When you Pray

It is very annoying when I tell you my problems and you answer me by saying ‘don’t worry God knows best’, ‘God has a plan ’,’ wait for God’s time’. I have heard it so much that it no longer gives me comfort to hear it but only manages to irritate me. You only come off as stupid saying it, for those words rub salt to the wound and do not comfort.

Then there are those who say I should be more aggressive in the way I pray. They say I should not say ‘thy will be done’ but I should come and ‘claim’ the answers I seek to my prayers. That too seems very daft to me now.

I have whispered in the ear of my God and he did not move to answer me. I then shouted in his ear but still he did not move. When frustration got to me I screamed in his ear but he paid no attention. Tired and worn out I then whimpered in his ear but still he did not move. Yet He is neither dumb, deaf nor daft!

 

Jehovah is mighty you see, the highest authority in the land of men and angels. He will not move simply because you ask him to move, he will not lift a finger just because you are crying because of something or other. Who are you that he should jump at your every word? But when it pleases him you will see him move, at his own time, in his own wisdom.

Tell me then, what success would I gain by being aggressive with such as He? For God will do what he wants to do. Will it not but be futile for me to demand that he move when he has shown that he is not afraid of me nor does he respect the things I say enough to be moved? And here is my favourite question, “shall I demand you O’ Lord to obey me like I would a small boy”?

How then can we pray so that He hears us? How do we reach His ear that he pays attention to us and his heart that he moves to answer our prayer? What should we do, what should we say?

We all want to have the prayer power of Abraham, David and Moses and even Daniel and the Apostles. We want to be able to command a demon enough to shame it into leaving someone’s body. We want to be able to pray for the heavens to open and have that happen with manna falling down as a bonus.

When you have prayed all sorts of prayers to no avail like I have you start to wonder where you are going wrong. Should I roll on the ground weeping? Should I add wailing, screaming and shouting to the words of my prayer? Or shall I pretend to speak in tongues too? 

It is written: “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matt 6:6).

Before you start praying ask yourself, are you seeking God’s face in righteousness and truth, with a pure heart following the instructions that were given as to how you should pray or are you merely partaking in

attention-seeking behavior? Seeking attention from men and God? Or are you showing off?

This then is how I pray: I close myself in a small room where no one can see me, I say my payer silently so no one will know what I am doing. From the depths of my soul, the scars of my heart I present myself before my God all in my head with my eyes closed so that I am not distracted. I pray on issue after issue as the Holy Spirit directs me at the time to pray for this, that and that one. Then I say ‘thy will be done and not my own.’

Does it work? God will do what he wants to do but you should know ‘he does not leave prayer unanswered’! For a lack of response is a response in itself. Who knows what kind of funny value system God has directing the way He responds to your prayers. But do not expect him to respond to you as if he were man. 

“All who come before me must consider me as holy”, it is written. Therefore show Him the dignity, decorum

and respect that his office deserves. Do not waste time on futile rituals and long words for the Lord already knows what is wrong in your life and what is right. Just bring your heart, speak not to deceive but only words that are true and respectful. Then leave it all to him, he will answer you. Do this even when the words of your prayer are greeted with silence at the time you are speaking them and at the time you leave his presence.

Remember, in regards to requests and petitions you make to God, no response is sometimes a response in itself.

It is written “Pray without ceasing” because it is sometimes prayer that gets us through the hard times. And I don’t mean it as your prayers will be answered, but that prayer in itself can be therapeutic. And I have observed a prayer prayed sometime long ago coming to one’s rescue at a time unimagined. Then of course constant prayer keeps you close to God so even if you lose your way, no matter how hard you fall, no matter how far you stray you will never be lost, God will always have you on the right path even if it might not seem so.

Just because you’re losing doesn’t mean you’re lost, and just because you’re hurting doesn’t mean you’re hurt.