Praying God's Promises

 Praying God's Promises

Lately, I have found myself praying the exact same prayers to God. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But sometimes it seems like I'm just going through the motions instead of sharing my real heartfelt concerns, praises and other issues that I should be dealing with at the moment. 

Why do get stuck on this prayer routine? I suppose I have become comfortable with the prayer script I have written for myself. My tendency is to seek comfort in praying for others as opposed to looking at some of my important personal issues that really need to be addressed. For these kind of prayers I need to find ways I can go deeper with God.  

To get myself out of my comfy prayer routine, I can pray through God's Word, His promises, and through His perspective. Sometimes I will even pray through the Lord's Prayer and discover new and deeper ways to communicate my heart to Him. 

I'm thankful that prayer can become more than just something I feel I need to do but actually become something I want to do. When I truly desire to pray, I realize how truly powerful and effective prayer can be.

A believers prayer can be powerful and effective:

James 5:16 NIV

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

There are things happening in everyone's life that just break my heart to see. It has become my desire that God would intervene into all those lives and circumstances. Yet, I  also know that God answers prayer by not answering prayer the way we would like Him to. God's perspective on things is greater in scope and in purpose in more ways than we can ever know.  

This passage reveals to me how difficult it can be to fully understand the ways of God:

Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

But even with God's ways and thoughts being higher than our own, we can still find out how God wants us to live and work with kingdom purpose. We can get wisdom along with the desire to live set apart to Him. Through prayer we can ask for God to reveal what He wants us to do and how He wants us to do it. When it comes to wisdom, God gives generously.

Matthew 7:7-8 ESV

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 1:5 ESV

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

So, it is important that when I pray I am willing to rely on God's wisdom, discernment, perspective and revelation. My faith and trust in God must come into play as I act on prayer with faith, trust, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Even If God does not answer my prayer, I still believe it is for a His greater purpose. 

Romans 8:28 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Praying the scripture and through God's promises can direct me to know what God desires for my life.

But my prayers alone are not the catalyst to move God to answer prayer. God may actually have something better planned for me in mind. God may have a different perspective than I do and I may not be fully aware of that perspective when I pray. I also have to come to terms with those times God wants me to experience the consequences from the choices I make. This is God's way to help me realize that my sinful choices are bad for me. This is God's way of refining me. 

There have also been many times when when my circumstances have been so out of my control that my only choice is to fully rely on Him. And this is another aspect of God's desire for my life. Fully relying on God in a sinful and broken world is very beneficial.    

The truth is this; God wants me to turn to Him and wait on Him because He wants me to fully trust Him with my life. He wants me to worship Him while I wait. So when I pray, I need to trust God and have faith He will answer in whatever way He desires; in His perfect way and in His perfect timing. 

God is relational and personal and desires to be included in my life. So when I wait for His answers it shows I want to hear from God and let Him direct my path. If I only brought God into my circumstances when I needed Him that would not make for a good 2 way relationship. God desires fellowship but also desires to be loved by me with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. 

This verse from proverbs reminds me that God desires relationship with me:

Proverbs 8:17 ESV  

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

Jesus reminds us:

Mark 12:30 NIV
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 

So when those times of waiting and difficult experiences begin to get the best of me, God is at work helping me realize that I need to shed my old ways of thinking and living. This can be a painful but ultimately a way to be more like Jesus in character and love. God does not leave me hanging; He offers His peace and rest in the midst of my spiritual growth. 

Jesus tells us that we can come to Him and  share our burdens and concerns. And when we do, we can experience real rest. Having Jesus to share our heart with is very comforting and will help to release some of the tension built up from having anxiety over our circumstances and those times we are trying to figure things out for ourselves. Sharing our heart with God is one of the best ways to relieve some of the burdens we carry. 

This passage is a great reminder for me:

Matthew 11:28-30 New International Version

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

So, even when our prayers and concerns are not resolved in our timeline of expectation or hope,  we are still in the presence of Jesus and can find that rest. I know that the Holy Spirit plays a role in our comfort. He is our helper and the Spirit of Truth: 

John 14:16 ESV

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

John 16:13 ESV

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

The scripture I like to pray reminds me about God's truth and how much He loves me.  The Holy Spirit plays the integral supernatural role in bringing all this truth to the forefront of my mind and heart, so when I pray I know God is in the midst of it. 

God's truth, God's promises, and the Holy Spirit help me understand that God is in control  and I can trust His plan. My prayers can enlighten me about how much I desire God's plan or in contrast, how much I desire things to be the way I want them to be. If I want to experience God's plan with peace I need to surrender my will and concerns to God.  Otherwise, waiting on God to direct my path can become a real struggle.   

God's plan is far better than ours so we should not lean on our own understanding but submit to God so we can follow His better path for our lives.

Ultimately as we desire peace in the midst of our concerns. our prayers draw us closer to God and therefore bring us closer to the peace and rest He offers.

Through prayer we can receive God's peace and His rest. 

Rest is important in times when our perspective is limited. It is in the state of rest that we can experience a different kind of peace. This peace that is supernatural in nature can help us to grab hold of an eternal perspective concerning living life in a fallen world. Therefore, our understanding and desire can develop  to a point where we pray for the good purpose God has for His people. We can also pray for those caught up in the world's lies and confusion, and for those who are either drawn away from God, or who outright reject Him. 

One thing about God's good purpose is that it may not be fully understood at the moment, but in reflection can be seen as the perfect answer to a complex and even impossible situation. The Apostle Paul reminds us that in every situation we should present our requests to God. The result is, God has the power to transform the heart and the mind and bring us a peace even in the midst of turmoil. 

This passage shows us prayer can lead to a state of peace that is nothing like the world can give:

Philippians 4:6-7 New International Version

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So when I am coming to God in prayer, I can take the promises He has revealed to me and incorporate them into my circumstances. For example, I believe this passage from Proverbs speaks directly to me. So even when I don't understand the unanswered whys of life, this passage can help me share my heart with God.

 Proverbs 3:5-6 New International Version

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

I may phrase it this way:

Father, I don't understand why things are happening this way but I know in my heart it is for Your good purpose. Lord help me trust you and not in my own perspective and show me what I need to do in this moment in order to surrender to Your will. Father show me how I can follow You and give honor and glory to Your Name. 

This method of praying through scripture jolts me out of my prayer routine and into a deeper and more intimate experience with God.

Just Sayin.................Dave