WHAT PRAYER IS NOT
Prayer is not a project. It is a partnership when I who know nothing connect with the One Who knows everything. And what a partnership it is. The Great God Who created the world and everything that is in it (including me) tells me to come before His Throne, which is called grace, to receive what He has for me. I think that is a pretty big deal. How about you?
God Who is this partner of mine has all the wisdom in the world to direct me in my prayer. When I allow His wisdom to guide me, my prayers are ones coming from a position of trust. I trust Him to do what only He can do. He knows the end from the beginning and what is in the middle. Therefore, He is the One Who should be allowed to take care of any situation in my life. All I have to do is ask or pray. Prayer is wonderful because it is all about “talking it over” with God. He’ll take it from there.
Here is the way it works. In this partnership with God I do the asking and He does the “doing.” This is the place where the problems start for most of us. We want to do both the asking and the directing of how to fulfill the asking. Why? Many times our prayers are prayers of desperation, crying out to God to “do something.” We tell Him that if He doesn’t do something, we are going down for the third time with no lifeboat. We are desperate. Desperation produces frantic grasping for any solution we can find. Then we try to fix the problem on our own and make a really big mess of everything.
In my life I have found that one of the greatest solutions to desperation prayers is a life of prayer. In other words, talk often with God during the day about feelings, situations, relationships, challenges, concerns, disappointments, discouragements, joys, delights, beautiful and lovely moments. He loves to hear our voices. He loves to be with us. He loves us.
Yes, the Great God Who created the universe is the same God Who loves us, Who is our Papa God. He tells us to come before His Throne of Grace. His Throne is His place of meeting with us. It is not His office. It is home to us. It is a place of grace. Grace—-so many people are now teaching on grace. Thank God for grace, which is God’s ability given to us to succeed in living this life here on earth. It is His love extended to us. It is a love which we do not deserve, but which we get. It is Love Who is God, Who is the greatest power in the universe. Grace is God’s love, which is His power, which is His ability, freely given to us to live the abundant life now.
God’s abundant life is not reserved for us when we all get to heaven. His abundant life (zoe) starts right here, in the world in which we live. We as God’s children have everything that is His. People of the world don’t have all this abundant life. Oh, for a moment of time they may look like they do have everything, but it is temporary, subject to change at a moment’s notice. The peace of God is not theirs.
Today, purpose to consistently talk with God about everything, the little, the big, the insignificant, the important. Unlike people, God enjoys talking with you about all things. Nothing is ever too insignificant for Him to listen.