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Announcer (00:00:00): It's time to think about the Bible like you never have before. This is Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com. Today's topic is, "How Can I Transform My Prayer Life? (Part I)" Most everyone knows about praying. For some, prayer is a foolish waste of time. For others, it's a ritual in their lives. And for others, it's a lifeline. As a Christian, if I firmly believe that prayer can change my life, what do I have to change in me to receive that change from God? Here's Rick, Jonathan and Julie.

Rick (00:00:37): Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over 25 years. And Julie, longtime CQ contributor is also with us. Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

Jonathan (00:00:49): Jeremiah 10:23: "I know, O LORD, that a man's way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps."

Rick (00:00:59): Prayer is an incalculably awesome privilege, and yet it is massively misunderstood. Prayer can easily become a ritual and almost automatic activity like brushing our teeth. We know we need to do it because it's really good for us, so we do it at the times that we think are appropriate and in the ways that we think are appropriate. Prayer can also become a time of wishful thinking, a time when we essentially tell God how our lives could and should look. It can also become a complaining session, a finger-pointing session, and even a pity party. So wait, let's take a breath. Prayer is the opportunity and privilege to talk to the God of all things through His son Jesus. If we're going to use this amazing tool, we want to be absolutely clear as to how it works and why it works.

Jonathan (00:01:52): In Part I of this two-part series, we will talk about the basics of a transformed prayer life. Whose prayers does God answer? What does it mean when God says "no?" Should we ever stop praying? And what does a really good prayer look like? In Part II, we'll talk about the many practical questions we may have when trying to keep our prayer lives vital. Now, Rick and Julie, I'm looking forward to this important subject because we don't want to look back in our lives and find out our prayers were not heard.

Rick (00:02:28): That's a big point because you're praying earnestly. But are we praying appropriately? Let's see if we can figure that out according to scripture. We're going to look at principles of proper prayer. First principle: We must check ourselves against scriptural principles to see if we are working at being in line for God's direction. See, we have to be in line for His direction. So this is that journey.

Julie (00:02:59): Does God answer everybody's prayers? You'd think He's going to listen to the prayers of the righteous, but isn't it the sinners who need him more? I'm thinking maybe it has to do with the attitude of the sinner being either repentant or defiant.

Rick (00:03:13): It has to do with the attitude of "the everybody" being either repentant or defiant. We want to understand that yes, as sinners, we do need God to answer our prayers, and those who are "righteous" always need Him as well. There is this incredible need no matter where you stand. The question is, how are we approaching that need? Well, let's begin with some scriptures that describe what God has declared are His listening and responding qualifications. Focus in here to God's listening and responding qualifications.

Jonathan (00:03:47): First thing, God is with the contrite of heart. "Contrite" means "to feel remorse." Let's look at Isaiah 57:15: "For thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy, I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."

Rick (00:04:12): Think about this scripture for a minute. "I dwell in the high and holy place." Where does God dwell? In this "high and holy place," but He also dwells "with the contrite and lowly of spirit." That's a beautiful picture for us to understand. This is God Almighty we're talking about here.

Julie (00:04:28): Now, sometimes, though, we feel paralyzed by guilt or perhaps our own unworthiness. How do we pray then?

Rick (00:04:34): That's a really, really important question, and that paralysis needs to be put in its appropriate perspective. We're going to really expand an answer to that question in Part II of this series. But at this point, we want to understand that God is there. Just let God be where He is. If we're lowly and contrite, chances are He's on the other side of that experience.

Julie (00:04:58): All right, well, we know that God delights in and loves those who pursue righteousness. Proverbs 15:7-9 tells us this: "The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but the hearts of fools are not so. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but He loves one who pursues righteousness." Rick and Jonathan, in Scripture, righteousness doesn't mean just being good. It's godly good. It goes beyond just being a nice human being.

Rick (00:05:31): That's such an important thing, when you said before, Julie, "God delights and in loves those who pursue righteousness." It's those who pursue godliness. That's what draws Him, is our pursuit of understanding Him and wanting to be more in line with Him. "God delights in and loves those who pursue righteousness." Now, those who are righteous know, they know that God directs their way. Let's go back, Jonathan, to our theme scripture, but just add a verse. Jeremiah 10:23-24:

Jonathan (00:06:04): "I know, O LORD, that a man's way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. Correct me, O LORD, but with justice; not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing."

Rick (00:06:17): The thought here is that "I can't direct my own way." That is part of that being lowly and contrite in heart. It's saying a man's way comes from God. If you are truly seeking God, you realize that He's the one in control. And you know what? I want Him to be! That's the way we want to approach prayer.

Jonathan (00:06:38): God hears those who are righteous. Proverbs 15:28-29: "The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous."

Julie (00:06:53): Here's something to consider: You can't beg God to heal you and stay loyal to what's killing you.

Rick (00:07:01): That's absolutely true. God hears those who are looking for righteousness. It says, "the Lord is far from the wicked." If we're doing evil things and we're praying, wake up because you're just wasting your time. Why? Because you're not living a life that is in pursuit of God Almighty. The question here is, what if you haven't been righteous? What do you do if, okay, I've been off there. Will God hear your prayers? Julie, this is similar to your previous question. Really the answer to this question is, it depends on what you're seeking. It depends on what you're seeking because God listens to those who essentially seek Him. Let's go to our next principle of prayer with understanding what God listens to and responds to.

Julie (00:07:51): I would add to that, God responds to those who seek Him, but sincerely seek Him. James 4:6-10 says: "But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you."

Rick (00:08:26): There's a lot in this scripture, and the whole point is reframe yourself as you go before the heavenly Father; take yourself out. Take all of your focus and your desire to have it be your way, and just be humble. Be humble so you can receive. We ask in prayer and we should, but prayer is about receiving. And what are we looking to receive? God's will, God's way, God's spirit, God's justice, God's wisdom. That's what prayer really truly is about.

Julie (00:08:59): What about righteous people? Those who are sincerely seeking God, but they're not Christian. For example, what about a very faithful Jewish person? Do you think God is listening and responding to their prayers?

Rick (00:09:11): Undoubtedly, unequivocally, absolutely undeniably yes, to be very, very sure. Because they are praying to God the Creator of all things, in the way that they know how to pray with the righteousness that they've been given. God has great respect for that. We know, especially from Romans 11, that the Jewish nation is being restored into God's favor in a very big way. Blessing of the world will come through them. So yes, those Jewish individuals who are looking through the Law and through their traditions to reach God in great sincerity, of course, He absolutely hears them.

Jonathan (00:09:49): God is patient with us even in our broken attempts to reach Him. Psalms 86:1-7: "Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me; for I am afflicted and needy. Preserve my soul, for I am a godly man; O You my God, save your servant who trusts in You. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for to You I cry all day long. Make glad the soul of Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; and give heed to the voice of my supplications! In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You, for You will answer me." God waits for us to come back to Him, just like the prodigal son.

Rick (00:10:41): The interesting thing when you read this Psalms 86:1-7, is it's all about putting ourselves in our place before the greatness of God. The more we work at doing that in an appropriate way; we can try to crush ourselves; that's not what God's looking for. He's looking for us to be genuinely, sincerely humble before Him, because that puts us in a place where we can actually receive from Him. That's what David is talking about in this psalm. It's a really beautiful example of God's patience, even when our broken attempts have a hard time reaching out to Him.

Julie (00:11:16): We're not to crush ourselves, but we are to get over ourselves.

Rick (00:11:20): Yes.

Julie (00:11:21): Here's another proverb. Proverbs 28:9 talks about how God won't continue drawing us if we don't continue to pursue Him. That's a scary thought. It says, "He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination." So we know that we have to fall in line with what God expects. God doesn't have to comply with our demands. We can tell Him what we want, but not how He should make that happen and all the implications of that. If we aren't compliant, He's going to stop drawing us.

Jonathan (00:11:51): That brings up a question. What about those Christian faiths that say we should "decree and declare" to God in prayer so they can steer His providential overruling the way they want it to go?

Julie (00:12:04): Oof, I don't like that.

Rick (00:12:04): You shouldn't like that because it is not at all, in any way, shape or form any sense of an appropriate prayer. When we are desiring to steer God's direction, we have become God telling Him how to serve us. Uh-uh. No way. Matter of fact, I have an experience of mine that just has never left me. It's a small experience. I was visiting with one of my clients from business and talking to him about things, and we started talking about spiritual things. At the end of my visit with him, he said, "Rick, can I pray for you?" I thought, "Oh, this'll be nice, thank you." He did a "decree and declare"-type of a prayer; it's "God, I command that the roadways be made clear so Brother Rick can be safe and that his journey be fruitful and I decree that this is what will happen." I was overwhelmed with angst and anxiety. We finished. I said, "Thank you." I left his house. I got in my car and I just sat there and I put my head down and I said, "Dear Lord, please, please, please cancel everything You just heard. It's just not appropriate. I'm so sorry. I had no idea it was coming." It was overwhelming to me because it puts me as the subject of God's response and it was just, just off. We've got to be careful with things like that. Just, just be careful. Jonathan, as we put all of these things together with God's guidelines for us praying to Him, Practicing the Principles of Proper Prayer, what do we have so far?

Jonathan (00:13:49): A fruitful prayer life begins with our seeking a fruitful relationship with God. The key to this relationship is understanding that we are a child of sin, destined for death in Adam, and we are seek"ing to be heard by the wisest, most powerful Creator of all things. Let us seek His attention through Christ and seek it by humbly pursuing godly righteousness.

Rick (00:14:13): It's got to be humbly pursued, appropriately pursued. God is great. We are not. Let's keep it in that perspective and begin to move forward. This is so simple, and yet it's so difficult. Seek God, but don't make up your own rules as you go. Seek Him His way and then we can find Him.

Jonathan (00:14:34): The formula to draw close to God has just been laid out. What happens when God says "no" to our prayers?

Rick (00:14:43): If we want to truly transform our prayer life, we need to hear, consider and apply the power of "no." Now we might think that a "no" answer means that we prayed for the wrong thing, and this may or may not be true. We may also think that a "no" answer means that we're heading in the wrong direction. This also may or may not be true. Why so non-committal? Because "no" can be a very big and positive response to help us see something much bigger. As we look at the principles of proper prayer with the answer of "no" in mind, our prayers of petition, when we're asking God for things, these prayers of petition must be offered in such a way as to seek and accept God's will, even if it stands contrary to what we ask for. We want to seek and accept His will, even if it's contrary. What does it mean when God says "no?" We're actually going to look at three examples.

Jonathan (00:15:48): And Rick, these examples are all legitimate requests.

Rick (00:15:52): Yes. None of these are frivolous. None of these are, "I'm all full of myself," as you will see. First example is King David. After David's sin with Bathsheba, Bathsheba gets pregnant and then the child is born. Nathan says essentially, "This is not going to end well for this child," and so David is praying for the life of the child because of his sin, which is what brought this child into the world. We're going to drop in on this in 2 Samuel 12:13-16. This is David and Nathan talking:

Jonathan (00:16:27): "Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said to David, The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die. So Nathan went to his house. Then the LORD struck the child that Uriah's widow bore to David, so that he was very sick."

Julie (00:16:54): At first glance this seems really unfair. Why should the child suffer for what David did? The child had no choice to be born. But of course, this reminds us of how we all suffer for what Adam did.

Rick (00:17:07): You're right; this is a valid point. It is not fair. Let's say it out loud. Let's verify it. This is not fair that this child suffers for a sin that he had absolutely nothing to do with. It's not fair. Here's why, here's what happens; sin, no matter who commits it, always produces not only ripples of distress, but it produces currents of disaster and death as well. This is a life lesson that's very important. Let's get back to 2 Samuel 12:16:

Jonathan (00:17:43): "David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground."

Rick (00:17:51): David would not eat or rise up from the ground. He just stayed there for seven days. On the seventh day, the child was reported as having died. So what does David do? He suddenly stops fasting, he gets up, he washes himself, he anoints himself, and he gets back to living. And you think, what? That's exactly what the response was of those that were in the palace with him. 2 Samuel 12:21-23:

Jonathan (00:18:20): "Then his servants said to him, What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food. He said, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me, that the child may live. But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

New Speaker (00:18:47): David's response to this actually is very, very healthy in this tremendous tragedy. He prays with all of his earnestness, "Please Lord, if it's possible, have your mercy play out here." He sees that the mercy was not appropriate and he gets up and says, "Okay, I will live with this. I am going to do what I am supposed to do in service to God." Very hard thing to do.

Jonathan (00:19:15): God said no. Why? Sin exacts unimaginable consequences, which for the sake of God's plan of eternal salvation for all, must be remembered. Don't forget the child will be resurrected in God's kingdom, which is showing God's eternal mercy to his human family. The child's death is only temporary.

Rick (00:19:35): That is a very important point in the larger picture. David, in the smaller picture, in the immediate picture though, David had to live with the tragic outcome of his own lust. He had to live with that for the rest of his days. This blunt lesson echoed throughout his life and it echoes as well in the lives of all of those of us who hear his account, to hear his experience. We feel that same thing.

Jonathan (00:20:03): We should have a discussion of perhaps why God chose not to save the child. My first thought was, David had Bathsheba's husband Uriah murdered so he could have Bathsheba for his own and kind of hide the fact that she was pregnant from him. So maybe it was to fulfill justice in the Law; a life for a life.

Rick (00:20:23): I think there's a lot of validity to that. And when we go back earlier in the scripture back in verse 14, it says (Nathan is speaking), "However, because by this deed, you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme." Nathan is indicating that this child being born to be heir to the throne, being born out of wedlock in the Jewish nation, would've been a heretical thing to have happened. You have the justice of the Law and you have the, "You all wanted a king, now you've got a king. Here are the consequences of those things."

Julie (00:20:57): I think it may have also shown, like the court and the people, that the king himself was not exempt from God's consequences. There's nothing special about him.

Rick (00:21:07): Exactly. Right, right. There are a lot of reasons. Jonathan though, with all of those reasons, what you said about the child being resurrected is enormous. Because as unfair as sin is, God's grace takes care of all of that lack of fairness for eternity. We are just so thankful for that. But God said no in this experience. He said no It was a valid prayer. It was a valuable prayer. But God said no. Let's look at our second example. Second example of God saying that was the Apostle Paul praying for the removal of his thorn in the flesh. As Paul begins to recount this experience, let's listen carefully to the first few words of the first verse to be read because he's going to give important perspective for us to take note of. Jonathan, let's go to 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:

Jonathan (00:21:55): "Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself."

Julie (00:22:09): We aren't told exactly what this thorn in the flesh was. The common explanation is that it was his poor eyesight, but we just don't know. It must have been serious because he refers to it as a torment. That Greek word means "to strike with a fist, to treat with violence and insult." Maybe we're not told because it wasn't relevant. It's his attitude after being told "no" that gives us the lesson. We can use this and fill in the blanks for whatever our own perceived limitation is.

Rick (00:22:40): That's a good point because you see that he started out the verse saying, "Because of the surpassing greatness, the blessing I've been given, I was given this very difficult thing to have to deal with throughout my life. Paul is showing us that he understands that with great blessing and privilege comes great burden and testing. That's an equation that we all must always be willing to repeat. With great blessing and privilege comes great burden and testing. Jonathan, onto verses 8-10:

Jonathan (00:23:09): "Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I would rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." God said "no." And Paul's reaction was, if this means the power of Christ dwells in me more completely, then bring it on. This was a life-changing blessing.

Julie (00:23:51): I'm impressed at the moment he was told "no," he never asked again. Do we know if Paul received an audible answer though? Because it'd sure be easier to know when to stop asking and when to take no for an answer, if we could just hear God or Jesus say it directly. How do we talk to a spirit being when we can't physically hear the response?

Rick (00:24:11): That's an important question. There is a variety of ways to answer that. The key thing is, as we saw in the first segment, it's the attitude of our prayer. It's the humility and the contrite heart and the understanding that God is in control. It's also working in line with scriptural principles. You "hear," not verbally, but you hear the answer when your request is put in the context of scriptural principle and appropriate response to whatever the circumstance or challenge or trial might be. Yes, that's not really answering the question as directly as you'd like it. But it leaves us to do some interpreting and understanding and following of God's will, not ours. The answer was "no," just like you said. Why? Because it drove Paul to find powerful advantage in disadvantage. He would now be more firmly entrenched in the strength of Christ in him and release his own grip on handling his own life. He would now understand that "my life works so much better when it's the strength of Christ in me, that I am gladly hands off and letting him guide me."

Jonathan (00:25:30): Rick, it was a good request by Paul to ask for the thorn in the flesh to be removed, but it was misplaced for his eternal benefit.

Rick (00:25:38): Yeah.

Julie (00:25:39): For Paul, "no" in this case was the right answer because it provided an even greater witness for the gospel. Can you imagine for a second if he didn't accept that answer and he tried to take the power of the Holy Spirit he was given to heal himself, or if he went to Peter to heal him? Paul made sure to keep his dependence and his direction from above.

Rick (00:26:01): That's the whole key. The whole key was "no" is awesome because...

Julie (00:26:05): And "no' means "no!"

Rick (00:26:06): Yes it does, but "no" also means "No, watch what I do instead." That's really, in terms of putting things in God's hands. Let's go to our third example and this is a very, very gripping example. This is Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane before he is taken to be crucified.

Julie (00:26:27): Alright, let's drop in on this. After the Last Supper Jesus and the apostles, they walked to the Garden of Gethsemane and he told them to sit while he went ahead. He took only Peter, James and John with him. He went a little further alone and prayed. Now he prayed in a similar way three times, and after each time he found the men sleeping instead of watching and praying like he had asked. Jesus was very sorrowful, praying with strong crying and tears. Matthew 26:38-46:

Jonathan (00:26:58): "Then he said to them, My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with me. And he went a little beyond them, and fell on his face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as You will."

Julie (00:27:17): That's an interesting phrase, "let this cup pass from me." What was Jesus talking about? Again, we don't know. But some feel this might include the pain of knowing God's face would soon turn away from him because he would have to go through this experience on his own, or the uncertainty of whether or not he had done everything he was supposed to up to this point, or else God's plan would have a real left turn.

Jonathan (00:27:43): We understand it to mean the cup Jesus wanted removed included the pain of being falsely accused as a blasphemer, someone who insults and speaks against God. Jesus had always spoken out against evil as God's personal representative but would now have to be silent as the events of the night would unfold exactly as had been prophesied about in the Old Testament.

Rick (00:28:08): His silence would lead to not defending his Father. And that was the one thing that you could never see Jesus not do. To me that was the overwhelming piece in this thing. Jesus himself was pressed to the limit. That's what this prayer is showing us. His prayer powerfully included the clear condition of God's will reigning supreme. Let's continue in Matthew 26:40-43:

Jonathan (00:28:35): "And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, So, you men could not keep watch with me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away a second time and prayed, saying, My father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done. Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy."

Julie (00:29:01): Here's an observation. He didn't say "Your will be done" without first telling God what was on his heart. Jesus was a real person with real human emotions, and he had no problem expressing those to God, and we shouldn't either. He doesn't suppress his feelings, but he is in control of them.

Rick (00:29:21): He puts them in their appropriate place; "Here is what is on my heart, but it's not my will that matters. It's only Your will that matters." But you're right, it's a beautiful picture of how we should pray, to be able to express to our heavenly Father exactly where we are, and then say nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done. Here, the intensity of Jesus' experience increased as his friends were just entirely strengthless. They had nothing left. His time grew ever shorter, and yet he still hailed to God's will as supreme. This is a very big point in the core of what we're looking at here.

Julie (00:30:05): By this time, Judas had already accepted 30 pieces of silver from the Jewish leaders in exchange for revealing Jesus's location. Jesus knew betrayal was on its way, and time was really starting to compress. Important but painful events were about to happen. Picking up in verse 44:

Jonathan (00:30:23): "And he left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays me is at hand!" Rick, even Jesus heard the "no" answer from his Father. He didn't ask for something bad. As a perfect human being, he had to realize the full weight of sin. It meant not only having to not defend his Father, but also to be forsaken. He had to feel and bear it all willingly.

Rick (00:31:03): He did. God said no to Jesus. Why? So Jesus would endure that full and life-breaking weight of carrying the burden of sin once for all time and once for all mankind.

Jonathan (00:31:18): An interesting point; both Jesus and the Apostle Paul asked three times to remove the trial or infirmity. What's up with the number three?

Rick (00:31:26): The number three shows us the completion of an experience. Essentially, you've got a beginning, a middle, and a conclusion. This shows us how, in Jesus' case, the conclusion was where he started. "This is my will. Let me do your will. This is my will. Let me do your will. This is my will. Let me do your will. My betrayer is here. I'm doing your will." That's what Jesus' prayer was all about. Jonathan, Practicing the Principles of Proper Prayer; what have we added?

Jonathan (00:31:57): God does say no to our prayers, and it is always for our highest benefit. His "no" does not necessarily mean we asked inappropriately. It can mean that there is a bigger lesson for us to learn, a stronger reliance we are to seek or a fuller burden we are called upon to carry. A "no" answer from our heavenly Father is a "yes" answer for our ultimate wellbeing.

Rick (00:32:22): That is the point of the power of "no." These are hard and sobering prayer lessons. Each and every prayer of ours needs to be offered with listening ears and obedient hearts.

Jonathan (00:32:38): Prayer requires us to always seek godly righteousness and to have a listening attitude. Does God ever want us to stop praying?

Rick (00:32:46): All right, now that sounds like a strange thing. Why would God ever want us to stop praying? The point we need to make here is that God always wants us to use every advantage and tool that he has given us as fully as possible. Transforming our prayer life means we learn how to use the privilege of prayer in conjunction with whatever God's providence provides. When we look into this segment, we want to understand that prayer is a part of a much bigger picture.

Jonathan (00:33:22): Before we begin this part of our conversation, let's state that we are in no way going to suggest that we cease praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22: "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil."

Rick (00:33:53): So "pray without ceasing" in the context of "rejoicing always" and "giving thanks" and everything. These things are constant in our Christian lives. Now let's look at this principle of proper prayer. Let's be sure that our prayers, as sincere as they may be, are not diverting us from necessary actions or providing a covering for neglected unrepented sins. Again, we have three lessons where God indicates that prayer should not be continued. That sounds like an odd thing, but let's take a look.

Jonathan (00:34:28): To clarify what we're saying, Rick and Julie, there are specific times in our lives that we should put our prayers on pause. Is that right?

Rick (00:34:38): When you put it on pause, you haven't turned it off. You're just pausing it because something else is there. Let's take a look at these three lessons. First lesson is Moses, Moses and Israel. Now they've been released from Egypt and they're making their great escape. They're at the shores of the Red Sea, and now there's water in front of them and an army coming up very quickly behind them. It's not looking good and the people are feeling very trapped. Moses and the people are seemingly trapped by the Red Sea as Pharaohs soldiers draw near. Here is their response; Exodus 14:11-16:

Jonathan (00:35:17): "Then they said to Moses, Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."

Julie (00:35:41): These Israelites, they always had a complaint ready to go. They said, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt?" That was a really snarky comment because Egypt was called the Land of Tombs. There was an acropolis, which is a cemetery, outside of every city, and there's this body of water in front of them and this angry army behind them. Faith, as is often with us, it gets overrun by overwhelming fear and desperation.

Jonathan (00:36:10): Verses 13-14: "But Moses said to the people, Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent."

Julie (00:36:28): In other words, People, calm down! Moses had faith that deliverance was coming even before God's answer to him.

Jonathan (00:36:37): Moses' response was to have the people be silent. Whether they were silent in prayer or just silent is hard to say. However, Moses likely prayed fervently as evidenced by God's response. Continuing with verse 15: "Then the LORD said to Moses, Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land."

Rick (00:37:10): This event, Moses is praying to God and God's response is, "Why are you crying out to Me?" He's basically saying, "You know I'm delivering you. So do your work. You're supposed to lead. Go about the things you're supposed to lead with." God's response and lesson here; "Now is not just the time for prayers of deliverance, it's also the time to step up and step forward in faith. Moses, lift up your staff. Moses, stretch out your hand, Moses, divide the sea. Do the things that I put into your hands to do." Praying is good. Action though is what's needed right now.

Julie (00:37:51): I bet Moses didn't see it coming, that that whole sea was going to part, though. But that's a good advice because we pray, but we act. Here's an example; if you know you've got to get a job, you don't just pray for a job to fall in your lap. It's going to require action on your part. You might pray and pray, but what action steps did you take?

Rick (00:38:08): Right.

Jonathan (00:38:10): Prayer with appropriate action seems to be the lesson.

Rick (00:38:13): It is absolutely the lesson. We have to act along with our prayer. We don't hide in prayer to avoid action. We pray to unleash action. That's really what we want to look at here. Let's look at our second example. We're going to stay with Israel, this time with Joshua. Now Joshua and Israel had just been led to victory over the city of Jericho. Boy, what a mighty victory that was. In that victory, they had all been instructed to not take any spoils for their own. All had obeyed except for one man.

Julie (00:38:45): Yeah, this man named Achan disobeyed. As if the Lord wouldn't notice, he hid for himself this beautiful Babylonian robe, 200 silver coins and a bar of gold weighing over a pound. He stole from the treasure set apart for the Lord.

Rick (00:39:02): This act of Achan led to a defeat in a battle against the small city of Ai. Joshua, in response to that defeat, prayed fervently before God. Let's look at Joshua 7:6-8:

Jonathan (00:39:20): "Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies (meaning running away from their enemies; this shouldn't be happening!)?

Julie (00:39:55): But Joshua was in a reverent position. He tore his clothes, he put dust on his head. He's face down on the ground in front of the Ark of the Covenant, but he has no idea about this hidden treasure, which incidentally was hidden in the ground beneath Achan's tent. But he buried the silver deeper than the rest of the treasure, so if someone had happened upon those first few items, they would think that was it. But there was a second level to this hidden illicit treasure. No wonder God was mad.

Rick (00:40:22): When you see the deviousness of that and you see that the nation as a whole was supposed to be in line with God's will, and when the nation as a whole was not, there were consequences as a whole. This is what we're going to see. Joshua's prayer of despair questioned why God led them to such a point. He's praying, his face is in the dirt, he's praying fervently and God gives him a very clear answer. Joshua 7:10-12:

Jonathan (00:40:51): "So the LORD said to Joshua, Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst." They hadn't been completely compliant. One man's actions created massive consequences for the entire nation.

Julie (00:41:36): Achan and his family were killed for disobedience. This was a heinous sin against God, and Joshua had to follow through with the appropriate punishment.

Rick (00:41:44): Here's the thing. Joshua is praying and praying and God is essentially saying, "Okay, you're praying; there's a problem. Go fix it. Go take care of the sin that has been hidden. Go find it, and you go do that which is appropriate." God's response and lesson here; stop praying and find the root of the sin that brought you this defeat. God says, "I cannot guide you unless you wholeheartedly follow me." This is a big lesson in prayer to root out those sins that we may be kind of covering over because hey, we will pray just really more fervently. We have to discover and get rid of those kinds of things.

Jonathan (00:42:25): Prayer is appropriate. However, if you're praying and you have a sin you're covering up, your prayer is a prayer of hypocrisy because that prayer will not be acknowledged. You should know better and fix it, deal with the wrong, and then you will have God's blessing.

Rick (00:42:40): Yeah, I like the way you put that. It's a prayer of hypocrisy because we do know better, but we're not being better, and we're praying to cover over that which we know better instead of being better. God sees through it. We need to understand that we should stop praying such things and fix the problem. We're not saying stop the attitude of prayer. We're saying go root out the sin. Let's look at our third example. We've got Moses and the people. We've got Joshua and the people. Now let's go to Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount. Fast forward to the New Testament and in part of this Sermon on the Mount, specifically the example we're going to look at, shows us the importance of living our faith. Let's look at Matthew 5:23-24:

Jonathan (00:43:28): "Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering."

Julie (00:43:43): The Pharisees were all about outward appearance. Here's a person coming to God, looking to all like they're doing the right thing, regardless of how much hatred or jealousy or whatever was happening in secret. Jesus taught differently. He said it was more important to have the heart right than to perform this outward act. In a practical sense, this can be difficult. I'm speaking to me. When there are hurt or angry feelings between us, sometimes we want to stay mad or offended because it's easier to stew in it than to confront and untangle what happened. But if this blocks our access to God in any way, we've got to figure it out.

Rick (00:44:23): The act of presenting an offering was a solemn and sober occasion for any Jew. This is what Jesus is talking about. To leave in the middle of doing that was to leave as you're reverently and prayerfully approaching God through your offering. Jesus' lesson here; it's more important to live the high standards of brotherhood that God has put before us than to go about our sacrificial offerings to God with unresolved, brotherly issues. We need to put things in perspective in order so that we can see them for what they truly are supposed to be.

Jonathan (00:44:59): Rick, this offering costs us something. It has value and it's personal. We would have to walk away from that offering to fix something else. Right the wrong with our brother.

Rick (00:45:10): Yeah. Yeah. It takes an action to fix the disturbed relationship. It means put that prayer on pause. Don't lose the prayerful attitude; put that prayer on pause and go do what you must do to put things where they belong.

Julie (00:45:27): But we would continually pray on our way to make amends with that brother is the point. We're just switching the personal focus of our prayer. We're pausing one, but moving into a different one.

Rick (00:45:37): I think generally, yes, but even deeper. It's the focus of our heart and our mind. The prayer is the result of our heart and mind. Our heart and mind must be focused on making things right before God. It's changing that focus. We need to pause what we were offering, and you're right, have that new prayer that is rising up to an even higher level because we were lower. We were lower because we had a difficulty. Now that we're fixing it, we ask the Lord for strength. Yes, we continue to pray always in these things. Jonathan, Practicing the Principles of Proper Prayer in relation to God asking us to pause our prayers. What do we have?

Jonathan (00:46:22): A fruitful prayer life requires spiritual balance. Prayer should be in the context of action, not in the place of it. Prayer should be in the context of rooting out sin and not overlooking it. Prayer should be in the context of living the high standards of brotherhood and not avoiding its challenges.

Rick (00:46:43): We need to keep prayer in the context of serving God in our overall Christian life. While we're obviously not supposed to stop praying, we are obviously supposed to keep praying within the full context of godly living.

Jonathan (00:47:04): We have examined who God hears, what a "no" answer means, and keeping prayer in context. What about how we should pray?

Rick (00:47:14): Jesus gave us a literal model to follow when praying. This model is simple and it's to the point. It's not meant to be our default prayer, but it is meant to guide us. If we're seeking to transform our prayer lives, we want to be sure that we understand and appreciate this model as an example of how the building blocks of prayer all fit together.

Jonathan (00:47:43): The Lord's Prayer gives us the basis for understanding how prayer works.

Rick (00:47:48): It does. We want to take a look at that at this point, but first, Principles of Proper Prayer to introduce that: Going before God in prayer is an undeserved privilege and therefore should be approached with reverence and awe as we ask for help and guidance.

Julie (00:48:09): Before we get into the Lord's prayer, why do you think this model prayer doesn't include saying that we're thankful? Because thankfulness is not a part of this.

Rick (00:48:18): Yeah, and the scripture we read earlier said "in everything gives thanks." So you'd think the model prayer should have thankfulness right there. It does. What is reverence? What is the awe of God? It is the gratefulness for His greatness. It is the attitude that makes gratefulness pour out of us. So when we are reverent, gratitude has to follow. It really does. That's the equation. I think that's one of the reasons you don't see gratitude specifically here, because the awe and reverence is that big. Let's get started with the Lord's Prayer, just a quick look. Jonathan Matthew 6:9:

Jonathan (00:48:58): "Pray, then, in this way: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name." To "hallow" means "to honor as holy." Since God's name is holy, we are to have reverence, love, respect and awe for Him. "Reverence" means "having an attitude of deep respect." This is the attitude we are required to have when approaching God.

Rick (00:49:22): Attitude of deep respect. First on the list, recognize the privilege of prayer. Pray then in this way. Jesus is saying, "Here's how you do it. To begin, you glorify God as our Father." Very simple, very straightforward, very reverential.

Julie (00:49:41): We started out by reading Isaiah 57:15 where God revealed "I dwell in a high and holy place, but also with the contrite and lowly of spirit." There can't be a bigger gap in contrast. We should be in awe that God is so big and yet can dwell with us who are so small in this very personal and individual way. But sometimes that reverence might be too much to bear, and we pray with this measure of fear because of our reverence for God. Then what?

Rick (00:50:11): That's another question that we're going to be dealing with in our Part II; what happens when we are so backed up by our fear because we've been so messed up. Just a note at this point is, remember God is God. Remember God is love. Remember God knows, and use those principles to be able to move forward in spite of our own fear. We'll get into that much, much more in Part II. Jonathan, at this point, "Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name." Let's look at Romans 8:15:

Jonathan (00:50:44): "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, Abba! Father!"

Rick (00:50:52): "Abba, Father!" That is a very sensitive, childlike attached description of "Father." Privilege lies in the realization that God is very approachable, just like a daddy is approachable to their child. That child leaps into their arms because of the approachability. We want to have that same sense while keeping reverence. Isaiah 64:8:

Jonathan (00:51:23): "But now, O Jehovah, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand."

Rick (00:51:32): With that approachability, with that connectivity of a child to their father, we look at the Isaiah scripture and we realize that privilege lies in the realization that God shapes us and shapes our lives. We don't shape His will. We are the clay. He's the potter. I'm glad it's that way. Let Him shape me as He will and let me conform to that which He shapes.

Julie (00:52:02): Just a basic question; every prayer doesn't have to start out with "Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name," right?

Jonathan (00:52:09): Right. The exact words aren't required. But going before Him with an attitude of reverence is always required.

Rick (00:52:18): Absolutely. Attitude of reverence. Let's move forward now to the next piece. Matthew 6:10:

Jonathan (00:52:25): "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Julie (00:52:30): Well, we can look around right now. God's will is not being done on earth, but Jesus said to pray for this kingdom when God will be obeyed on earth now as He is in heaven. Many verses in the Bible describe this kingdom, and we've done many podcast episodes on it. It's the time when God will wipe away everyone's tears, and Revelation 21:4 says "the crying will pass away."

Rick (00:52:52): You don't get to that point overnight, you get to that point through a process. Jesus is saying, "Pray for God's plan to unfold." There's a process, there's a systematic unfolding of God's plan. One of the things we realize prophetically is God's kingdom comes by replacing the world's kingdoms. It's not just a, "Hey, here's something nice and happy;" there's a replacement that has to happen. That is shown to us in Daniel 2:44:

Jonathan (00:53:23): "In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever."

Julie (00:53:38): We're told to pray for this kingdom, but God's plan is going to unfold whether we pray for it or not. It's certainly not dependent on me. So what's the point? Well, I think it shows compliance with His plan, like I am so in line with my heavenly Father that His will is my will. We put ourselves in that place of being completely in line no matter what the outcome is to us personally or those around us. Cheerful compliance is everything, even when it means we're going to go through difficult experiences.

Rick (00:54:08): Absolutely. One of the greatest accomplishments of prayer is creating compliance in our hearts and minds, in our actions, in our thoughts, in our feelings; creating a compliant individual who wants to do God's will. And that's why Jesus put these things in the order that he put them. Let's go further. Let's go to Matthew 6:11:

Jonathan (00:54:30): "Give us this day our daily bread."

Rick (00:54:33): Third, we have this petition for basic needs. We begin with the privilege of approaching the Almighty God and then praying for His will and His kingdom. These points show us His power and foresight. With this in mind, we can now pray for our needs. Notice it's not about what we want, but what we need.

Jonathan (00:54:55): How do we model our attitude of prayer? By putting God first, reverently following His will and then bringing ourselves in by asking to bless our needs in our lives as He sees fit. Here's what Jesus' answer was to Satan during the temptations in the wilderness, showing this spiritual aspect of bread. Matthew 4:4: "But he answered and said, It is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Our physical bread is described in 1 Timothy 6:8: "If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content."

Julie (00:55:36): We need food for our bodies, but we also need it for our hearts and minds. We receive this special spiritual food from the word of God. Of course, the Bible in John 6:35, Jesus said he was the "bread of life," meaning his words and example are the spiritual food that we're looking for. But is it wrong to ask for literal food? What if we're in some circumstance where we can't feed our family? Is that a right prayer or a wrong prayer?

Rick (00:56:01): Sure, I would say it's absolutely a correct prayer. It's an appropriate prayer, and then we need to look for God's overruling and understanding. Sometimes, like you said earlier, you don't go ask for a job and then sit there and wait for it to come to you. You go do whatever it is you have to do or can do to work along the lines of fulfilling your part of the responsibility. So yes, it's in a very appropriate prayer, but folks, please let's not think about prayer in the absence of action, but prayer as a motivation to appropriate action instead.

Jonathan (00:56:36): The Lord's Prayer is one of the most often-repeated prayers within Christianity, but when we just repeat it by rote, we miss what it is teaching us. It should be personal. Let's continue with Matthew 6:12: "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." In other words, I will adopt a forgiving attitude because You, Father, have forgiven me.

Rick (00:57:00): So the fourth part of the Lord's Prayer, of this model that teaches us the things that are really important, is to seek forgiveness as we seek to be forgiving.

Jonathan (00:57:13): The word "debts" means "something owed, that is, (figuratively) a due; morally, a fault."

Julie (00:57:21): The Luke version of this prayer Luke 11:4, the Waymouth translation, says, "And forgive us our sins (not forgive us our debts), for we ourselves also forgive everyone who fails in his duty to us." But the meaning is the same as in Matthew because as you just read, Jonathan, this "debts" word has two shades of meaning, one towards debt and the other towards a moral obligation like a sin.

Rick (00:57:45): We want to understand that as being something that is part of us, not a dollars and cents thing, but much bigger than that. Here's the key; nothing, nothing, nothing works without forgiveness. We can forgive because we are forgiven. That's what Jesus is saying. Let's hold onto that and let that having been forgiven, be that example for how we treat others. Let's look at Ephesians 1:7:

Jonathan (00:58:14): "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace."

Julie (00:58:22): Here's the hard part. If we are forgiven, we have to live forgiven. That means we aren't going back and intentionally recommitting the sin, thinking that if we just say some magic words, be forgiven again and again and again. That's living as a hypocrite. This isn't talking about careless forgiveness.

Rick (00:58:40): Right. God's not careless with His forgiveness. We can be careless with the application of His forgiveness. It's on us to be careful and reverent in dealing with all of these pieces. A good example of this is Matthew 18:21-22:

Jonathan (00:58:57): "Then Peter came and said to him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." I've said this before; if you keep counting, you're missing the point. We have to have this attitude because that's how God treats us.

Rick (00:59:20): Yeah.

Julie (00:59:21): Earlier this week when we were discussing these scriptures among us, Rick, you said something really helpful. You said, when we go before the Lord, are we able to say that we did everything perfectly in serving him? Of course not. So why would we demand that others serve us perfectly? This is helpful to me to not hold in negative feelings.

Rick (00:59:42): It really does come down to an attitude that we are approaching our Heavenly Father with. We want to have that attitude by realizing what we've been given so we can learn to try and give the same.

Jonathan (00:59:54): We are given so much, so we have to have a forgiving attitude towards others.

Rick (01:00:00): Absolutely needs to be there. Let's go on to Matthew 6:13:

Jonathan (01:00:06): "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil (some translations say "the evil one").

Julie (01:00:12): But that seems contradictory, "Lead us not into temptation," because James 1:13 says "God tempts no one." 1 Corinthians 10:13 says Paul told us that God won't permit faithful Christians to have trials beyond their ability. He'll direct the issue. Why would God lead us into temptation?

Rick (01:00:31): Those are good questions and those are good scriptures to say, "Okay, let's put this in perspective." A real careful look at the Greek words here helps us to see this as follows. This is a transliteration, if you will. "Do not allow us to enter into a testing situation." What does that mean? "Do not allow us to enter into a testing situation." In other words, "Lord, I know I need to be tried and I know I need to grow and I know trials are coming, but keep me from that situation that is overwhelming to me, that would be too much for me." That's why it says "but rescue us from the evil one," because it's saying, "I need to count on you so that I can stand firmly." It's a very humble way to approach the Father and say, no, He's not leading us to bad things. He's leading us through difficult things for the sake of our maturity. The fifth point here is seek God's overruling protection. Prayer is not for the purpose of getting God's attention, it's for the purpose of focusing our attention on His overruling providence, for His providence most often comes in unexpected and difficult ways. Let's look at 2 Peter 2:9:

Jonathan (01:01:51): "Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment."

Rick (01:01:59): God can and will deliver us when we need delivering. Sometimes in our experiences we say, well, how come God didn't deliver me? Well, maybe because you didn't need it. Maybe because you needed to be worked out in that experience. Remember the Apostle Paul and praying three times, and the answer is "no?" God said "no" because he needed to stay there and realize the strength of Christ in him. Let's apply the principle to ourselves when we say "deliver us from the evil one." Let's make sure that we are growing in Christ as best as we can. Romans 12:12:

Jonathan (01:02:37): "Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer."

Rick (01:02:41): Notice how our hope and trials and prayer are all intertwined. Prayer changes our lives because it's intertwined with the other pieces. It's not something separate.

Jonathan (01:02:55): What does a good prayer look like? It is reverent. It is seeing God's will in the big things. It recognizes God's presence in our physical needs. It recognizes God's providence in our dealing with others and recognizes God's presence in our personal trials.

Rick (01:03:11): Prayer is everywhere. An appropriate prayer needs to be risen up to. Jonathan finally, for this episode, Part I of Part II, Practicing the Principles of Proper Prayer:

Jonathan (01:03:27): The privilege of prayer is all about growing into a connection with our heavenly Father. This privilege is often misunderstood and misused. Let us be diligent in our pursuit of this connection, realizing the guidelines and expectations of a vital prayer life are all recorded for us in scripture. Let us heed these guidelines with sincerity and humility as we reach up to our loving heavenly Father.

Rick (01:03:54): We're reaching up to our heavenly Father. We're growing in this connectivity to Him, and we're understanding that our prayers are for the purpose of helping us to grow into Christ, grow closer toward God and understanding that all of this, all of this is revealed in Scripture. Folks, prayer is vital. Prayer is essential, but prayer can easily be lost because we get lost and start going down our own road instead of a godly, scriptural, appropriate, Christlike road to prayer. As we continue in our prayer lives, let's ask ourselves those questions. Am I being godly and Christlike when I pray? Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode, Part II, "How Can I Transform My Prayer life?" We're going to talk about a lot of the details of prayer, those little questions, those nagging questions, and put them into scriptural order. We'll talk to you then.

Final Notes (01:05:04): copyright @2023 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.