From time to time, we have examined what the Bible has to say about prayer. We have looked at some of the recorded prayers of Old and New Testament saints, tried to copy them, and probably still struggle with what prayer is really meant to be.
Prayer has so many facets that we find it difficult to embrace every detail, and end up getting stuck on a few, like praise, – perhaps, – thanksgiving, – if we remember, – asking God for things or to do stuff, – a whole lot, – and praying for others, – if we are alerted to a crisis or need. This list probably sums up much of our praying.
However, God made prayer simple. We can sum prayer up in one word, fellowship! Yes, God intends prayer to be, in all its many facets, fellowship with Him.
There is a difference between fellowship and relationship.
We have a relationship with Him through faith in Jesus. This means that we are His beloved sons and daughters, and He is our perfect heavenly Father. There is no greater or more wonderful relationship than this, God’s forever family.
There are many spin-offs from this relationship, as there are in human families, but perhaps the most comforting and secure is that of belonging.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
[19] “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, [20] for GOD BOUGHT YOU with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
1 John 3:1 NLT
[1] “See how very much our Father loves us, for HE CALLS US HIS CHILDREN, and that is what we are!…”
1 Peter 2:9 NLT
[9] “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, GOD’S VERY OWN POSSESSION . As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”
There are many Scriptures that affirm our belongingness to God which secures a life-long connection with Him that nothing or no one can break.
John 10:27-29 NLT
[27]” My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
[28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, [29] for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand”
However, belonging to God and being a member of His family is only the beginning. How precious it is when a baby says its first words and begins to communicate with the family. So it us with us.
That’s what we call ‘fellowship’. Fellowship is the interaction between people who share a common life, be it in the intimacy of a family or outside the family in common interests and activities. Our greatest and most meaningful fellowship happens in the ‘God-family’, with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and within God’s human family.
1 John 1:3, 7 NLT
[3] “We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that YOU MAY HAVE FELLOWSHIP with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ….
[7] But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”
We build our fellowship in God’s family by sharing our growing knowledge and experience of God and His ways, and by doing life together in loving service and ministry. So, fellowship happens through COMMUNICATION. Fellowship is built on the foundation of the knowledge of one another, honesty, transparency and trust.
Likewise, communication (prayer) is the way we have fellowship with the ‘God-family’ – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, built on the same foundation as we build fellowship in the human family.
So, if prayer, in its simplest form, is about communucation with God, (and remember that the three persons of the Trinity are the God-family we talk to), how do we communicate?
Communication happens when two people talk to one another with verbal and non-verbal language. If one dominates the conversation, that’s not communication. Speaking and listening are both included.
So, learning to listen is equally as important as learning to speak in the right way to God.
In this short meditation, I want to focus on one important way in which we ‘listen’ in this conversation with God.
God’s promises form an important and major way in which He speaks to us. The problem is that we come to Him with our issues but, before we stop to listen, we rush off to sit in our ‘worry rocking chair’ and get nowhere but deeper into despair.
When we stop to listen, God’s Word begins to speak. The Holy Spirit quickens promises that provide understanding and hope. Sometimes the promise comes in the form of a ‘pattern’, what God wants the person or situation to be in His original plan. Take, for example, His pattern for marriage in Ephesians 5:22ff.
Ephesians 5:22, 25, 31-33 NLT
[22] “For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord…
[25] For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church….
[31] As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” [32] This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. [33] So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.“
If your marriage, or any other for which you are praying, is out of line, you have God’s ‘ blueprint’ and intention which are in His promise. So, how, then, must you pray? Once again, the Bible has the answer.
2 Corinthians 1:19-20 NLT
[19] “For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.”… and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says. [20] For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, OUR “AMEN” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.”
So, instead of whining, and crying, and pleading with God… stop, listen… the Holy Spirit will provide the promise from God’s Word, a solid foundation on which your faith can stand, and you can stamp the AMEN on that promise!
Done! Finished! Guaranteed because “he always does what he says.”
Now all you need to do is to believe and wait.
Hebrews 6:12 NIV
[12] “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
Amen to that!
When we follow this principle, we quickly deal with issues so that we can enjoy the fellowship, the sharing of our lives with God and He with us, in the conversation we have with Him called ‘PRAYER ‘.
So, in the end, prayer is much more than communication, conversation, and even fellowship. Engaging in real communication with the God who has pledged to be our heavenly Father includes strengthening our faith in Him. Trusting in Him and His interventions for us, moves us along the way He has planned for us to prepare us for our eternal life with Him.