... we are always coming to God with a laundry list of requests... After we finish our moment with God, we are not as interested to wait on and hear from Him.
Many books have been written and read on prayer and prayer life. Many sermons and messages have been delivered and heard too. Is there more to learn? No matter how much we think we know about these topics, there is always something beautiful to learn about prayer, and we cannot stop working on and enriching our prayer life.
Oswald Chambers reminded us how we pray and how we should pray: “We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible’s idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.” Yes, there are many moments when we forget the real purpose of prayer because we are always coming to God with a laundry list of requests for ourselves and others. After we finish our moment with God, we are not as interested to wait on and hear from Him. What we want is for God to act on what we ask of Him—and pronto! —as we are signing off with "Amen."
Prayer Is an Invitation to Intimacy
Many people can equate and confuse intimacy with a sexual relationship, thinking that this is as close as we can get to an involvement. But intimacy is beyond a physical or romantic relationship. When we can risk opening ourselves up to someone and being vulnerable to that person about our feelings and emotions, intimacy happens. And as we show our authentic selves, allowing someone a peek into our soul, we become closer.
Prayer is about intimacy with God. As Dr. Harold Sala, my former boss, would say, “Prayer is touching God,” pictured almost like Michelangelo’s famous painting, The Creation of Adam, where God was reaching out to touch the hand of the first man He created. Dr. Sala had a follow-up on intimacy, with a play on words: “Into me, see.” It’s all about God’s invitation to have a special relationship with Him, where we can come just as we are, mess and all, to sit with Him. Intimacy is not hurling our demands for the job we need, to straighten out our prodigal child, or to heal us from our illness.
In Jeremiah 33:3, God says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” The God of Israel was beckoning His people, but not as an invitation to talk about the Babylonian destruction in Jerusalem and all around them. He already knew that. He wanted to reveal something to them…their restoration to glory. He wanted them to hear of His promise to “bring health and healing” to “let them enjoy abundant peace and security” (v.6).
In the same way, recall these words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” In our frantic and stressed lives, all we really want is for someone to take all the bad stuff away; yet we don’t know anyone willing to do so. Except for Jesus! He sees that we are running ourselves ragged, so He is calling us, the weary and burdened travelers of this world, for a promise of a much-needed break. How can someone accept Jesus’ generous offer if there is no relationship with Him? If we, His followers, doubt His invitation to come to Him at these times, how much more do those who do not believe in Him?
Prayer Intimacy Requires God’s Righteousness
Consider the favorite verse in Psalm 37:4: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Who wouldn’t be excited to have what we desire granted? It’s almost like hearing Cinderella’s hopeful singing of “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” for better things to come. Yes, there are better things to come with an intimate relationship with God. But understanding what delighting in God means is very important.
When we are truly reconciled with Christ, our desire is to completely free ourselves from our old sinful nature so we can fully embrace our “newness.” As we do so, we become the “righteousness of God.” And only dressed in God’s righteousness can we be a delight to Him.
It was said that “the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Moses’ proximity to God is beyond a private meeting with the president or the king or the queen of a country. It would be akin to hanging out with our BFF in the sanctuary of our bedroom!
But Moses never lost sight of and took for granted his relationship with the Lord. He prayed, “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight” (33:13 ESV). Moses didn’t assume that his privilege meant it was okay for him to treat God like a normal person, and that he could toss reverence out the window. He knew his place and remained fearful of God. Notice also that Moses never asked God for any physical endowment, like wealth or health. Instead, he asked God to show him His ways, which were higher than his (see Isaiah 55:8). It was a clear acknowledgment that he may fall short of God’s standard. Moses always longed to be in sync with God, for an even deeper relationship with Him, and to make what they shared together even richer than it was.
Focusing on God’s Delight in Our Prayer Life
Prayer becomes even more personal and intimate as we begin to delight ourselves in the Lord because prayer involves our hearts. But it’s about the right focus of our hearts, no longer operating based on our selfish desires but according to God’s will. We are devoted to Him and obedient to His voice.
Before Jesus went to the cross, He went to Gethsemane to pray: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). In His sorrow as a man, He wanted His Father to spare Him from what was to come—his death. Yet, as an obedient Son, He looked to His Father’s wisdom. In the end, it was all about aligning with, trusting, and accepting the perfect will of His Father. Jesus said, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (v.42). And before His last breath on the cross, He called to His Father, offering Himself up, saying, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46).
With Jesus showing us the example of an intimate prayer life, we can now grasp what the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian believers: “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed… And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:16,18). We can experience that same face-to-face, friendly relationship that Moses had with God as we become more and more like Christ, our Lord and Savior.
God takes pleasure in answering the prayers of His obedient children. We can come boldly to the throne of His grace, upon His personal invitation, because He wants to tell us things that will delight our hearts. God wants to unlock and reveal to us what it is we truly need and should be praying for, not according to our understanding, but pertaining to our life hidden in Christ Jesus, leaving no room for anything else but God. Only then can we enjoy the intimacy in our prayer life!
Photo Credit: ©SWN
Luisa Collopy is an author, speaker and a women’s Bible study teacher. She also produces Mula sa Puso (From the Heart) in Tagalog (her heart language), released on FEBC Philippines stations. Luisa loves spending time with her family over meals and karaoke!
