Prayer!

I’ve been trying to find a podcast of the programme in order to acquire all of the relevant details – but have been unable to source it! However, I was going to collect my wife and, as I switched on the ignition in the car, the radio came on, and a lady was saying something along the lines of “I don’t really believe in God, or prayer, but I said, ‘God, if You’re there, I want to transfer a thought’”!!

It used to be said, in reference to the battle-fields of WWI, that “There are no atheists in a fox-hole”. That may, or may not, be true, but I find it interesting that there are so many ‘unbelievers’ who turn to the God Whose existence they deny, in moments of extremity! It has also been said that the most sincere prayer can be, “God, help me!”.

But is that all that prayer is? Is it nothing more than a red button marked “For Emergency Use Only”; merely the transference of a thought? Or is it something much more meaningful and precious? From a Christian perspective, the answer is that it is the latter! Certainly, it was something that Jesus Himself did often; and I always think it very interesting that the early disciples – even the ‘inner band’ – are nowhere recorded as having asked the Master for some guidelines to sermon preparation, or a master-class in the miraculous. The one recorded request is “Lord, teach us to pray”! (Luke 11:1) – a request that led to the mis-named ‘Lord’s Prayer’, that is, in fact, the disciples’ prayer: and it is a model to follow, not a set of words to be slavishly parroted in every gathering of a congregation or fellowship!

However, even among professed believers in the Lord, Jesus Christ, prayer can be little more than a shopping list of, albeit commendable, requests. But real prayer is much more than that. I find the old acronym to be helpful.

Prayer starts with Adoration. This is when I tell the Lord how wonderful He is; when I acknowledge His holiness and power; when I recognise His many attributes. Now this isn’t because, as some sceptics would pronounce, God ‘needs’ my adulation. He is totally self-sufficient and does not ‘need’ anything that I can bring to Him. However, He does want me to recognise Him for Who He is – and to vocalise that understanding in prayer.

The next stage follows on quite naturally. As I recognise God’s holiness, and His perfection, I am made very aware of my own sinfulness. This means that I have to involve myself in some Confession – again, not as much for His benefit (He already knows me through and through!), as for my own: making me face up to the real me that is often kept well hidden from others!

However, I can also claim the promise that “…if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.” (I Jn.1:9), and this causes me to express my sincere Thankfulness.

Finally, I may bring my requests before Him in Supplication.

Adoration; Confession; Thanksgiving; Supplication. ACTS – it’s the sort of praying that, when done sincerely, really works (see James 5:16). Let us pray!