Praying is a paradox in the life of most Christians. When we reflect about the experience of praying, we find it is the easiest thing in the world, yet we are inevitably bad at doing it. And we find it is the point of feeling closest in our relationship with the God of the universe, but often it is also the point when we feel most distant from God.
And when we try to outline a theology of prayer, we find another paradox. On the one hand it seems so simple—I talk to God and he hears me. But when I start thinking a little harder, prayer becomes one of the most mysterious of activities. Do I change God’s mind by my prayers? But presumably he is in a much better position to make good decisions in his governance of the universe than me, so changing his mind would be detrimental. And he knows what I need before I ask, so why do I need to ask? And what if you and I pray for opposite things at the same time—how does God sort that out?
Prayer seems so simple—I talk to God and he hears me. But when I start thinking a little harder, prayer becomes one of the most mysterious of activities.
And when it comes to working out what to pray for, we experience another tension. It seems I can ask God for anything I want, but asking for what I want seems so selfish. I feel that I should censor my requests and only ask for things that are “good” or “needed”, but that makes prayer a straightjacket in which I only pray for the things God is going to do anyway.
So how does God (in his word) explain and resolve these paradoxes? The best place to start is to see how the gospel of the death and resurrection of Jesus for us affects our praying.
Praying in the Light of Christ
Jesus died for our sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). The effect of Jesus’ death is that all those who put their trust in him are justified; despite all we have done in rebellion and foolishness God says we are OK with him. Our record is clean and there is no guilt and shame before God any more. And this is the foundation of prayer. As Paul says in Romans 5:1-2, “since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand”. This access is critical to prayer; without it we are cut off from God, locked out by our sin. With it we can approach God with freedom and confidence that he won’t reject us, that he won’t bring up our record and condemn us, but welcome us and our requests. And this new standing with God is indelible—it doesn’t depend on how well I have behaved today, whether I have read my Bible, been to church or confessed every last sin. If the basis on which I relate to God is Jesus’ death for me, then the door into the very presence and ear of the creator of the universe is always fully open.
Jesus’ resurrection also effects our praying. The letter to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus is our High Priest, for ever alive, and permanently keeping the door to God his Father open for us. And he knows first hand all the struggles of life we experience, and so is able to sympathise with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14-16). As we pray, God isn’t distant and remote, he doesn’t laugh at our anxieties and phobias, but God the Son has been there. We can pray confident that we will get a sympathetic ear in our times of need. And so we have a freedom to pray about anything and anything—nothing is beyond the care of our heavenly Father.
Praying in the Spirit of Adoption
As the risen Lord, Jesus pours out his Spirit to revive and transform us his people. And the Holy Spirit is integral to our praying, for he is the Spirit of Adoption (Galatians 4:1-7). He leads us to God, not simply as the Creator and Redeemer, but as our newly gained heavenly Father. We are now family, and it as children of God that we are able to pray. As a father delights to hear his children’s needs and provide for them, so our heavenly Father does for us. So we are to pray in the Spirit, coming to God as “Father”, free to ask anything of him we will. But never demanding, never dictating to God what he should do, but as a child trusting him to hear and respond with wisdom and love.
Being adopted children of God also carries implications for our future. We are God’s heirs, waiting to inherit the kingdom our Father wishes to share with us. We are Jesus’ brothers and sisters, and Jesus (the heir) will share his inheritance with us (Romans 8:17). Which means we will rule the new creation under and with Jesus. Like Adam and Eve did back in the beginning, but better. Or to put it another way, we are partners in our Father’s business, owning a share. This is all by grace, and what enormous grace it is, as God takes us from enemies bound for destruction to members of the royal family with whom he shares everything.
Partners with God
But partnering God in his business is not just in the future—we begin here and now. And prayer is central to our role, because as we pray, we participate in God’s rule of his universe. God welcomes our input as he makes his decisions about how he will achieve his purposes, both in our lives and in the wider world around us. Even though our advice is often naïve, foolish and mixed in motive, God still welcomes it and graciously builds it into his decisions. It makes you wonder just how influential you are, when you are in the privacy of your own room asking God to change the world.
As God’s children we are free to ask for anything. We don’t have to censor our prayers, because we can trust God to only do what is good.
Which helps us work out what to ask God for. As his children we are free to ask for anything. We don’t have to censor our prayers, because we can trust God to only do what is good. But as our minds are renewed to “think God’s thoughts after him”, then the things we want God to do will converge with the things God wants to do. We are being made competent to rule the world like God rules—with compassion, justice and wisdom. This will be reflected in our prayers (like Paul’s prayers in his letters—eg Philippians 1:9-11, Colossians 1:9-14)—the advice we give God will get better and better.
God has done everything to make prayer both simple and easy for his children. Access is ours through Jesus, help is ours by the Holy Spirit and privilege is ours by God’s grace—there is every reason to be prayerful. We may not understand how our prayers fit with God’s pre-planning of history—there is still much mystery surrounding those questions. But we do know God is responsive to our prayers.
Then why do we find praying so hard? That is the paradox, and it has to do with sin that clings so close. Even after becoming Christ’s, we still have that deep-seated independent streak that keeps us from entrusting life to God. And we still have that apathy toward the welfare of others and the honour of Jesus that allows us to breeze through the days without asking God to change the status quo. So what to do? In the words of one brand name—JUST DO IT!
