Prayer

Prayer in Christianity involves a number of qualities. It involves faith and contrition, it involves understanding, concentration, love, depth and warmth. It is prayer from the heart, not only from the lips.

Prayer isn’t just words but it is a relationship with God. In Christianity, prayer is your heart connecting to God’s heart. It is spiritual relationship because Jesus teaches us in the Bible that we should “worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” Jesus explains further that “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Therefore prayer involves the heart. This is because the heart talks to God through feelings and emotions more than the mouth does with words. Indeed, the heart may be lifted up to God without words – prayer can be without words. Therefore, the sigh of the heart is a prayer before God. The heart’s longing for God is a prayer. Feelings of love towards God are a prayer. The eye’s tears are a prayer. The awe of being in God’s presence is a prayer. It is a combination of feelings that are expressed in heart felt words.

Christians believe that God listens to them when they pray. They trust God because they know that God is good and seeks their well being at all times. They know that they are safe with God. They know that God understands them more than anyone else. So in prayer, let us open our hearts to God, tell him our secrets and explain our weaknesses. He will never turn away from us because God says “the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37). We can pour out our tears before Him and reveal all our feelings. Prayer has been likened to a ladder which connects heaven and earth and a bridge that we cross to reach the heavenly places far from this empty world that will never satisfy us. Through prayer we meet with God and stand in His presence. We enjoy being with Him in intimacy. By opening our hearts to God, He fills the void in us and satisfies us. This is the prayer that satisfies the spirit, as the Psalmist said:“ I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness” (Psalm 63 : 4-5).

It is possible that a prayer doesn’t involve any requests. It may be just giving thanks to God for all that He has given us and for all His goodness towards us and our loved ones. It can simply be praising God. Prayer can be just contemplation on God’s beautiful attributes and life giving qualities. As such, our prayers should involve concentration and understanding where we deeply mean each word we say. By doing this we focus on God, whom we are speaking with and worshiping, so that we say to God, “With my whole heart I have sought You” (Psalm 119:10). In praying this way we will feel that we are in the presence of God. This will help prevent our thoughts from being distracted by worldly cares and fleeting matters. As much as possible let us focus on the awesome and beautiful God who we are praying to. And as we stand or kneel before almighty God let us pray with reverence and respect. The Bible tells us that even Abraham, the “friend of God” and the “father of fathers”, prayed with humbleness and said “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord” (Genesis18:27). Indeed, God Himself shows immense humbleness to listen to our prayers. Out of His great love for humanity and His wish for us to know love, He gladly listens to our prayers.

True prayer is a statement of love. We see this love and sentiment clearly in the Psalms of King David when he says “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You” (Psalm 63:1) and again “I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You” (Psalm 9:1-3). Prayer is the longing of the soul for God and to be Him. It is the longing of the limited to the Unlimited, the longing of the created to his/her Creator and the longing of the soul to its source and to its satisfaction. If you love God, you will pray. And if you pray, your love for God will increase as you meditate on God’s infinite goodness.

A prayer without love isn’t a prayer. Without the involvement of the heart then a prayer is just words because God says in the Holy Bible ““…these people honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me” (Matthew 15:8) and (Isaiah 29:13). In Christianity, a true prayer comes from a loving heart that seeks good for people and seeks what is right. It is a prayer made from a pure heart. This is because the Bible teaches us that “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight” (Proverbs 15:8) and (Proverbs 21:27). God also says to those who pray without a pure heart “When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you, even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.” (Isaiah 1:15-16). Also, the prayer of the proud and judgemental is devoid of love (Luke 18 : 9-14), as is the prayer of the hypocrites who do wrong and then pray just to be seen by people (Matthew 6:5).

Prayer and Repentance

None of us is perfect and so as Christians we need to pray continuously for purity of heart. We need to pray that we may be free of the burden of sin, that may repent of our sins and that we have strength to reject sin and wrongdoing. Let’s pray for repentance because prayer helps us to repent. Let’s not wait to repent before we pray! In prayer, lets open our hearts to God that He may enter and purify us. Let’s pray as King David did and say “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51: 7). Also, let’s pray and say “Restore me, and I will return, because you are the Lord my God.” (Jeremiah 31:18). There is nothing wrong in saying to Him, ‘Lord, I love You but I feel that I love other things in the world which hinder me from You. Whenever I try to remove them from my heart, I find myself weak. Please help me against my sins.” May our prayers express our condition and feelings with open hearts.

Remember that God said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you… I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Therefore let us ask Him in our prayers to fulfil this promise.

The Bible teaches us that God will always accept a repentant person because it says in (Psalm 51:17) “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.” This broken and contrite heart is seen in the prayer of Nehemiah where he cried, fasted and humbled himself before God (Nehemiah 1) and in Peter’s painful tears after he denied the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:75). It is also seen in the prayer of the cheating tax collector who hanged his head in humility and stood reverently before God. He was forgiven even though his prayer was one sentence (Luke 18 : 9-14). The contrite prayer is a prayer that confesses its sins and its unworthiness. It is a prayer that is humble, makes no excuses and dares not ask for anything except God’s mercy. All these people and all those like them in the Bible, who repented and returned to God, were accepted by Him with great love. “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit (Psalm 34:18)

Prayer and Faith

The Lord Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22). By this Christians believe that God answers our prayers with whatever He finds good for us. If one doesn’t have this belief let him or her ask for it in prayer as the apostles said to Jesus “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5) and as one man said to Jesus “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Remember this beautiful promise, “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23). Be confident that faith gives strength to prayer and that prayer strengthens faith.

As Christians we also understand that we may have to wait before God answers our prayers because the Bible says, “Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait I say on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14). We might have to wait a long time before God responds and perhaps He will respond in a way that we didn’t ask for or expect. Yet, Christians are confident that their problems are in God’s honest, strong hands which are capable of guiding all our affairs. You don’t have to face problems on your own, or depend only on your intelligence, or on people to solve your problems. Remember that God is ready to help you with whatever faces you. Remember the teaching of the Bible, “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 understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

When you pray regarding a problem, either God will solve it and so it comes to an end. Otherwise, if the problem remains, God will give your heart peace concerning it. This is the effectiveness of prayer. As King David declares in his psalm, “In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul” (Psalm 138 : 3). The Bible further teaches us to pray with faith and say, “the Lord will perfect that which concerns me” (Psalm 138 : 8).

Pray Without Ceasing

The Bible teaches us that we should “always pray and not give up” (Luke 18: 1). It also tells us to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Christians believe that there is eternal benefit in following the teachings of the Bible. By praying without ceasing, as the Bible teaches, we are always elevated above the materialism of the world to being with God. It is helpful for one to decide on short prayers that suit him or her. These may be verses from the Bible or personal prayers such as “Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me” or “Oh my Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me and help me against my sins” or “I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I bless His name” or any short verse that you make up for yourself as a prayer and that suits your condition and expresses your feelings. These can be prayed as short and repetitive prayers throughout the day or night. They will strengthen you, encourage you, give you peace and give you joy as you go about your life and as you face many different and perhaps difficult situations. They can be prayed continuously to keep you focused on God and to lift your heart up to Him. You can pray as go to work, go into a meeting, as you come home, as you sit with people and as you lay your head down on your pillow. There is a Bible verse for every situation because it is the Word of God.

As part of praying without ceasing, let us always pray for all those who are in need. Also for our relatives, friends and colleagues. Let us also pray for the Church and it’s service to the people, let’s pray for all Christians everywhere. Let’s pray for those who are in need of repentance. Remember that the Holy Bible tells us that, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” (James 5:16). Let’s pray for the sick and for all the world and all people. May we grow to pray even for our enemies, as the Lord Jesus has asked us (Matthew 5:44).

As Christians, we pray together in Church and also have prayer meetings. We also spend time praying our personal prayers at home when we are alone with God. If you feel you haven’t reached a healthy prayer life, don’t stop praying for this reason. Prayer, like any virtue, is one in which progress is made gradually in
order to reach its perfection. Beware that you do not make your prayer just a routine.

As a measurement for the success of prayer, one feels unwilling to stop praying because he or she is enjoying being with God. “I held him and would not let him go.” (Song of Solomon 3:4).

As one grows in the virtue of prayer, prayer becomes a life to him or her and his or her life becomes a prayer…