There are some Christians, hyper-Calvinists, who believe that it is hardly necessary to pray. These say that everything is in the hands of God and God does what He wants to, no matter what, whether or not we ask for it. There are still others, Arminians, who make themselves a great part in man’s salvation, who believe that almost everything is contingent upon prayer and that God will do very little unless we ask for it to be done.
The rest of us are somewhere in the middle. God will respond to prayer, but is not controlled by our prayer.
The Bible is God's Word. It is His story of His work in bringing rebellious men and women back to Himself. It tells, not of man's seeking a lost God, but of God's seeking lost men. The Bible does not present the art of prayer; it presents the God of prayer, the God who calls before we answer and answers before we call. In the biblical history, prayer was not introduced as a separate spiritual discipline, it came from man's answer to God's address. Prayer, then is talking to God.
Prayer, like all worship, is always a response to God's revelation of Himself and His will. To call upon God's name one must first know His name. It is God who takes the initiative by making His name known. God reveals Himself by His deeds. He also makes His name known directly by His words. In both, God is revealed as personal. In His words He both promises and proclaims His deeds. The wonder of both His words and His deeds evokes the response of adoration.
5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Many silly things have been written about these verses. Some have said that this teaches there is to be no public prayer, but this is foolish because the disciples and Jesus himself prayed publicly. Some have said we are not to pray with others, or have no prayer meeting. This too is foolish, for Jesus and the early church did so.
These verses are but cautionary because of the tendency of men to pray to themselves and to other people rather than to God. The verses teach us that prayer should always be made unto God and to know that God is more ready to answer us, than we are willing to pray to Him.
But aren’t all prayers to God? The answer is all prayers should be, but all prayers, indeed most prayers are not.
Have you ever watched one of those early morning shows when a true tragedy has occurred? After talking to family members that were hit by the calamity, the interviewer will often close by saying, “our thoughts and prayers are with you”. I ask myself are they really? Does that news group get together and pray for these poor folks each morning? I wonder.
I, in no way know another man’s heart. But I can’t help but believe that some times statements like this are said because it sounds good to say this in front of millions of viewers. If this is the case, this is but one time men offer prayers so that other men may hear.
When you pray do you speak to God, or do you say words about God for others to hear? Is it not true that more times than we may want to admit, our thoughts are on our friends and our busy life, our needs and our health than it is on the God whom we approach?
Author R.A. Torrey said “We should never utter one syllable of prayer, either in public or private, until we are definitely conscious that we have come into the presence of God and we are actually praying to him.”
Are you like so many Christians who do not really know what it is to pray TO God? I believe that the psychiatrists are entirely right when they say that much of our prayer life is mere wish-fulfillment, for we often pray merely by reciting things that we would like to see happen. Jesus taught that we are to pray only when we are conscious of being in God’s presence and are truly communing with Him.
But how can a sinner ever pray to a holy God? We can’t. True prayer is prayer offered to God the Father on the basis of death of Christ. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way..
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
What does this mean to us? It means if we approach God as we are, apart from Christ, God would have to turn from us. Did you see the word “holiest” in verse 19? God is holy and unholy man cannot approach a holy God. This means that prayer is for believers only. Pray is not for the atheist. Prayer is not for the good man, that lives a good life and does good things and sees Jesus as only another good man. Prayer is for Christians that believe in the power of Christ’s redeeming blood.
One of the greatest verses on prayer in the Bible is 1 John 3:22
1 John 3:22
22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
What a wonderful promise to be found in prayer. But is this verse by John an overstatement? Are all our prayers answered? No. Torrey asked of this verse. “Are you one of the ‘we’s.’”
Torrey was not just talking about believers here. Do you keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight? Those that do, are the “we’s” found in this verse.
Our prayer is always directed to the triune God. We dare not address the Father without awareness of the Son. To do so would be to fail to pray in the name of Jesus. Nor should we pray without recognizing that the Lord is present to help us, present in the abiding reality of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer to God the Father is not a limitation of our prayer. It does not exclude Christ, but confesses the purpose for which Christ gave his life. The work of the Son is to make us acceptable to the Father through him.
Prayer to the Father exhibits the consciousness of sonship that crowns prayer in Christ. Total submission in prayer, looks to Jesus Christ for Jesus is Lord. When Jesus receives us to Himself and unites us to Himself we are more than delivered from sin, and more than heirs of eternal life. We are brought into a relationship with God the Father that can exist only because Jesus is the divine Son. We are made sons of God.
The lessons of prayer all hinge on this incredible reality of sonship. We bring to the Father the dedication of our new obedience. We recognize his discipline. We seek his
will, his plan, his kingdom. In the urgency of our helpless need, we come to him with
importunity, knowing that our Father will not give us a stone for bread.
The prayer of the believer to the Father shows assurance as well as dependence. We realize that the love of God is all our hope.