The Mystery of Prayer

I am starting a new study for the Ladies Sunday School Class.  As we were finishing “Who is This Man”, I was praying about what to do next. I considered another book study, of Philippians or Ephesians, but felt unclear about any direction. Then, one day, the words, “The Mystery of Prayer” came to my mind. I immediately felt like that was the new study.

Prayer is mysterious. I have prayed in some fashion since I was 8 years old. My theology of prayer has changed many times. I have used different wording, different tones, different volumes, influenced by the church culture I was in. I have been in many discussions, and a few arguments
about prayer.

I have believed that God will give you whatever you ask if it is not bad, wrong, or too selfish; if you have enough faith.  So, if God did not give you the healing or whatever miracle you asked for, it was because of your lack faith.

I have believed that whatever you pray, you have to say, “but your will be done” as a kind of waiver, a passive “Oh well, I prayed, but God will do what God will do”.  There was no expectation that God was moved by my prayer, that He would grant my requests. That reflects no faith whatever.

I have seen God answer many prayers, but there are many prayers that He did answer.

When in my mind, I heard the word mystery, I felt settled. I have spent much time trying to understand and explain prayer, and I am still confused about it. I can study prayer, but with the understanding that there is some amount of mystery that is beyond my ability to comprehend. God is mysterious. His ways are mysterious.

Rom 11:33-34  Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!  "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?"

Last weekend I was thinking about the first teaching that I remember about prayer. I was around 10 years old. I remember a picture the teacher showed, of children praying, “Dear God, please do not let it rain tomorrow so that we can have our Sunday School picnic.”

The teacher showed us another picture, of a farmer, praying, “Dear God, please send rain for our crops.”
The teacher explained that sometimes God does not give us what we ask for because He knows of a greater need. That lesson must have left a deep impression, since I can remember it 50 years later. I am grateful, because that lesson gave me a good foundation for making requests. It is not wrong to ask God for the things that I want, but I have to understand that God’s answer will reflect His greater knowledge.

Php_4:6  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And, God is moved by our prayers.
1Jn_5:15  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

With that knowledge, there comes some excitement about prayer. To know that the God of the universe; holy, wise, mighty, strong, good, able, beyond comprehension. This God hears me when I speak with Him, and is ready to do the things that I ask Him to do.

Joh 14:12-14  "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

 This knowledge is exciting and empowering.

This makes me want to pray, to make my requests known.

But, there is more. To know that this God is good and wise, and He loves me more than I am able to comprehend. He will not give me what is not good for me. He will not say, “Well, I had something better in mind for you, but since this is what you want, this is what I will do.” He always has my best interest in mind. He operates according to a higher plan. This knowledge is comforting. I am secure in making my requests, knowing that He will answer according to His greater knowledge, and according to His great love.

Ask, believe, expect; rest in the mystery.

 

 

"Eve"-Life Bearer

As Mother’s Day approaches, I have considered all the implications of the day a lot. I know that it is a special day to show appreciation to all Mother’s, to honor them and affirm their heart and their work. I also know that it is a very difficult day for many women. For women who are not mothers, but desperately want to be, it is a painful day. For mothers of one child who are desperately trying to have another, it is a painful day. For mothers who have made huge mistakes and are suffering the consequences, it is a difficult day of reminder. For those who have suffered the loss of a child through death, miscarriage, or failed adoption, it is a dreaded day. And, on the other side, for those who have lost their mothers, or for those whose mothers have not nurtured and cared for them, it is a hard day.

With all of those thoughts in mind, I was drawn to the first mention of “mother” in the Bible.
Genesis 3:20, recorded immediately after the fall of the first man and woman, says that the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

The word that is translated Eve is the Hebrew word for life. So, he says that he calls her life, because she was the mother of all living. At that time, she had not given birth to anyone. She was not a mother yet. I have wondered why Adam would say she was the mother of all living before she was a mother at all.  I believe this was a declaration of faith.

After the rebellion of the woman and the man, God spoke to them of the consequences of their action. But He said that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.  Adam believed God, and spoke prophetically when he said that the woman was the mother of all living, looking toward the seed that she would bear.

Before Eve bore a child, she was the bearer of life. Not only mothers are true life-givers. Every woman has the opportunity to be a bearer of life.  We can bring life into every relationship, any situation. In any area where there is death, we can bring life.

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. 

2 Cor. 2:14-16