Head Dump: Prayer 4

[I am continuing to "dump" thoughts about prayer.]

Prayer needs to fit into other aspects of Christian life.

Luke 7:47. NASB95. “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Unconfessed and unforgiven sin will scare me away from God. Confessed and forgiven sin draws me closer to Him.

I am forgiven much. There is not one of us who has not sinned as greatly as the prostitute that anointed Jesus. (That is, Jesus said that hating a brother or lusting for a neighbor is the same as murder or adultery). As I get to know Jesus better, I come to know more how fallen I am and how much I need Him. As I learn how much I am forgiven, I know and feel the love I have for Him more and more. As I come to love Him more, I want to spend more time with Him, getting to know Him more, talking to Him more.

Prayer does not grow out of obligation. Praying is not a way of racking up points with God. Prayer is fellowship, a conversation with a Brother (or Father) that I deeply love and deeply love to be with.

Galatians 5:1. NASB95. “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”

If prayer is part of love, it also results from, and in, freedom. I talk to the One I love because He has set me free. But I also talk to Him because these conversations also set me free from burdens I carry. I confess sin and repent from it and He sets me free from that sin and its penalty. I carry weighty burdens to Him in prayer: concerns about family, job, friends, politics, health. And He sets me free from the weight of those burdens, even if He does not heal the illness or take care of the problems with work. I talk to Him about the past, growing up, things that have bound my family and me for years, and He sets me free from them.

Romans 14:17. NASB95. “...for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Philippians 4:6,7. NASB95. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Yes, God asks me to pray (without ceasing, as a matter of fact). And the kingdom of God is where God is king. That is, where He rules and is obeyed. If I pray in obedience to His word in the Bible, then I should see “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” in my life. Joy should accompany prayer. Peace should follow prayer.

And, yes, sometimes prayer is just hard work, a habit to be mastered, and a laziness to be overcome. But prayer is also so much more, because it touches Him who is eternal.

Summary:
Prayer grows out of love.
Prayer grows out of freedom.
Prayer results in more freedom.
Prayer results in joy and peace.