Even Simple People Can Pray!

So often as believers we make prayer a hypocritical, arrogant act. We desire so badly to be thought of as an excellent, theologically rich, well-versed prayer, that we turn into Pharisees! We are thought well of by men, and have no heart for the God we sound so passionate about.

I think we need to grow in the way we pray, but we need to go about it in humility, with a heart for God. This has been on my mind a lot because I know how prone my own heart is to having my pride stroked, and how quickly I can be satisfied so long as I have dotted every I and crossed every T. As we examine the prayers of the Bible and practice the discipline of prayer in our private lives, we must remember that all of God's children are called to this great privilege of communion with the triune God. Not just the intellectual elite. Thank God, because I would have no business praying of that were so. We must remember it is communion with God, we are actually pouring out our praise, our needs, our concersns to our creator and lover of our souls. But, like I said, somehow we turn it into "lookin good". People can pray awe-inspiring, theologically sound prayers and have lives (hearts) that do not match it. We are enamoured with these people despite that, and strive to emulate them; and in the process do much harm to ourselves and the church. Let me say, this is not always the case with a person who prays "well". But give me an old lady who simply loves Jesus, living a humble obedient life , who stumbles over her words, over the well spoken guy, who is arrogant, self-sufficient, and clumsy with his life.

One reason I love praying through the Psalm is that anyone can do it. The Psalms will bring you to praise, heart wrenching confessions, and words filled with need, in a very God oriented manner. And, even a child can do it!

Years ago after reading Don Whitney's book, Spiritual Disciplines, my prayer life was completely and forever changed! This is where I was first introduced to the idea of praying through the Psalms. (Thanks to my husband who introduced me to the book)

I know many others who have been so effected through his book and his conferences, as he taught how to pray through the Psalms. We pray about the same things we always do, but in different ways, and in God centered ways, as we pick up the Bible and use His word to guide us.

I would encourage anybody who says they want to learn to pray better, to answer why and then in humilty go to the Psalms. And, let us remember, prayer is not just for career pastors, and Theologians, it's for the rest of us, too!

Here is one of my favorite Psalms to pray through. This Psalm starts out asking God to hear, and in His faithfulness and righteousness answer; and immediately my soul is excited and confident that He will do just that. Not only does this Psalm give me words to pour out to my Lord, but helps me to meditate- to muse on God's works. Often through praying and meditating on this particular Psalm I am more prone to look in faith and see that He is at work all around me.

Psalm 143
¹Hear my prayer, O LORD,
Give ear to my supplications!
Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!
²And do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight no man living is righteous.
³For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
He has crushed my life to the ground;
He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.
⁴Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;
My heart is appalled within me.
⁵I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your doings;
I muse on the work of Your hands.
⁶I stretch out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You, as a parched land. Selah.
⁷Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails;
Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.
⁸Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;
For I trust in You;
Teach me the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul.
⁹Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies;
I take refuge in You.
¹⁰Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
¹¹For the sake of Your name, O LORD, revive me
In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
¹²And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies
And destroy all those who afflict my soul,
For I am Your servant.

Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. Luke 10:20

Psalm 71:14-16

But as for me, I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and of Your salvation all day long; for I do not know the sum of them. I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.

Songs to Pray Through

So far this month we've talked a lot about prayer. We talked about ways that we can pray for some of the leaders of our church. We've reviewed a couple of books on prayer. We've talked about the importance of praying without ceasing and also of the potential power that our prayers can have when praying through Scripture.
Another time I have found that naturally goes to prayer is while listening to music. There are songs whose lyrics are so good that my heart cannot be content merely to sing them, but to pray them! There are lines of songs call my heart to prayers of thanksgiving to the Lord! It never ceases to make me smile when, as I am driving down the road I hear a song and begin to pray because of something that I heard in the song - and then finish praying and realize that I completely missed the next four songs! These are good times.
Here is a list of songs/albums that I like to pray through. It is by no means extensive!

Songs for the Cross Centered Life, by Sovereign Grace
This is one of my all time favorite cds. Every song in the album is focused on the gospel, on the work that Jesus did on the cross, and on our standing before God because of it.

Awaken the Dawn by Keith and Kristyn Getty
Another one of my favorite cds, the lyrics are amazing and full of truth. The fourth song, By Faith, contains my favorite song line ever: "We will stand as children of the promise, We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward! 'Til the race is finished and the work is done, we'll walk by faith and not by sight."

Valley of Vision by Sovereign Grace
This is a cd I listened to for the first time today and I kept thinking, 'this has to go in my post today!' A friend recommended it to me and I am so glad he did. Every song is based on a prayer from the Valley of Vision a collection of Puritan prayers.

Amazing Grace

My Savior My God

Everlasting God

Indescribable

Lord, I Want to be Like Jesus

And Can It Be (Amazing Love)

I can think of many others but I want to hear from you as well. What are your favorite songs? Do you ever pray as you sing?

Spiritual Reformation

A Call to Spiritual Reformation by D.A. Carson is not the same book as A Praying Life by Paul Miller. While both books focus on prayer, Miller deals mainly on the extremely central place that prayer should have in a believers life and the reality that we should focus much prayer on every aspect/event/situation/relationship in our life. Carson takes a different route.

If you and I are honest, most of us will admit that our prayer lives are in a sad state. When we remember to pray it is usually for food or for the aunt having surgery. While it is absolutely right and good to thank God for the food that He has provided and it is true that God cares about our aunt's surgery and is glorified when we come to Him with our needs, these are only shadows of what our prayers could be. Carson addresses this possibility in Spiritual Reformation.

The book starts out with the well-founded claim that, as a whole, the overall body of Christians in the world today is in a bad place. We are complacent and our spiritual lives lack urgency, joy, and fervor. Carson calls all believers to a radical transformation - a spiritual reformation. He goes on to say that this reformation must begin and end in prayer. We are weak and sinful creatures and must, as the writers of Hebrews said, continually "draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (4:16).

Carson points out that the practice of prayer is taught and modeled in scripture and that the Bible is full of amazing illustrations of prayer. Unfortunately, we generally pay very little attention to these inspired examples. Most of Spiritual Reformation is devoted to examining prayers of Paul.

The breakthrough of this concept for me came when I realized that I have no idea what the will of God is about my aunt's biopsy or the neighbor's car accident or my school payments. Scripture does not address these issues. It does, however, address in great detail the fruits of the Spirit, the 'sign-posts' of a Christian life, the perils of sin and Satan, and the importance of perseverance in the faith. I know that the will of God is for my aunt to grow in her love for the Lord. I know that it is the will of God that my neighbor pursue a greater knowledge of God. I know that the will of God in my life is to have patience. Carson encourages us to pray within the known will of God.

Another breakthrough came when I realized the eternal value of these prayers as opposed to those regarding the more material aspects of our lives. Again, these material aspects are all good things to pray about. As I mentioned in an earlier post this month, we should be in continual prayer for these areas. However, the vast majority of our prayer life should not be consumed with that which shall pass away but with that which is eternal. These prayers have eternal power!

Many of you know that my mother is staying with her family in Maryland for the remainder of the month. As such, she is very much on my mind and in my prayers. Below, I have quoted my favorite prayer of Paul's, found in the first chapter of Philippians. I have recorded a prayer for my mama as she is far from me that I have taken from the principles in this prayer. Join with me in reforming our prayer lives in such a way that we have massive and powerful influence on the eternal souls of those we know!

<sup>Philippians 1:9-11 "And this I pray, that your love may about still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

Father, I come before you for my mama. I love her and miss her and know that she is in a difficult situation. Her family does not know you and so I first ask that you would change this. I know that you delight to save sinners and so I ask that you would save my grandparents, my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Soften their hearts father, show them your love.
I ask that you would grow my mother's love for you to such a great extent that her family cannot help but take notice and become enviable of the obvious joy she has in You. I thank you for all of the knowledge that she has of You but ask that You would keep her from becoming content in where she is now, but rather that You would give her the strength to push on ever father in her pursuit of You. I ask that as her knowledge of you grows, her love for you would grow with it. Keep her strong in her faith Lord. Help her to run the race, to run it well and not to stop running until she is face to face with You. Keep her eyes on the goal, Lord, on eternity with You. Grow her in righteousness, Father. Cause her to overflow with the fruits of the Spirit. Keep her mind fixed on the gospel, for without the gospel everything is in vain.
As always, Father, I ask these things for my mama's good, and for YOUR GLORY! Amen.</sup>