Prayer Attitudes
J. C. Ryle once wrote, "If I know anything of a Christian's heart, you are often sick of your own prayers." You go to pray but you can't think of what to say. Or you tell God he's awesome, and a second later you recall that the Honda needs an oil change. You promise God that you'll fight the good fight; you will be persistent in prayer and begin to doze off as you speak. You try to honestly confess your sins, and then you find yourself making excuses for everyone of them. Prayer not only works, prayer is work! Well what do we do? I believe that as much as prayer is a conversation with God, it is at its core an attitude toward God. When we find ourselves struggling in our prayer life we begin by checking our attitudes. J. I. Packer says it well when he says, “the key to healthy prayer is not technique. It's a pure heart that wants to please God.” Saint Augustine agrees “It is not words that God wants of you, but your hearts. It is with the heart we ask; with the heart we seek; and it is with the voice of the heart that the door is opened.” Well then, what does that pure heart look like? A pure heart is an undivided, single-minded heart that longs to live the kind of life that God desires. **When Luther's puppy happened to be at the table, he looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes; he (Martin Luther) said, 'Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish or hope." And when this is the condition of our heart it produces the kind of attitudes that lead to a fulfilling and power packed prayer life. Let's look then at six prayer attitudes that lead to a satisfying and effective prayer life:
I. A pure heart bows before God with a humble attitude. (Luke 18:9-16)
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get." The tax collector, standing afar off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
*Here we have two men whose two prayers had two very different destinations. The Pharisee’s prayer never went any further than the sound of his voice because his prayer was all about getting public recognition and the applause of men. The publican’s prayer reached to the very throne of God because he recognized the enormity of the sin that proceeded from his wicked heart. How often I have been driven to pray:"Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling." God hears the cry of that heart!
**Prayer is humble surrender - surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.
**Ivan is enduring all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp. One day he is praying with his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner notices him and says with ridicule, "Prayers won't help you get out of here any faster." Opening his eyes, Ivan answers, "I do not pray to get out of prison but to do the will of God."
II. A pure heart confesses to God with a repentant attitude (Psalm 51:2, 10; First John 1:9)
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!... Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. God wants us to agree with him about how repugnant, how filthy, how destructive our sinful thoughts and actions are. Further, he wants us to turn from them, to separate ourselves from that sinful habit, and to have a passionate desire to live a holy life. And when we honestly come to him in true repentance, he promises to cleanse us and to totally forgive us. It is not strange that while praying, we seldom ask for change of character, but most often a change in circumstance. “We must lay before him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.” (C. S. Lewis)
III. A pure heart comes to God with a forgiving attitude. (Matthew 6:14-15; 6:12)
Jesus says, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses." In fact, Jesus commands us to build into our prayers a request that God forgive us in the same way that we have forgiven others who have harmed us. Jesus makes it clear that there is a direct relationship between having been forgiven by God and the forgiveness that we extend to others. Our Lord does not have in mind the initial experience of forgiveness that we receive at salvation, but rather the day-to-day relationship with God that we need to have restored when we have sinned and displeased him. We cannot maintain intimacy in in our relationship, with both God and others, and at the same time hold grudges, cherish bitterness, or harbor harmful desires. But look at what they've done to me! God answers back, look at what you did to me and I have and I daily forgive you. Do you really want the ulcers, headaches, and the misery that comes with an unforgiving spirit?
**Lord, help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children. Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester. Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares. Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive.
IV. A pure heart waits for God with a patient attitude (Psalm 38:15. Psalm 27:14; Isaiah 40:31)
But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Waiting is not easy. It was not easy for Job to wait as his life seemingly crumbled all around him. It was not easy for Abraham and Sarah to wait decades for the promised child. It was not easy for Joseph to wait for God's deliverance in an Egyptian king’s prison cell. But the righteous know that waiting is worth it. Waiting patiently for an answer shows my earnestness, a sense of expectancy, and my respect for who God is. Waiting grows my relationship with God as I reflect on and savor his promises by faith until the time of their fulfillment. Abraham waited and God delivered! Joseph waited and God delivered! Job waited and God delivered! How often I have waited weeks, months, yes even years, and then saw God deliver. There will never be a time in your life where you will not have to wait on the Lord. But there were also never be a time in your life that the wait will not eventually be worth it!
** Bill Hybels writes:
If the request is wrong, God says, "No."
If the timing is wrong, God says, "Slow."
If you are wrong, God says, "Grow."
But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says, "Go!"
** Bill Hybels tells about an interesting experience after a baptism service in their church. He writes: “I bumped into a woman in the stairwell who was crying. I thought this was a little odd, since the service was so joyful. I asked her if she was all right. She said, ‘No, I’m struggling.’ She said, ‘My mom was baptized today. I prayed for her every day for almost 20 years. The reason I’m crying is because I came this close to giving up on her. At the 5-year mark I said, “Who needs this? God isn’t listening.” At the 10-year mark I said, “Why am I wasting my breath?” At the 15-year mark I said, “This is absurd.” At the 19-year mark I said, “I’m just a fool.” But I just kept trying, kept praying. Even with weak faith I kept praying. Then she gave here life to Christ, and she was baptized today. I will never doubt the power of prayer again.”
V. A pure heart looks up to God with a believing attitude (Mark 11:24; John 14:14).
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. To pray in Jesus name means to pray in a way which is consistent with Christ’s character and his will. As our prayer life grows, we will begin to discover the heart of God in day-to-day matters. God will time and time again lay a request upon our hearts and give us the assurance that he will answer that prayer. You will be driven to pray for that thing and you will be given an overwhelming confidence that because it is God's will, it will be done. Spirit anointed prayer is never wishful thinking, for it springs from trust in a personal God who wants us to take him at his word.
**Dr. Helen Roseveare, missionary to Zaire, told the following story. "A mother at our mission station died after giving birth to a premature baby. We tried to improvise an incubator to keep the infant alive, but the only hot water bottle we had was beyond repair. So we asked the children to pray for the baby and for her sister. One of the girls responded. 'Dear God, please send a hot water bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late because by then the baby will be dead. And dear Lord, send a doll for the sister so she won't feel so lonely.' That afternoon a large package arrived from England. The children watched eagerly as we opened it. Much to their surprise, under some clothing was a hot water bottle! Immediately the girl who had prayed so earnestly started to dig deeper, exclaiming, 'If God sent that, I'm sure He also sent a doll!' And she was right! The heavenly Father knew in advance of that child's sincere requests, and 5 months earlier He had led a ladies' group to include both of those specific articles."
**Dear Pastor, I know God loves me but I wish He would give me an "A" on my report card so I could be sure. Love, Theresa. (Age 8, Milwaukee)
Dear Pastor, Could you say a special blessing for my Aunt Beatrice? She has been looking for a husband for 12 years and still hasn't found one. Yours sincerely, Debbie. (Age 9, Duluth)
Dear Pastor, Do I have to say grace before every meal? Even when I am only having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?
Wesley. (Age 9, Baltimore)
Dear Pastor, Thank you for your sermon on Sunday. I will write more when my mother explains to me what you said. Yours truly, Justin. (Age 9, Westport)
Dear Pastor, Please pray for all the airline pilots. I am flying to California tomorrow. Laurie. (Age 10, New York City)
Dear Pastor, We say grace every night before we eat dinner even when we have leftovers from the night before. Yours truly, Jacki. (Age 9, Chicago
VI. A pure heart rejoices before God with a thankful attitude (Colossians 4:2 First Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Continue steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. One sure indicator of a mature Christian is that he expresses thankfulness to God for all circumstances, for every event of life that God allows to come to us.
**When Satan deploys his forces against the church, he instructs them not to focus their energies on the prayerless believer but on the saint who perseveres in prayer. Whenever you go onto your face before God in prayer, it is as though you put your knee into a bee's nest of evil. They swarm out around your head and do all they can to divert your attention, and dampen your zeal, and discourage your heart, and diminish your faith. And so Paul tells us to watch out—not to give in, but to cover ourselves with a net that the bees can't get through. And he calls the net thanksgiving: "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." Guard yourselves with gratitude!
Prayer does change things. It changes you! To pray is to change. And the change begins in your attitude - in your heart. Fervent prayer is a heart-to-heart talk with God. God communicates his heart to us through his Word and we communicate from the depths of our hearts back to him. And this heart desire sets our prayers on fire. Your soul cannot be listless or distracted when some great desire focuses it and inflames it. Strong holy attitudes make for strong prayers. Perhaps then we should close with this prayer: Dear Jesus, how desperately I need an adjustment in my attitudes when it comes to prayer. And yet when I am honest, I know that sometimes I do not even want to pray. I am distracted. I am stubborn. I am self-centered. In your mercy, Jesus, bring my "want-er" more in line with my "need-er" so that I can come to want what I need. Remind me again and again that the labor of prayer is worth it - that the prayers of a righteous man and woman have great power. Amen!
