How Did You Learn To Pray?
Good Morning Friends,
The first prayer in the Bible is not exactly what one might think of as a prayer. It is an example of when Adam and Eve sinned and God confronted them. It is a God initiated prayer unlike the prayer of invocation that follows in the next chapter of Genesis or the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew. But if you read this portion of the Genesis story Adam and Eve and God are talking back and forth you might find that it is a great teaching tool on what prayer really is all about. Oh there have been many prayers since but the beauty of it is that it is a conversation with God that requires a resolution. And the greater beauty is that now we have a resurrected Jesus in the prayer with us that can resolve the dissonant chord. It does not have to be as lyrics penned by a great composer but is as simple and uncomplicated as opening ones mouth and focusing our breathing in and out as an ebb and flow of a divine conversation in four parts. It is a way of an abiding life singing God’s praise and presence in the rhythm of our lives. How Did You Learn To Pray?
Scripture: They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And to the man he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:8-19 (NRSV)
To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the Lord.
Genesis 4:26 (NRSV)
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
John 17:17-23 (NRSV)
Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (NRSV)
“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever 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. “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “Pray then in this way: 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 do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:5-15 (NRSV)
Praise the Lord! Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments. Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever. They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever. They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor. The wicked see it and are angry; they gnash their teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.
Psalm 112 (NRSV)
Message: Communication requires equal parts of expressive and receptive language. Praying requires similar skills…not so much in saying the right words, but in listening for God’s revelation. There are lots of ways to pray: the Lord’s Prayer, praying in tongues, silent prayer and centering prayer to list a few. We can even sing and pray the Psalms as a journey deep into the heart of the matter. Here we can experience a conversation with God that glorifies God but also can encourage us to be earnest, persistent, active, unwearied and intent on prayer. It encourages us to keep up a constant time of prayer without being diverted from it by other business. I think the intent is that prayer is to be a spontaneous part of our everyday life integrated into all activities of daily life. Prayer is to be a time of not just talking but listening with understanding. Prayer is to help make us more effective as we discover the anatomy of our soul and the part we have been gifted to sing.
The challenge though is to internalize it as a habit…to put into unceasing practice God’s teaching. In it we must join with the power of God. The message is that we are never meant to be separated. We are not meant to do this alone even when in secret. Here we experience the honored, holy and wonderful name of God. Here we face the reality of what we each are doing, and not doing, to embrace the will of God in our individual lives. Here we discover that prayer is working together with God to win the victories that glorify God. Prayer is where and how good things for marriages, families, communities, disciples, and churches begin. The thing is that God is sovereign and has a good purpose and within this context we pray not with our reasoning mind, for we do not see the ways of eternity, but with a desire that we would be prepared for what God sees as best for us, realizing that His grace is enough but our grace given in His name is Jesus name is good too. And so in my prayers, in learning to talk to Jesus about my life, it is my hope that I will reflect a reverential trust in the Lord’s sovereignty and in His righteous desire for me to experience exactly what I need to experience, exactly what we need to experience. I am after all not going to convince God to be Holy in His actions. He does that already. So I pray a prayer that God would prepare our hearts. I must admit I do not understand what eternity is but it seems to me that right now in thousands and millions of places people are praying and across time. And millions upon millions of prayers that have been offered and will be offered, that somehow Jesus comes into these prayers to forgive us and slowly the power of our voices are freed by Jesus. And in this song of creation, holy prayer with Jesus, we are joining in a collective and harmonious understanding that God’s love is meant to be experienced with a generosity that goes on and on in a life that honors God. And so today we lift up God who brings us the power of a beautiful life and turns the dreams of the wicked into nothing and blesses the upright to overflowing. Indeed today we praise God as the psalmist for a life made better through the holy prayers of all those seeking righteousness and its fruit joy and for those seeking God’s will, and for its fruit, His peace… peace, wherever righteous prayers are offered.
Pray we have a commitment to spending time alone with God. Pray that the journey of prayer helps us to focus on our problems and the power of God to meet our needs. Pray that we are persistent with prayer. Pray we learn to forgive. Pray that we realize that prayer can change us. Pray we realize that when we forgive we also can be forgiven. Pray we be still in God’s presence. Pray we desire to pray often and personally. Pray we combine prayer with our very purpose.
Pray we confess our sins in prayer. Pray we praise God in prayer. Pray we thank God in prayer. Pray we intercede for others in prayer. Pray we petition the Lord to meet our needs. Pray we are in constant connection with God in prayer. Pray we recognize the importance of prayer. Pray we are persisting in prayer for those who need to know Christ. Pray we learn to incorporate prayer into our daily activities and the very cycles of life. Pray we listen as we pray and sing and breathe with one another as a guide to the proper rhythms of life.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 