If you’re anything like me, the new year brings a time of reflection. Whether you’re in to new year resolutions or not, it’s good to look back and see what has gone well in the past year and look forward, thinking about what could do with changing in the coming twelve months.
One area of my life that constantly disappoints is my prayer life. I’m acutely conscious that my prayers all too often tend to be vague, human-centred, irregular and offered on the assumption that I know what’s best for me and everyone around me. And I know I’m not the only one who struggles in areas like these!
So, in 2014 I’m not so much going to plan to pray as itch to pray. It’s a mnemonic – one you might like to use too. It goes like this. Let’s pray:
I – Intelligently
To pray for someone well, we need to know them well. To ask God to “do whatever is necessary” for someone may be the kind of general prayer we have to pray on rare occasions when we are clueless about what is going on, but it’s not a prayer we should pray for our friends or family. If we love someone well, we will want to think about their circumstances and as we reflect on how they’re doing and what they need most, some specific prayer topics will come to mind. Let’s avoid praying for them simply “to grow” but ask God to help them “grow in their understanding of Jesus’ sovereignty over their finances” or “grow in their love of their sacrificial Saviour and their willingness to serve their irritating neighbours”.
T – Theologically
To pray for someone well, we need to pray biblically. “Father God, please give Neil a Porsche” might be valid on rare occasions (can’t think when, but I wouldn’t want to rule it out completely!) but prayers that involve asking for the development of the fruit of the Spirit or for someone to understand grace and submit to the Lord Jesus as their Saviour are profoundly biblical. It’s great to use the kind of prayers Jesus, Paul (and others) prayed in the Bible and apply them to the lives of people we care about. After all, prayers offered “in Jesus’ name” need to reflect Jesus’ will.
C – Constantly
God is not a reluctant giver who needs to be worn down before he answers prayer – the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8) shows us that. But he is a God who loves to hear us – his precious children - praying a lot. He doesn’t get bored of us talking to him about the same subjects, day in day out, as long as the requests reflect his character. In fact, talking to him frequently builds up our relationship with our Father and helps us love other people better. Something as simple as setting alarms on our phones can remind us to pray and keep on praying.
H – Humbly
It’s a consistent theme in the Bible: God knows what’s best, we don’t. If you don’t believe me, try Romans 9 or Job 38 for some hard-hitting reminders. Ending our prayer time with an expression of trust in the Lord – saying that we know his wise, loving and sovereign answers to prayer are right (even if we can’t understand them) - is an apt way to show our dependence and submission to the one who knows all and has made Christ the head of the church (not us!). After all, the world is Jesus-centred not me-centred.
It’s not a complex system but it’s a prayer-changing framework. And given what a privilege it is to be able to talk to the ruler of the universe and the intimate relationship to which God has called us, it’s great to itch to pray this year …
