PRAYER: The Big Picture

Do you ever get frustrated, discouraged, or disappointed in prayer? I know I have experienced thoughts like: "Does God really hear me? Does He care? Am I just fooling myself that prayer makes a difference?" Those thoughts arise in most of us when going through very difficult times, and not receiving the answers we hoped for, or expected. Well, listen to what C.S. Lewis has to say about prayer, and maybe that would be helpful for you to see the "BIG PICTURE" regarding prayer.

Prayer is either nothing more than an illusion, or a real personal contact between developing, incomplete persons (ourselves) and the utterly whole and complete PERSON (God Almighty).

Prayer in the sense of petition (that is asking for things) is only a small part of what makes up prayer.
Confession and a sense remorse for the wrong we have done is truly the threshold of prayer.
Adoration and worship is the "sanctuary" of prayer.
Experiencing the presence, vision, and enjoyment of God are its bread and wine. At that moment of prayer God actually shows Himself to us.

The fact that He answers prayer is obvious, and not the most important point. The most important point is that He reveals Himself to us. What He does, within the context of relationship, helps us to learn who He is.
(This is my interpretation of what C.S. Lewis says in "The Efficacy of Prayer" in The World's Last Night)

Basically, what I believe C.S. Lewis is saying here is that there is so much more to prayer than just making requests of God. Clearly the Bible supports the action of going to God to make requests, but don't you think God already knows what it is you want? So why pray?

We pray to acknowledge God. We pray to experience God. We pray to thank Him, to worship Him, and give Him glory. We pray to develop a relationship with God. We pray to be in His presence, to begin seeing things through His eyes, to gain His perspective. In the process, He DOES hear our prayers, and immediately begins the process of answering those prayers.

BUT! We have to be careful we don't treat God like some kind of genie in a bottle. Oh how often we wish that we could have a "golden lamp" like Aladdin, and make whatever request we like, and always instantly have what it is we want. But God isn't like that. He loves us, and is developing us, helping us become mature and healthy believers, not a bunch of spoiled brats.

So, know that God does hear you. Know that God is good all the time, and that He really does care about you. He already knows what it is you want, what it is you need, but He requires that we approach him in prayer to achieve the ultimate end: A mature believer in Jesus Christ, living for His purposes, living a life that is pleasing to Him, and bringing glory to His name.

As the Apostle Paul prays for us in Colossians 1:9-12...
"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the Kingdom of Light."

That's what God wants for us above all else. Yes, He does answer prayer! But He wants us to become mature in Christ first and foremost.

God Bless, and enjoy your time with God in prayer today.
Roger