Understanding Prayer

    

    The question that stunts many Christians is "Why doesn't it seem like God answers my prayers?" This question was going through my mind my first semester of college, and I just couldn't understand how God who is powerful enough to answer my prayers just wasn't answering my prayers. It made me pretty upset for the longest time because I had felt like I always understood what I felt God was doing. Much of my first two years of college was where I was often in a state of confusion. In high school, people used to tell me that I was "wise beyond my years", but here I was questioning everything about my faith. I felt confused when it came to prayer. I have come to realize that much of what I thought prayer was growing up has so much more to it than God simply fixing all of our problems. 

    Prayer is powerful because it allows us to connect with God who guides us through every day of our lives. Scripture talks about how we should pray without ceasing and present our requests to God. When we pray, the focus turns away from whatever situations are burdensome on our minds and our hearts to the Lord. It is essential in our faith to realize how important connecting with God in our daily lives is. When I read the Bible, I see the various ways that people call out to the Lord and spend time in his presence. 

The Lord's Prayer

    "Our Father, who art in heaven..." I was a young child when I memorized this prayer at church. It is very easy to remember and say this prayer. What we need to realize is that this is how Jesus told us to pray. If God is telling us how to pray, it definitely has importance. I like to reflect on each line of this prayer when I pray this prayer. 

Much of my own reflection goes like this

"Our Father in Heaven": God is my father. God reigns above the earth and anything that is happening in the world. There is peace in realizing that Our Father is above it all. 

"Hallowed be your name": Let's praise the Lord for who he is! The name of Jesus can be said in prayer and throughout our lives. It is a blessing just to know his name and be able to pray to him.

And so on through each line of the prayer

    

    I like to go through each verse of this prayer, and I realize the truth of each line when I do pray this prayer. This prayer is beautiful because there is so much truth in many of the lines of this prayer. I would recommend going through the prayer and reflecting on things we can thank God for, repent of, or ask God for. There is so much truth in this prayer of how God provides, his mercy and grace, and what is to come. 

God's Response

    God, as our Creator, is creative. He created the world. In being a creator, God is creative in how he answers our prayers too. God may see what we need beyond our own knowledge and understanding. I have noticed that so many people want things done their way. What we don't realize about prayer is just as God has created us uniquely, he knows our every need. "Give us this day our daily bread" is asking God to give what was very essential at the time this prayer was prayed by Jesus: bread. The bread was needed because it has nutritional value. God, in knowing our individual needs, answers prayers in a way that addresses our individual needs. We live in a very standardized culture, and I realize that standardization comes into the Christian faith. I am studying in the mental health field and I realize how much standardization causes so many issues when it comes down to diagnosing and treating mental health conditions. In education, people think that SAT tests will show how students will do in college. I see so many issues when it comes down to how fast paced society is today. I realize this comes into faith as many Christians think that if they pray, God will answer the prayer exactly how they wish God would answer the prayer. I have come to realize that God answers prayers differently for each person because God created us all differently. In this World, God did not promise that we wouldn't suffer. We suffer because this world is fallen from sin, but this temporary world has already been overcome as Jesus has overcome every area of brokenness in our lives because he love us. Our temporary pain in this world will not last forever, eternity with Jesus will when we live our lives for him.

 

Moses

    During the time that the Israelites were traveling to the Promise Land with Moses, they were grumbling because of their hunger. They wondered why it seemed that they were brought out of Egypt if they were going to not have food and starve. Moses went to the Lord in regard to the grumbling, and the Lord provided both quail and manna. 

    When the Israelites wanted there to be food, I noticed that there were a few things to notice in regard to how God responded to their prayer. One, the people needed to work for the food that the Lord gave them. They had to gather the quail and the manna. Work can be hard, but as in Genesis, God's work lead to the Creation of the World. The Lord provided, but it was up to the people to do the work in order to best benefit from what the Lord provided. Two, obedience is so important. When God provides just what the Israelites needed for the day, he told them to only gather what they need. Sometimes there is more comfort when there is more than what we need. As a kid, I knew what it was like to not know when I would eat next. I grew up in a situation where sometimes the only thing I would eat is a slice of pizza late at night. 

    Sometimes when we are in need, we need to see where the Lord provides. A big part of this is trusting God with all of our hearts and with all of our needs. I think of the journey to the Promise Land as a reminder to all Christians to really look at how the Lord has provided in the past just as a reminder that God will provide for where we are at now. There are times when I find myself complaining because I feel unstable with the lack of something. I remember through reading about the Israelites that, though it may be difficult sometimes, God is right here with us when we are dealing with challenges. It is so easy to complain; however, simply thanking God during times of hardship can shift our minds from the fear of lacking to the joy and peace that comes from faith. Sometimes, God works through our faith and obedience to what he calls us to do.  

David

    Learning about the Psalms really got me to realize how David and other Psalmists are a lot like me. My emotions are all over the place. In lament Psalms, David is calling out to God regarding challenging circumstances often saying things like "where are you God?" or like in Psalm 22 where he asks why God has forsaken him. In Psalms of praise or thanksgiving, there is often a lot of joy. Regardless of the emotional state of David, he always brings back his psalms to the truth of who God is. 

    I sometimes have prayers when I am crying so hard. I will be super overwhelmed with something, and it is an ugly cry-type thing where I am struggling to calm down. I realize my need for God in these moments because where our emotions are always changing, the Lord remains the same. I will go from really upset to at peace by praying to God. Where David has both times of praise and times that are really hard, he is always looking at what is true about God. Regardless of what we may be going through, it is important to recognize the truth of God when we pray. 

Daniel

        As a kid, I learned about Daniel and the Lion's Den. When confronted with a law that tried to control Daniel in not being able to pray to God because the King wanted everyone to pray to him, Daniel still went to God in prayer. I know that maybe we won't be thrown in a lion's den for praying like Daniel, but there are often things that get in the way of our prayer time and even just quiet time with God. I am someone who gets easily distracted when I am studying scripture or praying. Something I do, when I pray, is to pray out loud. This keeps my thoughts on God when I pray. Even when I am alone, I will pray out loud. Daniel still continued to pray three times a day in a posture that worked for him. Prayer is important in all situations. The enemy will always try to prevent us from connecting to God, maybe through fear of man, a law, or even our own concentration and focus. 

Peter

    When I think of Peter, I think of taking a step of faith. The story of Peter stepping out onto the water. Here is the thing with faith, we can have faith to step into something. We need to have our focus on God to continue to glorify him as we continue stepping in faith. Peter took a look at the storm around him, and he began to sink. Sinking can be a scary feeling, especially when in the water. Peter saw the storm, the waves, and that he was sinking. I have come to realize that Peter made the mistake of looking around, but I do the exact same thing. I have my eyes on God, and then I look at my large load of assignments, family problems, or mental struggles. We all get distracted from God. When we begin the sink in under stress, we can have two responses: lose our hope or do as Peter did. We can call out to the Lord. Peter may seem as he had no faith when he was sinking into the water because he looked around, but I have realized that calling out to God when feeling as if I am sinking is a step of faith. Jesus acknowledged that Peter had little faith, but he did so in reassuring Peter that he was right there with him to catch him.     

Ananais

    In the book of Acts, there is Ananias who the Lord speaks to. He is asked to go pray over Saul. It is important to realize that Saul was killing Christians, persecuting them. It is understandable that Ananias was worried about getting killed because of what Saul very outwardly did. It is important to realize that God was already working in Saul's heart when he asked Ananias to pray over Saul. Ananias was used to bring Saul to see again and be baptized. 

    Praying for someone can involve fear especially when faced with thoughts like "What will they think of me?" For Ananias, he was scared of being murdered. Faith is not always comfortable, but we don't always see the work that God is doing in someone's life. Saul went from a murderer to having his name changed to Paul and preaching the Gospel as well as instructing different churches on how to glorify God and serve the people. 

Coming to God

    Growing up, I went through this cycle: I would be prayed for, I would think I let go of my past, I would be very excited thinking God fully freed me from my past, and then I would fall completely into shame, insecurities, and negative thoughts. People always told me to "let it go" or "give it to God". I didn't know exactly how to do that. The goal was to "let it go", but I didn't know how to get to that goal. 

    Over this past year, I have come to realize out of Matthew 11 what it means to go to God. I often dealt with a lot of heaviness throughout my whole life. In a way, I always felt ready for a very difficult circumstance. I knew the verse "come to me all who are weary", but I was never willing to show God how weary I really was. I was constantly running, not wanting a moment to think. Constantly doing and at the same time, I felt so unseen. Then, I met someone who made me feel so seen when hearing my testimony. It was uncomfortable because I had shared my testimony before, but never had someone see my pain in the present the way this person did. This person made me feel so seen, and although I absolutely denied having healing to still work through, this influenced me to trust God rather than my own control. God uses people in our lives in different ways, and this person allowed for me to do something I was always super scared to do: allow my pain to come up to the surface. 

    I then took a step of faith of coming to God as his weary child. Was it easy? No, not at all. It was so hard, involving so many tears and so much of the hard truth. I think of prayer as us coming to God as we are. God does not expect us to fix ourselves up. My sophomore year of college, I fell into this mindset where I felt like I had to fix everything about myself. Even as a teen, I remember being prayed for thinking I just HAVE to fix this. We don't have to fix whatever is going on to show prayers being answered. We need to understand that we don't have to see an answer to our prayers right away or even in the way we want God to answer our prayers. We need to let go of our control over our situation, and just go sit in the presence of the Lord as HIS child who is so loved. Let go of trying to have a perfect life, and go sit in the presence of our perfect Savior who looks at us with love just as Mary did. If we spend our lives trying to fix all the messiness, we will only miss the beauty of who God is. If you read further in Matthew 11, you will realize that when you come to God when you are weary, you will be met with gentleness. 

Interceding

    A couple days ago, I was awake at 2 am unable to sleep. I decided to pray to God because my mind was racing. I was excited about going back to school, and I was thinking about everything I needed to do. I prayed "Lord, I thank you for excitement for the year ahead. I pray Lord that my mind can become calm so I can go to sleep and be well rested". After I prayed this, I had a thought come to mind: "What if when we pray for people, God has a calling for us in their lives?" This only got me more excited because I could not stop thinking about it. Sometimes when I can't sleep, I know it is because I have the opportunity to spend time with God and I need time with God. Thinking this really brought peace to my mind when it comes to being a light to those around me.

    Here's the truth, we don't have the power to answer our own prayers. Only God has that power. However, sometimes God calls us to do something that can influence a person's life. I know of people in my life who have been very influential in very specific ways. Some people have delivered the hard truth to me in love, some people have comforted me, two people allowed me to feel fully seen which allowed me to start healing from my past, and many people have a testimony that encourages my faith. When praying over someone, God may call us to act in a certain way: share a passage in Scripture, check in on the person throughout the week, be willing to listen to that person, give them something to encourage them, comfort the person, and/or continue praying over them. 

    Jesus was fully man and fully God called to do so much within his ministry. Jesus was constantly connected to God, praying to him as he went through his ministry. Jesus was moved to do many miracles all the way to dying on the cross. Jesus did just as God told him every time Jesus prayed.

    We are not God; therefore, it is not our responsibility when praying for others to have a miracle or breakthrough happen in their lives. God will work in his wonderful and sometimes mysterious ways. Our responsibility is to pray over that person, and simply obey what God tells us to do. God has the power to answer our prayers, but he can also use us to really bless the people we are praying for. Our purpose in life is to go out in obedience to God in serving others. Part of serving others isn't just praying for them, but it is to listen to God for the ways we can serve that person. 

    I have come to learn that prayer isn't just praying to God and receiving an answer. Prayer is connecting, sitting with, and being guided by God. We live in such a culture of convenience as people are becoming more impatient. People want things right now because we are surrounded by instant access to things: entertainment, fast food, social media, and online shopping. People want prayers answered instantaneously. However, we need to realize that where there is a lack of patience, there is a lack of love as Corinthians 13 says "Love is patient". Are you patient with God in prayer? Do you know God who loves you? Loving God is not understanding every circumstance in our lives, but knowing that God is ever present regardless of what is going on, it is being patient with God as he is working in ways we may not understand, and it is living our life in worship to God. There is so much more to read about prayer in scripture. Remember that, although I have looked at multiple places in scripture in both the Old and the New Testament, there is much more to look at in regard to prayer throughout scripture. Connecting with and praying to God is a lifelong process.