Part One: Understanding God’s View
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
“ . . . pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
After reading over a dozen books relating to the subject of prayer, after attending and leading seminars, retreats, and Bible studies on prayer, one would imagine that I have enjoyed a pretty good return on the investment. By God’s grace, yes, I have, though not always as I had hoped. As I look back on five decades as a Christian, that certainly is the case—God has been faithful to hear me when I have called out to Him.
Some answers to prayer were immediate: providing money for college tuition when we were without funds and up against a deadline; providing direction on making a critical decisions; healing a sick friend. Some answers were a definite ‘no.’ Other answers were longer in coming: waiting seven years for a house to sell; waiting 19 years for my parents to come to faith in Christ; patiently waiting for God to bring His man for our daughter to marry; waiting for a prodigal daughter to return to her spiritual roots; waiting 29 years for my brother to trust Jesus. It really doesn’t matter to God how much we know about prayer, what matters is that we pray.
W. Bingham Hunter wrote, “Prayer is a means God uses to give us what He wants.” Get it? It’s to give us what HE wants. For the next few days, we’ll look at what God wants for us through a pattern for prayer using the acrostic, ACTS. First, let’s look at four elements that will help us understand God’s view on prayer:
• His Promise: to reveal His character; to respond by hearing and answering the prayer of all who come to Him in faith; that He will be present when we call upon Him.
• His Purpose: for us to seek God’s will; to become intimately acquainted with the Father; to build a spiritual heritage for our family and every generation to come.
• His Priority: to put us first, therefore we must do the same, finding a place and time to spend with Him and commit to faithfully pray.
• His Provision: to meet our needs (not always our wants and desires) and to meet the needs of others through our intercession.
My prayer for you, dear readers, is that you would seek a daily conversation with the Father “Who loves us with an everlasting love.” (Jeremiah 31:30) Ask God to help you believe now more than ever that prayer makes a difference.
Father in heaven, our praises we lift up to You for these life lessons on how to have a more meaningful prayer life. We praise You for the truth of Your promises, purposes, priority, and provision. We praise You that You love us so much that You wait expectantly to hear from us. Forgive us for our lack of faith or when we fail to trust You with our deepest longings, hurts, and supplications. We thank You for the answers that You are already working out before we even know we need them or when we are unable to articulate them. Hear our prayers, O God, as we lift them up to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
