Wasted prayer.

Anyone who truly knows me, might be more than a little surprised at the title of this post.   I am always encouraging people to pray and, of course, I pray regularly myself!    

However, there is such a thing as "wasted prayer"!  Indeed, it could be argued that useless, senseless, prayer is one of the greatest dangers in the life of the disciple of Jesus.  What I mean by that is that we constantly ask for things that the Lord, Himself, has already promised in His written Word.  Now, if I have told one of my children that I am going to provide her with some item or other, is it not a waste of time and effort for her to keep coming back to me to ask for it?!   Yet this is what so many of us do with Father God.  Instead of thanking Him for what He has declared He will do, we act as if we don't actually believe His Word.

The Bible is a book that contains thousands of promises.  Each one may be seen as a blank cheque signed by the Saviour Himself!  When you come across one that is directed to the members of His Body, and that meets your particular need, please don't ask God to keep His word - as if He was unwilling, and had to be coerced and urged to do so!  Sometimes I have heard Jesus' parable about the persistent widow (Lk 18: 1-5) used as an example of how we have to "wear God down" with our prayers.  That is, of course, utter nonsense!  The point of the parable is made by Jesus in the following verses.  It is a parable of comparison - if an unwilling judge can, indeed, be "worn down" by the persistency of a poor widow, to grant her her petition, "... will not God vindicate His elect, who cry to Him day and night?" (Luke 18:7).  The unspoken answer is "Of course He will!"

Don't ever ask God to keep His own promises!  If we think about it for a moment, that is really just an insult to His integrity!  Rather, pray according to His will, and praise Him for the blessing that He has already promised to provide, and that you know is on the way!  Perhaps if we were to approach our personal prayer-time like that, there might be less petition - and more adoration!

An example of this may be seen in these familiar words from the book of the prophet Isaiah: "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (Isa 55:10-11).  This, surely, is an unconditional promise that God's Word will never return to Him empty, or unfulfilled.  Yet how often have I stood on a platform, or in a pulpit, and prayed that the Lord would bless His Word as I preach it?!  Hasn't He said He would?  Of course He has - so my prayer before preaching should be one of thanksgiving for that promise!  I may then preach in confidence, and full assurance, that He will fulfil that promise!

Whether it is in a preaching situation before a gathering of people, or in personal evangelism to a friend, workmate, or family member, I may be certain that, if I am faithful in sending forth the truth, I can happily leave the results to Him.  That's one reason why we should study the written Word of God - that we may pray properly, and with full power and assured results.

Someone has said that we need not twist God's arm to remind Him to keep the promises He has made!  Let's cease from "wasted prayer"!

Praying through!

In I Samuel 12:20-25, we read these words the Old Testament prophet to the Children of Israel: "And Samuel said to the people, "Fear not; you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; and do not turn aside after vain things which cannot profit or save, for they are vain. For the Lord will not cast away his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord, and serve him faithfully with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king." (my emphasis).

In that 23^rd verse that I have emboldened, we find God’s verdict on the prayerless life, or the one in which there is a lack of persistence.  Not my verdict; not the verdict of some erudite theologian; not the verdict of any, or all, of the various denominations that make up the church of Jesus Christ; but the verdict of Almighty God, Himself, given in His Word, through His servant.  If we do not pray, we are guilty of sin against Him.

Sometimes folk speak of ‘praying through’ – praying about a situation until it is fully resolved, and we are released by Holy Spirit Himself from having to continue to pray about it.  However, we live in an age of instant action.  I expect to hear of news from the other side of the globe as soon as it happens; I expect my computer to respond instantly to every electronic command that I give it; I’m surrounded by instant this, and instant that – from coffee to microwave meals – things that even a couple of generations ago, were unheard of.  And it seems that, in these days of instant action, some would treat God as a sort of cosmic vending machine – push in the prayer, and out come the goods!  Perhaps we need a reminder that, while instant answers do sometimes come (and that they are not always positive!), there is a process of prayer that requires commitment, dedication, and persistence.

Some of us need to spend more time in prayer – bringing others before God; bringing situations that effect others into the light of His searching gaze; seeking His will and purpose for our own lives – which isn’t necessarily the same as our own desires!   And some of us need to learn that prayer isn’t all one-way – us speaking to God with a shopping list of even laudable requests.  We need to slow down, and learn to wait in His presence, allowing Him to speak to us.  Remember, the Lord didn’t come to Elijah in the wind, or in the earthquake, or in the fire; but in the still, small voice.   It’s often only through such travailing, two-way, prayer – the sort of praying that requires effort, persistence, even pain – that the purposes of God are brought to pass.  

“Unfortunately, many of us are through praying when we need to be praying through” (Trevor Partridge, CWR)