On Prayer

What is prayer? Almost everyone has some idea of what prayer is. It is as commonly known as eating or drinking. But I do not want a common definition of prayer, I want God's definition. I would like to know how our Creator wants us to pray and what we should pray for. I want to know the practical, daily implications that prayer has on my life and the lives of others. But before I consider the how and the what, I must know how the Creator defines prayer. God help me.

With those last three words I begin this inquiry with a prayer. Like other forms of communication, it transmitted a message, in this case a request for help. It involved two or more parties which is what makes it a communication. Unlike other forms of communication, it is not between two creatures, but between a creature and his creator. I just asked the God of the universe for help. Why? Because I believe that God will not only hear my prayer but respond in a favorable way. There are many reasons I believe this but ultimately it is the result of a conviction that the Bible is God's authentic Word and therefore is absolutely true and trustworthy.

I know that God hears and responds to prayer because God's word is full of examples of ordinary men who prayed with extraordinary results. Elijah prayed and saw dramatic changes in weather patterns. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain” (James 5:17-18) Joshua prayed and saw the cosmic suspension of the natural order of our solar system. "Joshua spoke to the Lord...'O sun, stand still'...the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day" (Joshua 10:12-14) Moses prayed and saw an entire nation saved from destruction. "Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, 'O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people...Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people'...So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.” (Exodus 32:11-14)

The testimony of the Bible is clear: people pray and the world is changed. Why does God answer prayer? “His sovereignty rules over all” (Psalm 103:19) and He“works all things after the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11). If God runs the world and is always in control, how do our prayers matter? The only way our prayers can bring about actual change in God's world is if He is executing His plans through the prayers of people. As far as we know, this is a uniquely human privilege, for nothing else in creation is known to pray. The implications of this reality are incredible: Prayer is an invitation from God to participate with Him in His sovereign plans. What a testimony to the grace of God! How amazing it is that He would give creatures like us a role in bringing about His eternal, unchanging purposes.

The testimony of the Bible is also that God does not need anything, including prayer, because He created all things. "He [is not] served by human hands, as though He needed anything" (Acts 17:25) So why did God create us to pray? One reason God created prayer is because He delights in prayer. “The prayer of the upright is [God's] delight” and "the Lord takes pleasure in His people" (Proverbs 15:8, Psalm 149:4) God delights in prayer because He delights in His people. The implications of this reality are also incredible: Prayer is a means of bringing joy to God. What a testimony to the love of God! What is thrilling thought it is that God would choose to find pleasure in our prayers.

Not only does God find pleasure in His people and their prayers, He also commands that we“delight [ourselves] in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4). One of the ways we do this is through prayer. The Lord Jesus made this clear when He held out the promise of joy to His people who pray in His name: “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full” (John 16:24). God wants us to bring our needs before Him in Jesus' name so that we will delight in God and His Son as He meets our needs. As we depend on God to meet every need, we draw near to Him in prayer and find the giver of every good gift to be the greatest joy of all. “In [His] presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). The implications of this reality are crucial for every hungry heart: Prayer is a means of bringing joy to God's people. What a testimony to the Fatherly affection of God! What father does not delight to see his child happy in healthy ways? If we earthly fathers, being sinful as we are, delight in our children's happiness, how much more does our heavenly Father delight to see His children find joy in Him?

Finally, the Bible testifies that prayer, like all other human abilities, is intended to bring glory and honor to God. “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31) The commandment to do all things to the glory of God certainly applies to prayer! How does prayer glorify God? The Lord describes how it works in Psalm 50:15:“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.” Prayer creates worship and gratitude in God's people as He answers our prayers and meets our needs. When someone needs help, it is the one who satisfies the need who is honored. Just as a fire victim honors the fireman who pulled him out of the burning building, and a starving mother thanks the charitable hands that fed her family, so we bring glory to God when we receive from Him and worship Him as our provider. As creatures made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), our greatest purpose in life is to bring glory to God. And prayer is a means of bringing glory to God. If we care at all about living life the way our Maker intended us to, we must care about prayer.

So what is prayer? Prayer is an invitation from God to participate with Him in His sovereign plans. Prayer is a means of bringing joy to God. Prayer is a means of bringing joy to God's people. And above all, prayer is a means of bringing glory to God. Prayer as defined in the Bible is many things more than this, but it is not less. It can be life-changing to know how God defines prayer and how He promises to hear our prayers. It is just as important, however, to know that there are prayers which God promises not to hear.

For instance, He will not hear the prayers of people whose sin has separated them from God. The Lord warns in Isaiah 59:2 “your iniquities [sins] have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” I believe God hears my prayers, yet I am a sinner and the Bible says that God does not hear the prayers of sinners. How is it possible then that God hears my prayers? I believe that God hears my prayers, though I am a sinner, because Jesus Christ the righteous one took all of my sins upon Himself and gave me His perfect righteousness. “[God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) “As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our [sins] from us.” (Psalm 103:12) The confidence that God will hear our prayers comes from the confidence that God has removed our sins from us through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. This is why we are told in Ephesians 3:12 that “we have boldness and confident access [to God] through faith in [Jesus]”.

If we have peace with God through faith in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross, we have every reason to believe that God will hear our prayers. If we do not have peace with God, we have little reason to believe that God will hear our prayers. There is one prayer, however, that God will always answer no matter who you are or how sinful you are. It is the prayer that calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus for salvation. “For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13) “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

A prayer that calls on the name of the Lord Jesus is the most important prayer that could ever be prayed. Like a hungry baby's cry to her mother brings milk, and a drowning man's shout to the lifeguard brings his boat, so a sinner's prayer to Jesus brings God's salvation. It is not just any prayer, however. It is a prayer that calls on the name of Jesus. His name is the entire package of who He is and what He has done. To call upon His name is to see Him for who He is: the only Son of God and Lord of all. To call on His name is to believe in what He did: His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. It says in faith, “because You are who You are, and because You did what You did, save me!” It is a plea for pardon that believes in Jesus. It believes in His power, His mercy and His love. It believes in His ability to save. It is also a sinner's call. It comes only from the one who knows they have sinned against God and need a savior. For only when a baby feels her hunger will she cry out for milk, and only when a man knows he is danger of drowning will he shout for help. And so it is with the sinner's prayer that only when a person understands that they have sinned against their Maker will they call on Jesus as their Savior. Lastly, it is a prayer of surrender. It bows before Jesus as Lord of Lords and receives Him as King of Kings. It surrenders self-authority at the feet of Jesus and says “not my will, but Yours be done”.

That is all a long and drawn out way of saying that calling on the name of the Lord is a sinner's prayer of faith and repentance which appeals to God for salvation on the basis of who Jesus is and what God accomplished on the cross for sinners. God promises in His authentic Word, the Bible, to save everyone who prays like this. Prayer, therefore, has amazingly important implications on every human life, for prayer is the mode of communication by which sinful people may receive God's generous gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ! Prayer as defined in the Bible is many things more than this, but it is not less. Because calling on the Lord is the foundation of a saving relationship with Him, it is the foundation of all other prayers. 

(March 18th, 2013)