Even before You Ask

How often do you feel you need to lay out all the details before God in prayer? Maybe it is that you need to cover every angle so that God really understands your particular request. Might it be that you fear God just "won't get it."

When Jesus was talking about prayer to his disciples, to told them that they did not need to heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do. (Matthew 6:7) Jesus said, "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

Amazing, that God knows what we need even before we ask! We have an all-knowing God who deserves to be praised not only for this high knowledge, but also because of the heavenly concern for us as sinful beings to even want to listen to us.

Here's the point. We don't have to lay out every detail before God and worry about whether or not we have said it right. God knows the very depths of our being and for what it is that we are asking. Our few words of prayer can have great meaning.

When Jesus spoke to his disciples about their heavenly Father knowing even before they ask, Jesus immediately gave them a model prayer to use in what we know as the "Lord's Prayer." Surely, you can use this prayer if you do not know what to say.

However, we ought to feel encouraged that our requests with as little words as possible are known to God!

Praying the Psalms

You may have noticed that for many weeks, I have been using references from the Psalms. What is special about them is that they are Scripture where we learn about people speaking to God rather than God speaking to us.

As we scan through the psalter we find a rich treasure of how people have expressed themselves to God. We find the whole range of emotions - fear, anger, guilt, anxiety. We also find the many desires that people many centuries ago were willing to express to God.

We even find that Jesus prayed the psalms. While on the cross he quoted from Psalm 22. He may even have prayed the entire psalm.

When you are at a loss for words or want to deepen your prayer life, I would encourage you to turn to the psalms. You will find people who have faced the same feelings and emotions as you have.

Someone Else Is Praying - Part II

Last week I wrote about the person of Jesus praying for us. We know that in heaven our prayers are put before our very Creator by the Son of God.

There is yet more praying going on in heaven for us. The apostle Paul wrote these words: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes^* with sighs too deep for words." Romans 8:26

Even when we feel that we are at the end of our rope in praying, even when we feel that we don't know how to put our request into words, the Holy Spirit steps in to intercede on our behalf. The Spirit communicates in a way that we would not understand, yet is known to God.

I find it marvelous how the Holy Trinity comes into play in terms of praying. Imagine thousands, even millions of people throughout our world praying for one particular thing. That is not all. We are even given a boost knowing that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are there helping us along.

The next time that you bring a request before God; know that it is not just your own words - it is not just a human endeavor; but in the heavenly court, your request is known and communicated to God!

Someone Else Is Praying - Part 1

When it comes to prayer, one can think of the myriad of prayers being offered in worship and also during the week in various places wherever people of faith feel the need to speak to God. Imagine that there is a continual "live streaming" of prayer to our heavenly God!

Now, one might ask: Are there prayers being offered to God beyond us mere mortals? It is comforting to know that there is!

Amid all of the prayers from human beings, the Bible tells us that there are also prayers from Jesus himself being offered up to God. In the New Testament we read: "Consequently he is able for all time to save^* those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25

Jesus is praying for us! That ought to mean a lot to us. The one who shared our humanness, the one who prayed in his own life here on earth, now prays in heaven for you and me. The next time you feel alone, you can know that there is more power, more concern, than what you could ever imagine. There are prayers by the Son of God being spoken on your behalf.

Waiting with Watchful Eyes

I conclude my references to Psalm 130 with the words: "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. " Psalm 130: 5-6

At the beginning of the psalm, the psalmist had cried out to God in the depths of his being. There are times when this strong feeling is needed. We might even feel that our relationship to God is being called into question - let alone God still being with us.

Then, as this psalm ends, we discover the confidence that the psalmist has. He uses the analogy of a watchman on the tower of the city's walls. The watchman longs for the sunrise and daybreak to come. It is with the same intensity that the psalmist longs for an answer to come to his prayer.

Are you willing to wait with the same intensity when you pray? Are you continually on the lookout to where God might show up? This intense waiting signals your confidence in God to come through for you.

Praying under Forgiveness

I continue this week in looking at Psalm 130, in which the psalmist is crying out to God from the depths of one's being.

Today, I focus on the words "If you, Lord should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared." vs. 3 & 4.

In praying, the psalmist acknowledges his own sinfulness. He will not attempt to put up any kind of false front before God. The acknowledgment also recognizes the despair that this confession can bring. However, in the same breath, the psalmist acknowledges the overflowing goodness of God that comes in forgiveness.

What is your posture in prayer? Can you also come to God with the same humility? It's easy to feel that maybe we are worthy of receiving for what we have asked. I believe that confessing our own unworthiness, that everything we ask for comes as gift from God's grace, puts us in a different mode. It puts us in a receiving mode where we will stand ready to accept and appreciate everything that God might include in answering our prayer.

It's okay to acknowledge your sin, you, too, can live in the strength and blessing of forgiveness.

Crying from the Depths of Your Being

For this week and the next two weeks I will be using Psalm 130 as the basis of my meditations here. This psalm is the one appointed for our reading in church on this coming Sunday.

The psalmist begins: "Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! Lord, hear my voice!" vs. 1-2

Have you ever had the occasion where you were really desperate and felt the gravity of your condition, so much that you could not help but cry out to God?

Such was the situation with Israel being in Babylonian captivity. All seemed to be lost. The Babylonians had captured Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, killed many of the residents, and transported the rest into exile. What hope did these people of God have, knowing that they lost their homeland, the very place that God had promised to them? The prophet Ezekiel has a vision of dry bones that come back to life! There was hope with God amid the despair of the situation.

I wonder, too, about us. Can we still have the desire to cry out to God when our circumstances look as if there is no hope in sight? I believe we have to consider whether or not we must we base our hope on human power alone. If we do believe in God's infinite power AND love then we can place our trust in God and pray to God from the very depths of our being.

Don't be afraid to you. God can hear you, will accept you, and can transform your life.