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Jeremiah 29:13 ESV
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
All of us can struggle at times with prayer, finding the right words, and not babbling. It can be hard, especially when asked to pray out loud in front of people. But we can find encouragement in that, even the disciples needed to learn how to pray. In Luke 11:1 we read that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples”,
One of the reasons I believe they asked was because, every time Jesus would return from the wilderness or from being up on a mountainside, spending time in prayer with the Father, the disciples would then witness him performing mighty miracles. So, it's understandable, that as Jesus' disciples, they would want to know how to pray, so that they could do likewise.
"Lord teach us to pray” they ask; so Jesus taught them the Lord’s prayer. It’s important to note that after this he then taught them about how all parents, both good and bad parents, love to give their children good things. and he concluded his teaching by saying, Luke 11:13b “how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
But often after we've spent time in prayer it can be difficult for us to hear God's answers to our prayer requests. There are very few who hear audible words spoken by God, we'd probably think we were going nuts if we did. But God does speak, he speaks directly into our hearts.
I've often wondered if there is a way to better hear his voice or develop our ability to hear him in the quiet of our minds and hearts. In trying to find an answer, I've searched scripture looking for insights from others into how they developed a deeper understanding of prayer and have learnt how to best hear God when He replies to us; after all, prayer is a conversation with our heavenly Father.
What I’ve learnt so far is that there are many ways that God speaks to us today, He speaks to us through scripture, he uses other people to speak His word to us, he speaks through nature, through the Holy Spirit, he speaks to our hearts in times of silence, through dreams and visions.
All of these are real ways in which God speaks to people today, and for most of us, I believe that God speaks to us through His word and when we join with Him in the quietness of prayer.
However, when I reflect on the format that many of my prayers have taken, they often appear like a shopping list of lots of “dear Lord would you just do this, or dear Lord would you just do that”, as I bring my petitions before Him.😯 An exceptionally long shopping list, that when finished, is left there, satisfied that I've have brought our problems to God, but I don't hang around for his reply. Maybe you can relate to this yourself?
Sometimes our prayers can feel like mantras or chants that we recite, and when we've said them, we don't hang around to hear God's reply; again how rude is that?
And in all honesty, sometimes leaving our prayers with God is all we can do! Surely God can't answer all our prayers in the way that we want them answered, surely not? For example consider a farmer praying for rain to save his crops, whilst at the same time, others are praying for endless sunshine on their summer holiday. Somebody must get a no for an answer, and can feel let down.
I remember chatting about this with some friends after a fellowship meeting, one of them said, God answers prayer in three ways,” Yes, Not now, and No”.
Whilst on a basic level this is true, but it seems too simplistic, almost convenient, and definitely inadequate. And as I thought about it, I was left with the question, how we are supposed to know God’s will for our lives if we don’t know how to hear Him, or if we don’t allow Him to speak?
So naturally, I concluded that when we pray, we need to allow time to hear the Holy Spirit speak. And the best way I’ve found to do this in times of personal prayer. The time that I spend quietly thinking over the things that I’ve just prayed about. Often when doing this I feel the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit on my heart and mind as God aligns my will with His will.
I can offer the simple example of praying for wealth, so that I could do good things and help people that are in need. So I began praying to win millions on the lottery so that I can do this. Then in the quietness, I would hear my heart asking me, who will I help first? how will I know whose need is greatest? who's need is genuine? will I set a maximum amount to give each person? will I be tempted to use the money to help myself? will I become selfish, greedy, suspicious, proud?,,,,
Already I'm thinking, Lord, this is not the way to go about helping those in need!
Then I’m reminded of what Jesus said, “give us this day our daily bread” nothing more, and so my prayer changes.
And from my time spent in prayer and meditation, what I’ve learnt most is that my prayers don’t change God, my prayers don’t change God’s mind, because God is unchangeable. Rather, what prayer does is, it changes me!
And in that, I’m reminded of what Jesus taught us “Thy will be done”, we don’t pray for our will to be done. He is our Father; he knows us from before he knit us together in the womb, so He knows what is best for all of us, and like any parent, He wants to give us the things that are good for us, the things that we truly need.
Another realisation I arrived at about prayer, is that prayer is not something that we do. Because it’s not something that we do in isolation. Rather prayer is something that we are invited to participate in. Because prayer is an invitation to enter into conversation with God, as we talk and listen to Him. It's a two-way thing!
And in listening, the thing that none of us is naturally good at, we spend time in the presence of the Holy Spirit. We ease into the peaceful silence, and that is when we begin to feel the Spirit nudging us, and directing our hearts and minds.
All too often our prayers are unidirectional. Especially when in Church and in corporate prayer, where the schedule of the service doesn't allow time for us to hear God speak as the service progresses at it's set pace. That’s not to say that God doesn’t hear us, but often it can be like we've cut God off, and out of the conversation.
When we align our hearts and minds with the will of God, then our prayers get answered with a big YES, and we know with certainty His will for our lives. He is our Father, we are His children, and like all families “how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
When we pray, we are participating in a conversation with the Almighty, yes, HE wants to hear us talk to Him, but even more so, He wants us to listen to Him!
When we do this we will find that just as Jeremiah wrote;
"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart".
Have a great day, and God bless,
Trev.