The Purpose of This Blog

In response to the challenge by the Southern Baptist Convention that churches take on the task to share the gospel with unengaged unreached people groups, the missions team of Harmony Pittsburg Baptist Association felt the need for a way to focus prayer on the task. This blog is intended to facilitate prayer for those contemplating their role in fulfilling the Great Commission. This on-line prayer guide may prove useful to those exploring a call to missions involvement as well as to those who have sensed a call to pray for those who will go to the front lines.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Understanding Prayer

I just bought a new smartphone.  Already I miss my old phone.  Using my old phone was easy because I was so familiar with it.  I don't really understand how my new phone is set up to be used.  Not understanding how something works always makes using it more difficult.  Sometimes we get frustrated and give up.  Sometimes we figure out a way to do what we need to do in our own way.  But if I will take the time to learn and understand the way my phone is to be used, I will be able to do much more than I could before or than I could in my own way.

Prayer can be difficult if we don't understand how it works and what it is all about.  For example, I suppose the most common view of prayer is that of asking-and-receiving.  In fact, there is quite a bit of Scripture to support this view (e.g., Psalm 50:15; Jeremiah 33:3; Matthew 7:7-8; John 16:24).  But anyone who has prayed very much will testify that we don't get everything we ask for.  There are various reasons for which the Lord may justifiably deny our requests, not the least of which is when what we desire is contrary to His will (1 John 5:14).  Someone I know said she wasn't going to pray anymore because God was going to do what He wanted to do anyway.  To a small degree she was wrong because there are some things God will do when we pray that He won't do if we don't pray (James 4:2b).  But to a large degree she was right.  She just didn't understand what prayer was all about. 

Prayer is not about getting our will done in heaven but about getting God's will done on earth (as S.D. Gordon taught in Quiet Talks on Prayer).  Jesus said to pray, "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).  Why God chooses to work through the prayers of His people is debatable, but the fact that He works this way is undeniable.  Regardless of any other reasons involved, one benefit of this arrangement is that it connects us to God more surely than anything else could.  In fact, it would not surprise me if it turns out that God designed prayer primarily as a way for us to truly know Him by spending time in His presence.

As we pray, let's not just present God with a list of petitions.  Let's spend time in His presence, getting to know Him, hearing His voice, becoming familiar with His ways, and discerning His will so that we may pray as we should.  After all, it is His plan to extend His glory to all nations.  We just need to follow Him.

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