This is the fourth in a series of blogs on Prayer as a part of the Armor of God.
God provides the body of Christ with a comprehensive communications network. He includes strategies on how to use it. He also made it clear that He is in search of us and inaugurated the way for us to approach Him. So, how should we respond in prayer?
In Hebrews 10:22 we are told, “let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him.” This verse gives us three guidelines which should help form our attitude toward God as we approach Him and build a relationship with Him.
The first guideline is that we must be willing to draw near to God. This involves recognition of our position before God, and a willingness to spend time with Him. Prayer is man's acknowledgement that God exists, and He wants to communicate with us. God is willing to communicate with us, but when we stand before Him, we stand before a holy God! This thought may intimidate us, especially if we have sin in our lives. Sin will destroy the relationship God wants to have with us, and Satan is doing everything in his power to bring this about.
However, in James 4:7-10 we are told to, “humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor."
We must humble ourselves and willingly come forward to stand with God. If we stand with the world, or give in to Satan, we are not standing with God and God is not with us. The prophet Azariah warned king Asa with the same truth when he said in 2 Chronicles 15:2, “The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.”
The second guideline is that we must come to God with a sincere (true) heart. God desires an honest and sincere attitude from us. God wants us to approach Him from where we are at. We must avoid coming to God with a preconceived attitude about him, or expectation of Him, which in essence keeps us from God. What I mean by this is that many people respond to others based upon how they think the other person wants them to, or on how they want the other person to respond to them! They do not respond honestly and freely, because their response is based upon a preconceived attitude about the other person.
When my daughter was two years old, my wife and I were teaching her how to be polite. Much of this depended upon repetition, and we may have enforced the idea upon her more than adequately. She became so preoccupied with making the proper response that she would say "excuse me" to the wall when she bumped into it. In the same way we may "bump" into God when we pray and not really know it, or not get the most out of it if we lack a sincere heart. This can result if we are preoccupied with how we should respond to Him, which in essence is being self-centered. It can also result when we are preoccupied with how He should respond to us, which is often caused by bad theology.
Joshua clarified his trust in God when he said in Joshua 24:14-15, " So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped... Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve... But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
The apostle Paul also prayed for the Philippian Christians, that they would maintain a sincere heart when he said in Philippians 1:8-10, "God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus. I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return."
The third guideline is that we must come to God in full assurance of faith. After all, we have confidence to enter God's holy place because of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19). But this is the part of our attitude which believes that God is able to meet our needs, and that He wants to reward us. We need to develop our relationship with Him as the Psalmist did when he said in Psalm 5:3, "Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.”
In summary, let me return to a comment made earlier. The concept of prayer involves our attitude toward God. If our attitude is wrong, God is not interested in what we have to say to Him. In Luke 18:9-14 we find a painful commentary on prayer in regard to this thought. Jesus told the story of a Pharisee and a “dishonest tax collector” who go to the Temple to pray. At first it seems as though the tax collector is doing everything all wrong. He stood off in the distance. He did not look up toward heaven. He even had a low opinion of himself. But God heard his prayer! However, God did not hear the Pharisee because he was praying to himself. He was not in touch with God. If we are like the Pharisee, preoccupied with the externals of prayer, then God will not respond to us! We need to come to God as the tax collector did, with a sincere heart, and trusting in God to justify us as we humble ourselves before Him.
Sam Walter Foss wrote a poem which speaks to this attitude. He called it The Prayer of Cyrus Brown [1].
“The proper way for a man to pray,"
Said Deacon Lemual Keyes,
"and the only proper attitude,
is down upon his knees."
"No, I should say the way to pray,"
Said Reverend Doctor Wise,
"is standing straight with outstretched arms,
and rapt and upturned eyes."
"Oh, no, no, no," said Elder Slow,
"such posture is too proud:
A man should pray with eyes fast-closed
and head contritely bowed."
"It seems to me his hands should be
austerely clasped in front,
with both thumbs pointing toward the ground,"
Said Reverend Doctor Blunt.
"Last year I fell in Hidgekin's well
headfirst," said Cyrus Brown,
"With both my heels a-stickin' up,
and my head a-pointin' down;
“An’ I made a prayer right then an’ there –
Best prayer I ever said,
the prayingest prayer I ever prayed,
A-standing on my head."
________
[1] “The Prayer of Cyrus Brown” at https://www.bartleby.com/380/poem/214.html.
[2] All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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