An Introduction to Prayer

Sunset prayer

Knowing where we end and God begins and knowing the One to whom we pray...

Over the next few months we are going to be taking a journey together into the subject of prayer, exploring what prayer is and how we approach it. Even if we’ve been in the habit of prayer for many years, there is always, and still, much for us to learn. And there is no better place to begin than to learn about what Jesus had to say on the subject of prayer.

With this in mind, we shall over the coming months be exploring and unpacking Jesus’ teaching about prayer by looking at The Lord’s Prayer. But before we do this, there are some things that we need to be clear about! In this first step of our journey together into prayer, it is important that we understand the part we play in prayer, and the part where we step back and look to God to act.

A godly understanding of prayer

Firstly, what we need is a godly understanding of prayer. It is vital that we know the One to whom we pray. He is not dependent on us, and we do not give Him permission to act by our praying- as if He needed our permission to act! In the same way, we needn’t think that by not praying we prevent God from acting- as if we could prevent Him from acting! The Bible makes it very clear that God is not dependent on us in order to bring about His purposes:

  • Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord?
  • Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?
  • Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice?
  • Does he need instruction about what is good?
  • Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?

Isaiah 40:13-14

We need to understand that although God does act in response to us calling on Him in prayer (and the Bible also points to evidence of this: Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah), He is in no way limited by our prayers or lack thereof! He is the One who chooses to act, and the decision about how and when He chooses to do so rests with Him alone. He doesn’t need our advice! For ‘by wisdom the LORD founded the earth; by understanding he created the heavens’ (Proverbs 3:19).

A Christ-centred understanding of prayer

Secondly, a godly understanding of prayer must by definition be a Christ-centred understanding. Our understanding of God’s almighty sovereignty is grounded in the cross of Christ and nowhere else. In the death and resurrection of Christ, God demonstrated His sovereign power and victory over sin and death. By recognising the complete efficacy of Jesus Christ’s atonement for our sin on the cross, we also recognise the almighty sovereignty of God. This brings us into a position of hope and trust in God, for we know who our God is: He is mighty, He is powerful, He is more than able! When we know that the One to whom we pray is almighty and all-powerful, we find confidence and boldness being released in us:

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.  By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.  Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
Hebrews 10:19-23

This hope, this trust, this confidence and boldness, are based on nothing other than the cross of Christ, and together, they lead us to and release in us our third ‘need’ in understanding and approaching prayer: faith.

We find we can approach Him in faith and confidence, knowing that we haven’t come to ‘a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai’, but to ‘Mount Zion, to the city of the living God... to God himself, who is the judge over all things... (and) to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people’ (Hebrews 12:18-24).  This is the God to whom we come- we know the One to whom we pray!

If ‘by faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen’ (Hebrews 11:3), we also understand by faith that God will respond and act when we pray in line with His will, having ‘confidence that what we hope for will actually happen’ and ‘assurance about things we cannot see’ (Hebrews 11:1).

To reiterate, it is vital that when we pray, we have faith in God. And again, the source of our faith is Jesus and only Him.

'But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind' (James 1:6).

'And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.  And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for' (1 John 5:14-15).

It's all about Him

And so we have come to the realisation that prayer isn’t really about us at all! It is about Him. It isn’t a spiritual exercise given for our benefit and growth. It isn’t something we do for God. It is knowing what He can do for us! It is acknowledging that God is God. It is knowing the One to whom we pray. And this is the key to understanding prayer.

  • This week's word...

  • "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another."

    [John 13:34-35, NIV]

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