The Purpose of Prayer

August 28th, 2014 by Dave Leave a reply »

. . . one of His disciples said to Him, ’Lord, teach us to pray . . .’ —Luke 11:1

Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

“Ask, and you will receive . . .” (John 16:24). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits’ end. When a person is at his wits’ end, it no longer seems to be a cowardly thing to pray; in fact, it is the only way he can get in touch with the truth and the reality of God Himself. Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end. But as long as you think you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

To say that “prayer changes things” is not as close to the truth as saying, “Prayer changes me and then I change things.” God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature.

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Journal DJR

Good morning Lord,
I think Oswald Chambers is emphasizing his point … that prayer changes me, more than things. But isn’t it true that prayer can change both … me, and the circumstances.

Yes, of course. But each of those aspects work differently. On prayer changing you… It works every time. And in a predictable way. It will lead you to Peace and Christlikeness. All my kids should do it more.

On prayer changing your circumstances… Only if you are dialed in and seeing thru my eyes and praying as I would pray will you have great success in seeing the circumstances change. Otherwise you will get focused on the outcome that you have in your mind and pray for that, instead of the way I taught you to pray, …Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, etc…

Also other things are going on and the Laws of the Universe that I created are in place. Like gravity. I can override that or any Law, but it’s not my usual M.O. Also sin and brokenness and death are in the world for a while longer.

You’ve learned to stay curious to see what I’ll do in various circumstances. Be curious about how I am making intercession, and when you see it and hear it… Join me in those prayers. Then you will see great things. Those prayers will change you AND the circumstances.

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