills up that much faster.  You think your prayers of confession have no merit?   Think again, on the cup of wrath and what happens when it is full.
 
7.  Fullness of the earth - filled with His glory; Glorify Thy Name in all the earth.  Every aspect, as in the creation emphasis, we see that this earth is the Lord's and the fullnes thereof.
 
until,
dan biser

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