Hey Element Church? Big Question for today. How do you pray? I’m not talking about “Dear Jesus…” or “Our Father…”. I’m talking about in what attitude do you pray? Do you pray with expectation, really believing that God CAN do what you’re asking? Or do you pray out of motions and traditions…because we’re supposed to?
When I went through the book of Acts this last time in my Bible reading I was struck by an attitude of some Christians in their prayers from chapter 12. You can read chapter 12 HERE, but I’ll give you the run down of what is going on.
King Herod Agrippa is on a rampage of persecuting believers. The apostle James is killed with a sword and Peter was arrested. He was placed under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each and the Scriptures say “…the church prayed very earnestly for him”. The night before Peter’s trial as he was sitting between two soldiers, chained up a bright light shown and an angel “struck him on the side to wake him up”. The chains fell off and he told Peter to get up and go. He followed the angel through the host of guards thinking the whole time it was a vision. They got to the gate and the gate just opened all by itself. When Peter realized it was real he went to the home of Mary where the believers were gathered together praying for him. He knocked at the door and a servant girl came to open it. She recognized Peters voice and instead of letting him in, she RAN back and told everyone “Peter is standing at the door!”
“Praise the Lord” they said “God has answered our prayers!” UMM NO! They didn’t say that. “WOW, God rescued Peter!” NOPE, wrong again. They were praying for Peters release and what did they say to the servant girl? “You’re out of your mind! It must be an angel.” Meanwhile Peter continued to knock and when they saw him they were amazed.
How did they pray? They obviously weren’t praying very expectantly. Their attitude must not have been “Nothing is impossible for God!” It seems they would believe that Peters ghost or angel could be standing there more than Peter himself, rescued from prison, WHICH IS WHAT THEY WERE ACTUALLY PRAYING FOR!
God’s been challenging me lately in my prayer life. “Do you believe I can do what you’re asking?” Is the question I feel most often. Am I praying expectantly or JUST habitually? Do I pray GOD SIZED prayers, or prayers that I can work out myself. People in Scripture prayed for the sun to stand still, for dead to rise, for rain in the midst of a drought, for lame to be healed and the blind to see. What am I praying for?
How do you pray?
Jeff
