Timothy Keller
“Prayer is awe, intimacy, struggle—yet the way to reality. There is nothing more important, or harder, or richer, or more life-altering. There is absolutely nothing so great as prayer.”
Prayer is one of the most important practices of the Christian faith. Imagine the privilege of us speaking with Almighty God, because we have an eternal relationship with His Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
“For Christians, prayer is like breathing. You don’t have to think to breathe because the atmosphere exerts pressure on your lungs and forces you to
breathe. That’s why it is more difficult to hold your breath than it is to breathe. Similarly, when you are born into the family of God, you enter into a spiritual atmosphere wherein God’s presence and grace exert pressure, or influence, on your life. Prayer is the normal response to that pressure. As believers, we all have entered the divine atmosphere to breathe the air of prayer. Only then can we survive in the darkness of the world.”
(John Macarthur)
Literally, prayer is the way of life for the Christian. As stated, prayer to us is just like breathing. In prayer we offer praise to God. Psalm 34:1 reads, “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” In prayer we give thanks to God: Paul says in Philippians 4:6: “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” In prayer we confess. Whilst our sin has been forgiven through the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary, we still live as a people tempted and troubled by sin. Because of this we confess to Christ our High priest who understands us and through whom we can “approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in the time of need.” (Heb. 4:16) In prayer we remain humble. No greater testimony of humility is set before us than that of Christ. In praying to God the Father, Jesus said, “Not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
“Prayer is the coupling of primary and secondary causes. It is the splicing of our limp wire to the lightning bolt of heaven. How astonishing it is that God wills to do His work through people. It is doubly astonishing that He ordains to fulfill His plans by being asked to do so by us. God loves to bless His people. But even more He loves to do it in answer to prayer.”
(John Piper)
So, prayer is our breath as we live the Christian life. Using this breath we petition almighty God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, in praise, in thanks, in
confession, in humility, appealing to Him to respond according to the will of the Father for this life. In receipt, we say “thank you, Your will be done.”
In some respect this has been the question of the ages. Perhaps Jesus Himself addressed this ongoing question by mankind when He taught His disciples “how to pray.”
When addressing a crowd gathered in Matthew 6:5-13 Jesus said: “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day 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 evil.”
It is this prayer that has turned the world around. It harbours a call to revolution, to world change, as we pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is the revolution of saving deliverance through Christ alone. Author and teacher, Gary Millar suggests “the evangelical church is slowly but surely giving up on prayer.” One possible reason may be because many Christians do not know how to pray. Here in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches all of His followers how to pray. Pastor and author, Al Mohler relates this helpful story from Martin Luther’s barber, Peter Beskendorf, on his asking Luther for advice as to how to pray. Luther pointed his barber to the Lord’s Prayer, then advised:
“So, as a diligent and good barber, you must keep your thoughts, senses, and
eyes precisely on the hair and scissors or razor and not forget where you
trimmed or shaved, for, if you want to talk a lot or become distracted thinking
about something else, you might well cut someone’s nose or mouth or even
his throat.”
Luther’s point is simple……resist distractions in prayer. There we may have our greatest struggle as to how to pray. Let us always remain focused and let us persevere in prayer as we speak with the Sovereign of the entire universe. Paul exhorts us to “pray constantly” (1 Thess. 5:17). Simply expressed this means to pray persistently (Luke 11:1-13) and to pray regularly (Eph.6:18).
We desire this be the practice of each of us here at Kingsridge Baptist Church.
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