Time for a seemingly random and unrelated confession. I have trouble talking to God. Oh I can pray aloud with no issues. "God thank you for this food I'm about to receive." "God please watch over my children and keep them safe from harm and danger." I'll be able to spout random "Christianeese" phrases until "that day of His return"...."God willing." I've got no problem speaking words of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and or supplication. My problem lies, not in my ability to pray, but my ability to talk to God. It's almost fitting that I do this through a blog as I'm a lot better talking about God than I am talking to him. Maybe I should say, I'm a lot more comfortable talking about God than actually talking to Him. In my time alone where it would be beneficial for me to bow my head, humble my heart and seek God's face I often look to busy myself with the cares of the world. Either that or what begins as prayer ends simply as a collection of jumbled thoughts morphing into a day dream, a day's to do list or a restful night sleep. That's right, I've fallen asleep many times talking to the God of the Universe. Even with this blog entry, my first mind was to type before praying. The result was me forcing myself to pray before I continued to type.Why has prayer become so difficult? How do I get out of this prayerless funk? Do I need Kerney Thomas' personal prayer package? Or maybe I need a prayer catch phrase? What I honestly lack in my prayer life is intimacy with God.
Remember for a second the account of original sin. Adam bites the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and suddenly he and Eve are made aware that they are naked. Here Adam and Eve sit in a unique situation. Adam and Eve were crafted by God's hands outside of the womb. In their disobedience, they were made aware of their vulnerabilities. Being as it was, they chose to cover themselves and to hide. The reality of the situation is that God created all of their tender little bits and pieces. They were hiding from Him, pieces of themselves that God included when He designed them. Secondly, they saw fit to hide their vulnerabilities behind a fig leaf, as if the leaf provided adequate protection against God. The truth is, they were as vulnerable covered in leaves as they were naked, but for some reason they saw fit to cover their most intimate parts with a flimsy leaf.
That is where I am in my prayer life. I have reached a point where I have hid the most intimate regions of myself from God. I have used flimsy logic to fool myself into thinking that somehow, by praying, I am more vulnerable when in reality my theories behind not praying are no more flimsy than a fig leaf. I know my logic is faulty, not able to protect me in any form or fashion; a leaf that will blow away at the order of a strong wind. Even with that said, I cling to my leaf simply hoping to not be exposed, but writing a blog to expose myself.
For further study, let's examine some of the aspects of prayer. For each aspect of prayer let's take a look at what Jesus said when he taught us to pray, what the bible says regarding the issue, the foothold for the flesh, and some ways to get back on the right track.
Adoration - To worship or honor as a deity or divine
Jesus says: Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
The Bible says: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6)
Foothold of the flesh: There are a lot of things that oppose our feelings of adoration toward God; pride, stagnation, pleasure, worship of things other than God. The truth is that it's hard to go through everyday of your life seeing God as both your Father and the being in heaven with the hallowed name. The truth is that unanswered prayer can make you question whether or not God is listening. It can make you question how attentive of a Father He is. In certain circumstances, unanswered prayer can make you question whether or not He is at all. We typically don't like to think these things aloud, but we wonder if we are praying to an inattentive God, or if we are simply hoping out loud.
Corrective measures: Adoration for God is easy to fake, but difficult by comparison to recapture. In some measure, all solutions involve being able to encourage yourself in the Lord so that you can reflect on the aspects of God that we ought to adore. When speaking of the goodness of God, in the book of Psalms the term Selah is often used. Think of Selah as meaning, "Pause and listen to what was just said." Take time to think on the goodness of the Lord. Make a prayer list and update it as God answers your prayers. Find adoration in understanding the price of prayer. Our access to God wasn't granted until the curtain was torn during the death of Jesus. There are many reasons to adore God, we just have to take the time to think on them. Selah.
Confession- Admitting wrong to get right:
Jesus says: And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
The bible says: For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15)
Foothold of the flesh: There are two places were confession and forgiveness break down. The first is a person's ability to examine himself and identify a need for confession. Many times we pray and offer up a simple request to be forgiven for all sin in our lives. The second breakdown in forgiveness is our ability to forgive others. Jesus didn't have a need to ask for any one's forgiveness; God or man. When he taught the disciples how to pray though, he said that we be forgiven as we forgive. In our hedonistic society, the idea of things like sorrow and conviction seem out of place. The truth is that there is a purpose behind Godly sorrow.
Corrective measures: Take the time to truly confess your sins as we've been told to do. Don't take the easy way out and just ask for forgiveness for all your trespasses. Name them to God, and tell him you are sorry for each one. That shame, embarrassment, and sorrow are humbling. That humility however goes a long way toward repentance and aids us in our ability to forgive others. If we made the effort to be more aware of exactly what God is forgiving us for, it could help us be a better forgiver of others.
Thanksgiving - Praise for what You have done:
Jesus says: There are no words in the Lord's prayer expressing thanksgiving, but read here about the attitude of giving thanks as it pertains to prayer.
The Bible says: See reading above
Foothold of the Flesh: Thanksgiving is not as simple as it seems. By nature we as humans are often unappreciative and always longing for more. It's hard to give thanks for what you have when you constantly focus on what you don't have.
Corrective measure: Similar to adoration, we have to force ourselves to count our blessings. Try keeping a prayer journal. Write down everything you petition God for. When a prayer is answered, write how it is answered. When a request is no longer valid, write what has changed. Doing this will provide an interesting study of how God works in your life, and give you reason to say thanks.
Supplication - Why I still need you:
Jesus says: Give us this day our daily bread.
The Bible says: Seek and ye shall find (Luke 11:9-13)
Foothold of the Flesh: We often confuse wants for needs. God knows our wants, and he knows our needs. As a perfect father however, he won't let our wants get in the way of our needs. Often time we diligently pray for wants and become hard hearted toward God when he doesn't meet each of our self centered requests.
Corrective measure: Supplication and thanksgiving go hand in hand. We are allowed to come to God and ask Him for all things. Don't be fooled into thinking that God is your genie. When we ask for things we need for His name sake, the bible lets us know that God will give us those things. Sometimes we won't understand and are put in positions where we just have to have faith that , "Father knows best."
