Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of God’s willingness.
Martin Luther
If God will do what He wants to do when He wants to do it, why pray?
Agnostic pundits and chronic doubters love this question. In their minds it makes “religious people” appear thoughtless and easily led.
And it reveals an astonishing lack of understanding regarding the practice of prayer. God is not hoarding good things like health, reconciled relationships, or financial peace from us. We are not trying to pry blessings from His hand.
Prayer is:
- aligning ourselves with the purposes of God
- releasing the power of God to accomplish those purposes
- intercession
Prayer that seeks to align us with the purposes of God frees us from our human-centric thinking. With an attitude of “not my will”, God is able to work out His will in the needs we bring before Him.
Do not underestimate the importance of this.
We know what we want. We know how we want it.
God, however, wants us to want what He wants. Not my will means we are wiling to cooperate unconditionally with Him.
Prayer aligned with the purposes of God releases His power. That power, Paul writes in Ephesians 1:19-20, is the working of His mighty strength.
Look at that language. The working of His mighty strength. We all want it. However, it is only available to those who are not my willed. Who are aligned.
Prayer that intercedes is intense. Intercession is prayer ratcheted up. It is Moses between God’s wrath and the golden calf. It is Abraham between Lot and utter destruction. It is Paul on his face for the churches he loved.
It is Jesus in the garden.
It should be us for our families, our neighborhoods. And especially now for our cities and our country. We need the power of the Holy Spirit working through God’s people across the land to heal hearts.
This is no time to be modeling spiritual adolescence for our kids or anyone in our sphere of influence. Christ-followers who are filled with the power and love of the Holy Spirit are desperately needed right now.
Be one. Without reservation.
Thank you for this beautiful reminder to pray as Jesus did, “not my will but Thine be done!”
Thank you, Julie. We need intercessors right now.
Thank you Debra for your Godly wisdom and so deeply but clearly stasted.
I appreciate your response, Yvonne. Prayer is both a privilege and a responsibility in this season.
I was just having a conversation about this topic with a family member. Thanks for your clarity and understanding offered to us here – so very helpful! I appreciate your topics and writing, Debra.
Thank you so much for your comments, Jeanette, and for sharing the post. We certainly need the clarity and power of the Holy Spirit in these difficult days.