This is the first in a series of Bible studies on prayer and how to prayer effectively. In the series we will look at the basics of what prayer is and what its function is in the life of a Christian, then look more specifically at how to pray, what to pray for and what not to pray for, why some prayers don't seem to get answered and how to make all your prayers effective. So let's start the ball rolling with: WHAT IS PRAYER?
Background scripture reading: Matthew: 6: 6 to 21
Very simply, prayer is a person's communication with God. Just as there are different ways of comunicating with people there are also different ways of communicating with God that, by the definition we have just stated, are all prayer. We can think thoughts, we can speak words, we can write down the secrets of our heart in a diary. If they are directed towards God for him to hear or see and understand, then they are all prayer.
The spoken prayer: Traditionally we think of prayer as speaking words out loud whilst we have our eyes closed, often with our hands together. Let's address that one first. The practice of closing the eyes and placing hands together was introduced some centurues ago to help people concentrate on what they were doing and to not get distracted by things around them that they could see or touch. Try closing your eyes and placing your hands together and you will find it has a definite immobilising effect. All you need to do is block your ears and nose and you are totally cut off from your environment. So is it necessary to close your eyes (and put your hands together for that matter) when we pray? There's no rule that says you should. It is not necessary that you do, but it all comes back to how easily you as the prayer are distracted by things around you. I myself can shut everything out and carry on a conversation with God (prayer) when I'm out shopping or driving my car for example, and that's not the ideal situation in which to have your eyes closed and hands together. If you are easily distracted by what's happening around you, then shut your eyes to pray. If it helps you concentrate better, do it. It's your choice, do whatever works best for you. I know some people who don't feel as though they have really prayed unless they have closed their eyes and spoken a series of words starting with "Dear Heavenly father" and finishing with "Amen". That isn't so, however if that's how you are and if it doesn't feel to you as though you've prayed unless you've done it that way, they go ahead and pray that way, just don't criticise anyone else for not praying if they pray differently to you.
Now let's look at the other forms of prayer.
The writren prayer: Is writing down how you feel, either in letter form, or a diary or even poetry, really prayer? According to our definition of prayer it is. If your reason for picking up a pen and expressing on paper what is in our hearts is to communicate to God, then yes, you have prayed. Many of the Psalms are in fact written prayers, often by King David (Psalm 3 to 10, 12, 13, etc). What about a prayer book? Prayers were first written many years ago when it was believed by the churches of the day that their ministers were the only ones who had any sort of revelation of God and therefore were the only ones capable of conceiving what to pray for and how to pray it. The traditional churches have retained prayer books and have expanded the prayers in them so as to cover every possible situation or circumstance. Unless they are prayers to Mary (who has no more power to answer our prayers than we do, so prayers to her are pointless), prayers in prayer books are fine for us to pray, especially if we have difficulty articulating our thoughts, feelings and desires to God. Having said that, I also believe we should develop such a relationship with God so that we not only don't need a book to show us how to communicate with Him, it woul become totally appropriate to communicate with Him in that way. I wonder how I as a parent would feel if, every time one of my sons spoke to me, he read what he wanted to say to me out of a book written by someone else, often in parrot fashion. If that was the only way my sons were able to communicate with me, I'd think there was something drastically wrong with our relationship and I'd be right.
The "thought" prayer: God hears thoughts just as well as he hears the spoken word, so provided they are directed towards him in a direct conversation and are not just "thoughts" as in the normal thought processes of the mind, they yes, they are prayers. Sometimes when you want a quick chat with God or to pass something by him or for a quick request for encouragement, it's not convenient or appropriate to close your eyes and say a prayer or to pull out your diary and start writing (like when you are driving a car or about to walk into an examination room). In those circumstances, the opportunity to pray is still there, just via a different method. God's not going to say "You didn't close your eyes so I'm going to ignore that prayer". The bottom line is, any means of you have, provided it communicates with God and expresses something you wish Him to know, is prayer and God hears it.
Why do Christians need to pray?
Because God is our father: Remembering that prayer is communication between us and God, let's look at our relationship with him in a natural sense first before looking at the spiritual. Remembering that God is our father and we are his children, the reason why Christians need to pray is like the same reason why a child needs to talk to their parent(s). Now I have two sons and when they needed some money for something for school, they'd come and ask for it. If it was for something legitimate, I'd give it to them. If they didn't ask, they didn't get any. As they were growing up they'd ask me all sorts of things as part of their growth, development and acquisition of knowledge. They asked me because I was older, I was wiser, and I was supposed to know these things. The reason they asked me and not our next door neighbour is because I was their father. They were part of my family, they were attached to me and it was my responsibility to look after them and their right as my sons to take advantage of the advice, care and attention I wanted to give them. God is your Heavenly father. He is older, He is wiser, and He knows these things (Proverbs: 4:1 to 13). You are part of His family, you are attached to Him and it is His responsibility to look after you (Luke 18: 1 to 8) and your right as my His child to take advantage of the advice, care and attention He wants to give you (Matthew 7: 1 to 12). To ask and receive from Him is part of your growth, development and acquisition of knowledge (James 1:4 to 7). We communicate with our father in this way through prayer.
Because God is our navigator: When I was younger, I used to go rally driving. The two greatest assets a rally driver can have is a good car and a good navigator. The best thing about a good navigator is that he knows the way because he's already been there. Before every rally, my navigator would drive down the route himself and spend hours pouring over the map to become familiar with every bend, turn, side road, hill and creekbed I would encounter. So when it came to the rally, all I had to do was drive. I didn't always know where I was going but he did and that was all that mattered. I concentrated on the driving while he concentrated on where we were going. But in order for us to work as a team, He had to be confident that when he told me to turn somewhere I was going to listen to him and not argue with him as to whether or not he knew what he was talking about, and I had to be comfortable enough to ask questions as to where to go next. We made a great team because we learnt to communicate. He could be the best navigator in the world, I could be the best driver driving the best rally car ever made, but if we couldn't or didn't communicate, we'd having no chance of finishing let along winning a rally.
What's the point of having a navigator sitting alongside you if you are not going to tap into his knowledge and seek his advice on the next leg of the journey? God knows where you are going even when you don't. He knows the beginning from the end and he's already been where you are going. The more guidance you seek from Him, the more He'll be comfortable in giving it to you (Psalm 37:3 to 7). And how do you do it? Through prayer.
To receive what we need from God: Though God is more will to give than we are to receive, the onus is on us to ask (Matthew 7: 8 to 11; 1 John 3: 22). If we don't ask of God or if we ask with the wrong motive, we probably won't receive (James 4: 2 to 3). Let us not forget that they way we first came to God to receive salvation from him was through prayer and it is through prayer that me must continually come and confess (verbal achknowledgement) our sins to receive both salvation (I John 1:9) and healing (James 5: 16).
To generate spiritual power: We need spiritual power to overcome the spiritual forces arrayed against us (Ephesians 6:18; Luke 21:34 to 36). One means whereby we can generate this spiritual power is prayer (James 5:13 to 18).