"Of all the spiritual disciplines, prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father."
"To pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us. If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives."
- Richard Foster, 33
Prayer is probably one of two or three different practices that Christians deem absolutely necessary to the Christian walk. I bet anyone who reads this blog will agree with that. The problem is, there are several different ways to pray. There is corporate prayer that we bow our heads to in church. There is prayer that we have in small groups where we each pray for a request. There is prayer that we pray around the dinner table to bless our food. And there is silent, personal prayer. And if you are anything like me, the first three are easy. It is the last one that is the challenge.
In my life, I often utter a spontaneous prayer when I sense something to pray for. In that sense, I do have a healthy personal prayer life. As I go throughout the day I am constantly lifting up burdens, praising God, and just talking to my Creator. I truly talk to God as if He walks beside me everywhere I go. And that is because I believe that He does. Prayer is another discipline that practices the presence of God. In the book we are reading for this class, Foster raises the question of our theology. Does our prayer life reflect that we believe God is always present? Do we pose requests to God as if we believe He can do anything? Do we talk to God like He can hear us? Do we wait because we believe He responds to us? Our prayer life should reflect our beliefs in a God who is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. All knowing, all powerful, and always there. If we are talking to God that way, He will respond. If we pray with the expectancy that our prayers will change things because of Who we are praying to, things will change. Prayer is God letting us participate in the course of history.
In that sense, my personal prayer life isn't that healthy. I often talk to God as I am focused on something else. I don't often carve out time to focus on praying to God and inviting His presence into that time. I believe He is always there, but I don't always give that my full attention. So for the practice of discipline this week, I decided to change that. I decided that I would dedicate time twice this week to intercessory prayer. I would pray and only pray with the expectancy that God would respond to my requests. However, it is important in regards to my theology to first pray that my will would align with God's. If I am going to ask God for things, they need to be things that He has already ordained. I can want my requests to be answered with my whole will, but it won't matter if my will is not God's. So I will first life my will and my desires up to God. Guidance before intercession.
There are several things on this campus that need to be prayed for. Two of my very closest friends are having major health crisis, we had a professor in the hospital, student's family members are passing away tragically, we are undergoing staff changes, and several people are feeling the effects of spiritual warfare. I decided to put all of that into my intercessory prayer. And I did. I prayed expectantly twice this week to ask God to heal all of that brokenness. I used the model from Hannah in 1 Samuel 2. She wholeheartedly poured out her requests to the Lord, and they were effective. At this point I am not capable of saying if any of it was "successful." But I do not think that was the point. I do know that I was refreshed, and I do believe prayer has the power to change things. With that combination, I know God was at work in this discipline. Prayer is a pillar of our relationship to God for a reason. It works, and it is our mandate.
So I encourage you to take this one to heart. This one you can and should try at home.
Thank you for reading :)
Many blessings,
Alyssa
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