now that that's established, i will most assertively reassure you that these thoughts are much deeper.
lately i've been struck by a few thoughts about the way Christians pray, specifically when it comes to requests. i'll have you know that these thoughts are not in response to or criticism of any specific person's prayers, but rather were stirred by the persistence of certain 'prayer lingo.'
of course, the spectrum of prayer conversations i've been privy to is too broad to classify... & yet with so many, i sense fear behind the asker's request. maybe i am imagining this fear, or maybe the words a person uses are simply a result of the vocabulary in which that person has been steeped. nonetheless, there is always room for change in our hearts, so hopefully this will evoke positive affect.
alright, without hopefully sounding too judgmental, the phrases that have most persistently struck a chord with me recently have been those regarding the will of God. [don't get me wrong: i use similar phrases plenty & believe that all outcomes are ultimately contingent upon His will. i'm not attempting to propose that that is an issue, but still...] the problem i sense is one that masks itself with timidity... to which we have been told:
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." - 2 Timothy 1:7at the core,
i believe that God wants to have a REAL relationship with each of us. He wants to conform us to His image, but He also wants to meet us where we're at - in the muck & the messy emotion of things. too often, we let hesitation inhibit authentic petition with blanket statements like, "if it's Your will." rather than ask sincerely for what we want, we guard ourselves against the disappointment we dread will be realized if God says no by making our requests as loose-fitting and ambiguous as a poorly-written horoscope or a cheap fortune cookie. that way, we can't be disappointed because any answer will be just what we asked for. if we never ask for something specific enough it that requires God to show up, we may miss out on seeing Him in what could be a powerful & faith-building experience. additionally, we miss out on sharing that piece of our hearts with God, & if anyone can be trusted with our hearts it is our Creator! we are called to guard our heart, but the Bible tells us how & it is not by closing it off or hiding it from our Father.
"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." - Psalm 37:4again, prayer disclaimers/ambiguous requests are not so much the issue as the heart behind them. a heart burdened with anxiety worries about the future, seeking to prevent disappointment by avoiding ever designating or committing to a request... we think that we can avoid the pain we anticipate, but we aren't ever commanded to brace ourselves; there is too much of tomorrow in that burden.
--> & then, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - Matthew 6:34greater/actual danger comes not in being sincere with God, but in assessing Jesus based upon the outcomes of our requests; when we measure God by our circumstances, we risk doubting either His goodness or His love for us when things aren't going our way... not to mention the erred perspective of asking God for things as if He is our own personal genie. God is beyond our situations! outcomes do not determine Him; He determines all outcomes in His ultimate wisdom & infinite goodness. His love is unconditional, but temporary situations - as much as they offer a glimpse of this - cannot encompass the fullness of that eternity. In changing situations with an unchanging God, it is sometimes hard to connect His heart or motives to what we see... & for this reason, we must view things in the opposite direction, with Christ as the constant & our circumstances as the dependent variable.
in the ESV, this verse concludes: "Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." - 2 Corinthians 10:5we must recognize that asking reveals more about our own hearts than about God. consider the instructions Jesus gives His disciples immediately after He teaches them the Lord's prayer:
"Then He said to them, 'Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'in this parable, the friend's love & goodness does not fluctuate, but the man who asks is able to see it in a way that he might miss were he not willing to ask boldly.
'Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness [persistence] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
'So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.'" - Luke 11:5-10
"'Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!'" - Matthew 7:9-11 (i jumped books bc these are parallel passages: Matthew 7:8 is the same as Luke 11:10)
i just know that God is not as easily offended by our prayer requests as we are afraid to be by His response. truthfully, we are the fragile ones in this exchange. the effect of our request will not fall upon the Unchangeable I Am, but on the transient hearts of His ever-fickle heirs. it seems like we are more willing to ask with confidence for small, negligible things than to put our hearts on the line & ask God for things that we truly care about.
instead of protecting ourselves from potential outcomes, we should be fixing our hearts & our hopes on Him rather than our situations. the more we see His goodness, the easier it is to trust. in my life, i can assuredly declare that whatever God sends, it will not weaken my faith in Him; i have come to know & recognize that if He has another plan, it will totally trump mine, & it is not only good but BEST. nothing in logic or lot has brought me here; this heart understanding comes only by His grace.
"Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day." - 2 Timothy 1:12wow this post turned out lengthy! oh well, if nothing else, this babble defends my own conviction/application to ASK God for what i want. & i pretty much had to write this after they started worship Sunday morning with "Jesus On The Mainline" :] ("Jesus is on that mainline/ tell Him what you want..."). with Him as my focus, i fully intend to talk to Him often about what He's placed on my heart, because He placed me here for Himself:
"There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs." - Matthew 10:26-27whatever He pulls my heart towards as i walk with Him, i will give back to Him in prayer, & i look forward to seeing Jesus in the response regardless. [Lord, take all of me!]
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"Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession." - Psalm 2:8
"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven." - Matthew 18:19
"Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.'" - Matthew 21:21-22
"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it." - John 14:12-14
"You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." - James 4:2-3
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of Him." - 1 John 5:14-15
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." - Ephesians 3:20-21
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