“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” These words of the Apostle Paul (Philippians 4:6) remind us of the great privilege God has given us through prayer. When you think about who God is, and remember who we are, that we are even allowed to pray is a tremendous gift from God! How amazing that the Lord of the Universe would grant prior approval for all His subjects to seek His ear, to bring their needs and joys, their sorrows and their praises, to Him. We don’t need to be scheduled or screened or pay a fee to be able to talk to our King. Just because we are in relationship He gives us free and constant access. What an amazing privilege this is! That is what Paul is reminding us in this passage.
But what Paul doesn’t do (nor do any other Biblical writer or speaker including Jesus) is explain the mysteries or guidelines for how prayer “works”. And isn’t that where most of us get confused? Don’t we all want to have a better understanding of prayer so that this part of our Christian life can be more effective? And maybe that is why we aren’t given the very information we seek. For if we knew how prayer “worked” would we reduce it to a meaningless task seeking “results”? Instead it seems that what is offered to us through what we call prayer is a chance to communicate to and build relationship with God Himself. Maybe the point of prayer is intentionally vague so that we will seek God first, and then trust to see what answer is given out of that deepening and growing relationship.
So we pray, while not fully understanding everything about it. So we pray, says Philip Yancey, precisely because Jesus did. So we pray, growing closer to the God who desires more than anything that we see Him as Father, not just Dispenser-of-Wishes.
And all of that is about our private prayer life. But what of public prayer? What of being the Body of Christ and sharing our prayer concerns and praises with the rest of the church? First, we encourage your use of the E-prayer through the office, or the phone prayer chain, or the Friendship/Decision cards available in the pew racks. Second, all our study and fellowship groups are appropriate places for prayer. In relationship with each other through Christ we join together in agreement to take our petitions to the throne of Heaven.
But what of corporate worship? This is more difficult due to the size and purpose of the gathering. It seems to me that the place of prayer in corporate worship is for the worshiper to humbly bow before God and to seek a willingness to be molded and changed; that is, the point of prayer in a setting of worship is not to talk, but to listen! That is why we have sought to make the formal prayer time in our worship service be about our connection to God and each other, on how we can be more open to hearing what He is trying to tell us through His Word, and on being more externally focused on our mission to the world. We believe that God is speaking if we’ll just take the time to listen.
However, there are still needs of the Body that can be shared. To provide for that sharing we have placed a Prayer Board in the foyer next to the mailboxes. Also provided are “prayer notes” where you can write out your prayer request or praise and place them on the board for others to see during the week and join you in prayer. Each week on Tuesday the staff will pray about these during our morning staff meeting. Periodically the notes will be removed as appropriate to the request.
Please use this Prayer Board so that your “prayer and petition” can be shared with the rest of the congregation. Check out the prayer requests posted so that you can join in agreement before our Father. See if God would use you in meeting a need or responding in ministry to one of your fellow believers.
Jesus didn’t fully explain how God responds when His children pray, but He did give us this promise: “If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19). Let us pray!
