Pondering Prayer

Leah Adams shares about some thoughts on prayer today.  This post should stretch you to consider your prayer life.  You can read more about Leah in the bio at the end of the post.  After you answer Leah’s question in the comments, I would appreciate it if you would pay her a visit over at her blog.

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I want to thank Jon for the privilege of guest posting here at The Stretched Blog. Jon does a great job providing meaningful, engaging posts here, and I hope to do the same in my post today. Hope you are having a great vacation, Jon.

Pondering Prayer

Today I want us to ponder for a bit on prayer. How is your prayer life? Are your spiritual knees calloused from time spent on them before the throne, or has it been a while since you gazed at the Father from your knees? Do your prayers feel fervent and effective, or like they hit the ceiling and smack you on the head on the way back down? I know at different times in my life I could fit into all of these categories. Sometimes in the same day!!!!

I have spent a bit of time in recent weeks examining some of the prayers recorded for us in Scripture. It has been a blessed time of study that has opened my eyes to a few pearls with regard to prayer. I’d love to share them with you, and hopefully make application to my life and yours.

Thus far, I have studied three prayers prayed by three different individuals in the Scriptures….all from the Old Testament. Each prayer has a different purpose and style, but many of the same elements. Here they are:

• 2 Samuel 7:18-29 – the prayer of King David after the pronouncement of the Davidic Covenant
• 2 Chronicles 20:1-12 – the prayer of King Nebuchadnezzar when he learned of his enemies coming against Israel
• Daniel 2:20-23 – the prayer of Daniel in thanksgiving for answered prayer from God

The first thing the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to from each of these prayers was the humility of the person uttering the prayer. They went to God first, and they saw Him as their leader, provider, and protector. They acknowledged Him as the source of their strength and wisdom. They didn’t call a committee meeting, or text a friend. They turned immediately to God, and acknowledged their need of Him. Each pray-er saw himself as he truly was, needy and sinful, against the back drop of God’s holiness and majesty. I’m not sure we get that today.

Absolutely, we are told to come boldly to the throne of God with our prayers, but ‘boldly’ in no way means we approach God flippantly, as if we were doing Him a favor by talking to Him. We must come humbly and reverently, acknowledging that HE IS GOD, and we are not.

Next, I was stunned to realize that the actual request they brought to God was only a small part of their prayers. The vast majority of their prayer was spent remembering God’s faithfulness, and acknowledging Him as God. In essence, they fixed their eyes on God rather than their circumstance or need.

As I thought about my own prayer life, I recognized that there might be just a teeny bit of work that I need to do. I want to come to Him more reverently and humbly, (read that, face-to-the-floor figuratively, and maybe literally) with my mouth full of praise for Him. ‘He must increase, I must decrease’ (John 3:30) would be a good motto to structure our prayers around, perhaps.

So, what about your prayer life? I would love to hear how you pray, when you pray, is there a structure to your prayer, and whether you feel you are doing pretty well with your prayer life or if it could use a bit of work.

“Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work.”

Oswald Chambers

BIO

Leah describes herself as the “prodigal son’s sister” after spending several years walking far from the Lord in her twenties. Helping others understand the grace that is offered by Jesus to anyone who will accept it is the passion of Leah’s heart. In a works-based and failure-prone society, grace is a concept that many people have difficulty grasping and Leah’s speaking and writing ministry, called The Point Ministries, seeks to point others straight to Jesus and his amazing grace.

A speaker and communicator, Leah lives in northern Georgia with her husband, Greg, who is also her dentist. She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from Mercer University School of Pharmacy. Leah is a CLASS certified speaker and is the author of a Bible study for ladies entitled, From the Trash Pile to the Treasure Chest: Creating a Godly Legacy. She recently released another book entitled, HeBrews A Better Blend.  She writes for Internet Café Devotions, CBN.com and Christianparenting.org. Visit Leah at her ministry website at www.leahadams.org. Find Leah on Facebook at Leah Colwell Adams and on Twitter (@PointMinistries).