Spiritual Arsenal #5: Prayer

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Why do we pray? Does praying actually change anything? Is prayer merely a psycho-therapeutic aid to calm our anxious spirits?

The fact that I’m including prayer in this series hopefully conveys my belief that prayer is a vital part of our spiritual warfare. When Paul depicts the "whole armor of God" in Eph 6:13-17, he wraps it up with this: "Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me."

What does it mean to pray? For starters, prayer requires you to inquire what God’s true priorities are. You probably understand what it's like to request something from a powerful person, perhaps a boss, principal or community leader. You can't just get whatever you want simply because you request it. If your request doesn't align with the priorities of that powerful person, then your odds of success are slim to none.

Now imagine coming in prayer before the King of all creation with the same mindset. Prayer requires that our passions become transformed into attitudes that line up with God's. The book of James provides an important window into God's priorities: care for widows & orphans (1:27); don't discriminate against the poor (2:1-5); put away envy & selfish ambition (3:14); do the right thing (4:17); pay fair wages to your employees (5:4). James says that you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly; your priorities don't match those of God.

Second, prayer means that you must be open to changing. Richard Foster writes in Celebration of Discipline, "To pray is to change. . . If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives." This is true because prayer is an acknowledgement of your own insufficiency. In prayer, you are turning to God for help with something you can’t manage on your own. James says that you must go through many things in order to attain the wisdom you desire from God. Sufferings test your faith, producing endurance and finally maturity (1:2-8).

Praying to God poses the likelihood of change in you. God desires marriages to be healthy, careers to be productive, the sick to be healed, and communities to thrive. These things often cannot happen, however, unless you recognize your own culpability in the problems for which you seek solutions. People may ask for a cure for their current symptoms, but they actually need deep healing. This is only possible when you are willing to change in conjunction with God's work.

Finally, you pray because you recognize that God is the ultimate change agent. As the Creator and King, God is able to do far more than you can ask or imagine. Of course, God’s actions don't always happen on your exact timeline. If God doesn't give you what you want by Tuesday, that doesn't shed light on God's power. Elijah prayed for healing for Israel. This led to three and a half years of drought. Talk about a long wait! But powerful things happened because of Elijah's prayers, even if not in any apparent hurry (see James 5:13-18). God can do impossible things. God is the ultimate mover and shaker. 

When you make your requests to God, you can rest in the knowledge that you have turned to the right source of help. God is not like the stubborn judge who must be pestered to bring justice. God is not like a begrudging father who gives rocks and scorpions to his children instead of bread and eggs. God is generous and wants you to walk in right paths.

Turning to God for help is always a good idea. Prayer opens the line of communication for speaking to and listening to God. Can we rediscover together what it means to pray? "Lord, teach us to pray."

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