Jesus told us to expect prayer to change things. Sunday's message spoke deeply to me about how Jesus clearly expected prayer to bring change, and taught us to expect the same.
Perhaps this was the atmosphere of Jesus' prayers - he expected change. And then he lived out his prayers. He prayed with deep intimacy with a powerful God. Then he lived in a deep intimacy with a powerful God. The disciples recognized that as the man prayed, so he lived. Wading into deeper waters in our prayer life with God will bring us deeper into a God-filled life.
Pastor Francis Chan talks about a memory from camp early in his life. Waking up to have a quiet time with God, he saw the camp speaker across a field. Noticing the speaker was having his own quiet time with God, Francis became convinced for the first time that "he probably talks to God differently than I do." He realized that there are degrees of intimacy with God.
I have been with people who are much more conversational with God than I am. I have been with people who have a deep stillness that pervades their lives and also their prayer lives. I feel as Francis did: "this person talks to God differently than I do." And I realize that there's another degree of intimacy with God ahead of me.
This is not about who God likes better. In Christ, salvation has been made available for all. We often feel that others have it easier than we do when it comes to God. It is much more likely that we are on a level playing field with God and he doesn't have 'favorites.' What I mean is that some people really do know the God they are talking to! It seems there are degrees of intimacy with God.
One way to put this is that most of us pray as though God hasn't really done anything until he begins by giving me the very thing I am asking for right now. You may know the feeling. Instinctively, I cry out to God, but am deeply suspicious that he won't answer my prayer - "well, he's never really given me anything before!" "Well, maybe if I make some kind of deal with him"...and so on. But what about what God has already done? I don't mean just for myself as in just counting my blessings. I am referring to the story of salvation the Bible tells. The next degree of intimacy from expecting God to start doing something for me is to ask what has God already done. The next degree of intimacy is to pray to God what we read in Scripture.
For instance, when Jesus dies, he says the words, "It is finished." (John 19:30). What does he mean by that? His life, his work, his ministry - we would have a hard time limiting the scope of these, his last words. Our prayer shouldn't limit them either. I'm not just saying we should be thankful for what we already have. My point is this: how does knowing what God has already given us shape what we desire and want now? How would we pray if we knew what Jesus meant when he said "it is finished?
I don't think we would pray less. I think we would pray more. I don't think we would be more satisfied with things as they are. I think we would get hungrier to see more of God, and to see more justice, mercy, and peace. The reason I think this is because when we pray as though Jesus' work really is finished, then it reminds us that God wins. We aren't fighting a losing battle with him. The cross (and resurrection) is D-Day for the ultimate victory that God will have at the end. Remembering this victory lends expectation, excitement, and eagerness to my dull prayers.
This isn't a ticket to being happy in the midst of sad times. This is a dark and sinful world. However, it is a clue as to how Acts 5:41 could possibly happen: "The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." Who would ever rejoice at that? The answer is: people who pray to God all the more because they see the work that God has already finished.
1) What prayer are you still waiting for God to answer?
2) How might thinking of Jesus' last words - "it is finished" - affect the way you pray to God? What is 'finished' about what Jesus has done for you?
