Prayer

Structure and Spontaneity in Prayer

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One of the biggest challenges with regard to prayer is to develop a frequent, extended time of prayer that is at the same time energizing and sustainable over the long haul. Since prayer is the means by which we communicate with God, who is our creator and the lover of our souls, why should it not be so? I am of the strong conviction that indeed it can be so and is in fact our rightful inheritance as children of God.

But how is it possible? The secret lies in utilizing and blending two seemingly incongruous approaches to prayer – structure and spontaneity. I share this out of my own experiences in the trenches of prayer and the observation of the experience of many others. But most importantly a strong case can be made from both a Biblical perspective and common historical practice that developing a vibrant and sustainable prayer life depends upon striking a balance between structure and spontaneity.

But before I delve into the practicalities of how to do that let me define the terms I have chosen to describe the kind of prayer life I believe God intends for each of us to have. In the opening sentence I described the ideal prayer life with four words: frequent, extended, energizing and sustainable.

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The Genesis of Prayer

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Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD. Genesis 4:26 (NIV)

Enosh was the grandson of Adam and Eve. His dad Seth gave him a unique name meaning “human being.” It seems an appropriate moniker for a baby born into a world two generations removed from a life in paradise; where his grandparents once had face to face communion with God and walked with Him in the garden.

The world outside of paradise was one in which the curse of the sin of Adam and Eve inflicted creation with pain from childbirth, laborious toil for a livelihood, relationship conflicts and inevitable death. The frailty and hardship of the sin-flawed human condition seems sufficient reason for Seth, a first generation exile, to name his child “human being” and for the inhabitants of earth at that time to begin “calling upon the name of the Lord.” Therefore it stands to reason that a creation willing to acknowledge its brokenness would naturally turn to the one who created it all. And so viola, prayer is introduced into the world for the first time!

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Waiting on the Lord

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Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. Psalm 27:14 KJV
One of the most challenging and perplexing aspects of prayer is the period of time between the request and the answer. That phase is commonly referred to as waiting on the Lord. When prayers are answered quickly, the waiting period is brief and buoyed by an expectant satisfaction and relief in having made the request. But when the answer lingers and the waiting period begins to slowly drag on, waves of doubt and impatience gather strength as they buffet the heart of the pray-er. It could be said that waiting on the Lord is the test between the request and God’s best.
This critical time of waiting on the Lord is often characterized by confusion and weariness. And yet it is in this waiting process, which God purposely allows, that prayer does its deepest, most beneficial work in the heart of the pray-er. As much as we would like to avoid it, it is the necessary path God provides to purify our desires and prepare us to move from promise to fulfillment.
It is understandable therefore that there are many scriptures extolling the virtues of waiting on the Lord. Waiting upon the Lord and hoping in the Lord are frequently linked and sometimes even used interchangeably. “We wait in hope for the Lord,” the psalmist tells us “he is our help and our shield.” (Psalm 33:20 NIV) “Praise awaits you, our God.” (Psalm 65:1 NIV) And “I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5 NIV)
In the waiting process hope in God’s character and His word is like the oxygen that keeps us breathing words of praise while we wait for God to answer. We can see therefore how critical it is in waiting for God to answer our prayers to maintain a lifeline to hope by reminding ourselves of God’s past faithfulness and many promises.

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The Throne of Grace

Overcoming, Prayer, Uncategorized /

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16 ESV)

One of the most attractive, unadulterated and treasured words in the English language is the word GRACE. It connotes a wide variety of desirable attributes ranging from beauty, elegance, refinement, dignity and ease . . . to kindness, forbearance, responsiveness, mercy and compassion. To be a recipient of grace and graciousness is often a disarming, deeply impressionable and even transformative experience. Gracious actions by gracious people have a way of overwhelming us because graciousness is often undeserved and unexpected.

Grace takes on an even more transcendent meaning when understood in the context of the Christian faith. It is a word that is used over 170 times in the New Testament in a wide variety of applications but most importantly it is the term used to communicate God’s free gift of salvation and all its accompanying blessings that come to us through faith in Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:8)

In order to really understand grace and thereby experience it in its fullness, we must always start at the place from which grace proceeds – the throne of grace. The very phrase “throne” of “grace” seems strangely incongruous in marrying/linking two such seemingly opposing ideas of absolute authority and sympathetic compassion. And yet the writer to the Hebrews, in the context of his explanation of how Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Old Testament covenant in order to establish a new covenant, beckons us to that throne of grace with these words: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV)

The key to comprehending the magnitude of this grace that flows from this throne is found in discovering more about the one who sits upon this throne.

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