I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:1-4 KJV
‘This, then, is how you should pray: ‘ “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ”
Matthew 6:9-13 NIVUK
Prayer is really badly misunderstood. Some Christians talk about some people being 'good' at praying. What they really mean is that they are good at praying in public - which is essentially public speaking. Public prayer is as much about encouraging and informing others as it is praying to God. Prayer is not a skill. No-one is 'good' at it. No-one is 'bad' at it. And all those self-help books that tell you how they think you should pray to get God to do what you want? A lot of nonsense. Every one of them.
Do you think the Holy Spirit is good at praying? Well, you would hope He would be, since He's part of the Godhead. But what about this?
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
Romans 8:26 NIVUK
So we look at people who use fancy words and fancy tones when they pray and we say about them that they are good at praying. Well, they can't be better at it than the Holy Spirit, and He doesn't even use words at all!
And then some people try to say to us that there is a 'gift' of prayer or a 'gift' of intercession. We have Prayer Teams and Prayer Meetings and Intercessors. We set people in our church apart to pray for others as if they were some kind of spiritual Special Forces. But, again, there is a massive problem with that. Where, in all of Scripture, do you see a gift of prayer or intercession?
Nowhere.
What's more, the sermon in which Jesus taught us how to pray begins like this:
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.
Matthew 5:1-2 NIVUK
And it ends like this:
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Matthew 7:28-29 NIVUK
Do you see what happened? The crowds came to Jesus, so He withdrew to a mountainside with His disciples and began to teach them. While He was teaching, the crowds seem to have found Him again and started to gather, such that by the end of His sermon, they are amazed at His teaching.
What does this tell us?
That there is nothing secretive or hidden or obscure about how Jesus taught us to pray. It's not for the specially initiated or uniquely qualified or the upper classes. This was not taught in a locked building or a hidden place. It was taught in public. And it was for everyone present.
The prayer itself is remakably short, simple and direct. No flowery language. No long oratorical flourishes. It's beautifully focused and uncompromising. Because this prayer was for everyone. Even fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, con artists and thieves. This prayer is for anyone who prays.
And everyone should pray. It's a vital part of our relationship with God. It's absolutely not the case that 'those who can, do; those who can't, pray'. It's not the preserve of the elderly or the infirm or the chronically shy. It's for everyone. It's how we talk to God.
There is an awesome picture of prayer in Revelation that causes the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end each time I read it:
When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
Revelation 8:1-5 NIVUK
The seventh seal. The final act of the unfolding of God's perfect plan. An ancient ritual involving the offering of incense on a fiery altar. The incense is our prayers (c.f. Revelation 5:8).
And all of Heaven falls silent for half an hour to hear them.
If you read through Revelation, it's a noisy book, filled with loud peals of praise and the deafening din of judgement. Yet for thirty whole minutes, Heaven stands in stillness and silence while our prayers are offered before God.
That alone is spine-tingling.
But what follows is equally awesome. God does not just listen. He also acts. His servant the angel throws fire from the altar to the earth, causing thunder, rumblings, lightning and an earthquake.
This is not just a whisper. This is a deafening yell. God is answering - and in power.
We pray. God hears. God answers.
What better reason could there be to pray?
Questions
'[prayer] is made from a weaker person to a stronger person to get help for something they cannot do.' Do you agree with this? Can you think of a situation where being prepared to be weak and come to God in prayer has made you stronger?
'[The Lord's Prayer] is a communal prayer prayed alone. It is a prayer prayed in isolation for other people and with other people.' How have you prayed for and with other people during your quiet time? How can you do this?
How have the thoughts on the Lord's Prayer and the tremendous verses in Revelation inspired you to deepen your prayer time?
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