So, I Was Talking With God This Morning... Rules of Prayer

One of the greatest gifts for Christians today is prayer, offering free and direct access to our Creator. It is often maligned by many as a “complete waste of time. I’ve been praying for years, and nothing has happened. No results. Maybe I’ve done something to put me at the end of a long line of others who have more important requests. Maybe God’s so mad at me for that thing I did, He’s not answering when I call. Do you know what? Why bother?”

Jesus Christ's death and resurrection secured this liberty of prayer. The curtain in the Jewish temple symbolically separated humanity from God’s presence. None but the elect few were permitted to enter “the Holy of Holies.” The Bible says that at the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross, it was ripped down the middle, entirely torn in two, permitting all of humanity to enter into the presence of the Creator of the universe. Every man, woman, and child could carry on an open conversation with the Supreme Being, Jehovah God.

So, why do we need rules for it? Can't we ask for what we want and wait our turn, hoping He's not too busy? Don't we have enough rules already? Why add more stipulations for something as simple as prayer, which is often done only as our last resort? Don’t more rules make it easier to neglect praying entirely?

Those are all legitimate questions. However, the suggestions here can help you understand the tremendous power and value of this gift. Following them can transform your prayer life from a superficial conversation to one that shows desperation and sincerity, but most importantly, gets results.

Know that deep prayers require vulnerability and surrender. Bridging the gap between the natural and the infinite takes work. Rules provide a context and a format to help us close the distance between your heart and the heart of your heavenly Father. If the word “rules” bothers you, maybe “guidelines” will make it more palatable. At least read through them and see if they don’t impact your prayer life. I’m writing this article, praying that you will.

Rule #1

John Calvin, a 16th-century French theologian, wrote that when you pray, you should have a “joyful fear. There is nothing worse in prayer than to be devoid of awe.” This is more akin to a heartwarming awareness of God’s power, rather than a fear of punishment. Fear of punishment is a self-absorbed fear.

1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

Romans 8:1 teaches “no condemnation for them who are in Christ Jesus.”

Think of hero-worship fear, the awe of holding a baby for the first time, or being handed a priceless vase. The sense of awe is a crucial part of prayer. Effective prayer both requires it and produces it. We should always feel spiritually insufficient and have a strong sense of dependence on God. Additionally, we should always be prepared to acknowledge and repent of our shortcomings.

There was a standard medieval view that has persisted into today’s culture. It’s the opinion that prayer was a way of putting on your best spiritual clothes to impress God with your devoutness. This rejects the idea that God could be “appeased by devotions,” or that He would answer prayers for “the sake of our performance.” To pray fruitfully must come with the exact opposite attitude! We should come to God knowing that our only hope is His grace and forgiveness, being honest about our doubts and emptiness. Prayer is the time to “get real.”

Remember: The only character flaws that can destroy you are the ones you won’t admit.

Rule #2 

Confession and repentance of these flaws are crucial to prayer.  You may recognize some of the more popular ones listed below.

·         Blame shifting: It’s my parents’ fault, my teacher, my boss, my pastor, my spouse, my “fill in the blank…”

·         Self-pity: Everything happens to me. I can’t catch a break. Why me, Lord?

·         Spiritual pride: It’s like we think God owes it only to us and no one else. Know that Jesus died once, for all!

Think of these as filters that dilute the effectiveness of your prayers. Calvin said, “To the degree you shed these things is the degree your prayer life will become richer and deeper.”  

Rule #3

Restful trust is a term he used to label the condition of one’s heart and mind. It is the acknowledgement of the origin from which all power emanates. He said, “Anyone who stands before God to pray must abandon all thoughts of his own glory.”

Jesus prayed to His Father in Gethsemane’s garden. There, he spoke a word on which all humanity’s salvation hung: “Nevertheless.” “Thy will be done.” Thine not mine, Father! Thee not Me!

Here’s how to pray with restful trust: “Here's what I need, Lord, but you know what’s best for me. I trust You entirely.” James 4:2 “Yet ye have not because ye ask not.”

Rule #4 

We are to pray with hope and expectancy. “We should be encouraged to pray by a sure hope that our prayer will be answered.” There might seem to be an ambiguity between praying confidently and praying hopefully.  The contradiction is not fundamental; it is merely a matter of semantics. Praying with confidence and hope is complementary, not contradictory.

 Jeremiah 29:13  “And ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

Question: “If God's will is always right and we need to submit to Him, why pray for anything?”

• Answer 1a: Because God invites us to do so in His Word and promises to answer our prayers as the good, loving, and heavenly Father He is.

• Answer 1b: Also, because God often waits to give a blessing until you have prayed and asked Him for it.

When good things happen to us that we don't ask for, we assume it’s the fruit of our wisdom and diligence. If we don’t acknowledge these gifts from God, it’s deadly to the soul, because it thickens the illusion of self-sufficiency. This leads us to become overconfident and sets us up for failure.

There are many things God will not give us unless:

• We first honor him in prayer.

• And second, make our hearts safe to receive them.

  
  

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to His purpose."

God will not give us anything contrary to His will; it will always include what is best for us in the long run. This is important to keep in mind. We can pray confidently because he won't give us everything we want.

Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it shall be given you.”

Don't be afraid to ask for what you want! God tempers the outcome with his incomprehensible wisdom. And finally, when the answers to your prayers are not fulfilled in the ways you expected, use prayer to enable you to rest in His will.

Rule #5

Grace. It’s not a rule as much as it is the preeminent gift from our Creator. No one can carry out the first four rules with the complete honesty that’s due. Without the mercy of His grace, there would be no freedom to pray. Don't assume that following any set of rules can make our prayers worthy of being heard. Nothing that man can formulate or create qualifies us for access to God. Only grace makes prayer possible, not a performance, but the saving work of Jesus Christ alone.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not by works, lest any man should boast."

The following are a few Scriptures that will provide you with a solid footing to kneel on while you prayerfully speak to your Father in heaven:

• Prayers for our church leaders - Isaiah 11:2-3 “And the spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord; And will make him of quick understanding and the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.”

• Prayers for marriages – Ephesians 3:17-18 “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height."

• Prayers for Ukraine/Russia – Proverbs 2:21-22 “For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it."

• Prayers for our Armed Forces – Ephesians 6:12-13 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take to you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

• Prayers for our school system – Isaiah 29:23-24 “But when he seeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. ”

  
  

Praying to God is a privilege we have been given that proves our love for God. We are allowed to freely converse with the best friend we will ever have. Speak to Your Father in heaven any time, day or night. Pray early and pray often, my friends.

“But what do I love when I love you? Not the beauty of anybody or the rhythm of time in its movement; not the radiance of light, so dear to our eyes; not the sweet melody in the world of manifold sounds; not the perfume of flowers, ointments and spices; not manna and not honey; not the limbs so delightful to the body's embrace: it is none of these things that I love when I love my God.

And yet when I love my God, I do indeed love a light and a sound and a perfume and a food and an embrace… in my inward self. There, my soul is flooded with a radiance which no space can contain; there a music sounds which time never bears away; there I smell a perfume which no wind disperses; there I taste the food that no overabundance embitters; there is an embrace which no satisfaction severs. It is this that I love when I love my God.” (An excerpt from “Confessions” by St. Augustine)