The Mystery of Prayer (Part 2)

The Essence of Prayer
On Monday we started to consider together the mystery of prayer. Today, I would like us to go one step further by asking, “So, at it’s heart, what is prayer?” It is many things—worship, praise, thanksgiving, celebration, communion, devotion, making requests. But really that speaks to more about how prayer functions than to addressing  what prayer is. At its heart, prayer is two things:

A. Prayer Acknowledges Dependence-
When we pray, we are admitting that we are not big enough for the challenges of this life. We bow the knee, whether physically or in our hearts and we acknowledge that we are desperately dependent upon the God of heaven—dependent upon His provision, His grace, His power, His understanding. We are declaring in prayer that we are inadequate and God is thoroughly, completely, and eternally adequate. We are clearly stating that we are not enough for this life.

•    Paul wrote, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,” (2 Cor.3:5).
•    Jesus declared, “for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

That gets my attention. We are badly overmatched, and without the resources to “man up” if left to ourselves—even if we think we are superheroes.
The fact is that there is no human level at which any of us are enough for the kinds of things that life throws at us. Our culture applauds the swashbuckling hero who smirks in the face of danger and conquers all with a tip of the hat and a debonair smile. We are called on, even expected to be that kind of strong, but the reality is that we can never be strong enough. That kind of strength is not, nor can it ever be in us. It is in Him.

B. Prayer Accepts Authority-
Additionally, we are acknowledging that because He is God and we are not, because He is sufficient and we are not, because we are dependent and He is not, that He must have authority over our lives. It is recognition and acceptance that the One who rules heaven and earth must also rule our hearts and all of its hidden kingdoms. Jesus said,

“Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46)

When we cry out to the Lord in prayer we are recognizing that He has the right, as Sovereign of the universe and Shepherd of our hearts, to have authority over us. It means that we are not only pursuing the blessings of God, but embracing the authority of God.
Friday, we’ll take a third look at the mystery of prayer—and consider how and why this should encourage us, and those we serve, to be a people of prayer.