Last month we considered the beautiful invitation God Almighty extends to us in prayer. Direct, uninterrupted communication with the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. A constant flow of His heart into ours and ours into His.
Unfortunately, many of us struggle to pray and for a variety of reasons, including:
We lack time or motivation (though the former is actually a by-product of the latter, for we make time for things we value).
We lack enough Bible knowledge or finesse, a.k.a. big, fancy words commonly attributed to theologians.
We have never witnessed the power of prayer or have never been taught how to pray or its significance.
Perhaps one or more of these reasons resonate with you or ones not mentioned. Regardless of your selection, they are all lies. Each is part of Satan’s arsenal of fiery darts (see Ephesians 6:16), and he will utilize whichever one he can to derail you from praying.
Why? Because even Satan knows the power of prayer.
He has witnessed God’s manifest power through prayer and the strength it brings to the people of God. He watched as Elijah prayed and fire came down from Heaven to consume an animal sacrifice, wood, stones, dust and even water, all to prove the supremacy of God to a group of idolatrous people (see 1 Kings 18:36-39). He also saw how a time of prayer and fasting empowered Queen Esther to confront King Ahasuerus and the murderous plot to annihilate her and her fellow Jews (see Esther 4:15-17). Then there were the 3,000 souls who went from death to life following the disciples’ Upper Room prayer session and Peter’s sermon on the first Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2).
These examples alone prove the power of prayer not because of those praying, but the One to Whom they prayed, and they are just a drop of water in the endless sea of answered prayers. Satan witnessed them all, but even more significantly, he has experienced what happened when Jesus prayed during His earthly ministry.
Not once but twice, Jesus prayed and a boy’s sack lunch of some wafers and sardines multiplied to feed thousands of men (5,000 once and 4,000 another time, neither number including the women and children present; see Matthew 14:13-21, 15:32-39).
Jesus prayed and a man paralyzed for 38 years leapt from his bed like a modern child on Christmas morning (see John 5:1-9).
Jesus prayed and water turned into wine at a wedding in Cana (see John 2:1-11).
Jesus prayed and three people rose from the dead (see Luke 7:11-17, 8:49-56; John 11:38-44).
Prayer propelled Jesus to obedience on the Cross.
Beyond these miraculous signs, as well as the many others mentioned throughout the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), Jesus also demonstrated prayers of immense, incomprehensible love.
While on the Cross, bearing the sins of His people, Jesus prayed for the very people who placed Him upon that Cross. As they stood there mocking Him, He pleaded to the Father, “‘Forgive them, for they know not what they do’” (Luke 23:34).
Then there were His prayers of strength.
Before Jesus died on the Cross, He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. And He didn’t “just pray.” He prayed to the point of sweating blood in anguish over what lay ahead for Him on that Cross—the weight of His people’s sins and the resulting separation from the Father.
Yet, despite this anguish, Jesus prayed and through His talk with the Father, was empowered to proceed with the plan to bear the penalty our sins deserved (see Luke 22:39-46).
Prayer propelled Jesus to obedience on the Cross.
Satan witnessed all of this and more, so he knows first-hand how prayer has foiled his plans time after time. That is why he wants to keep you and me from prayer.
My friend, do not let him!
Channel your stubborn nature and stand your ground. Dig your heels in—or more accurately, your knees—and show the enemy and yourself the power and importance of prayer. Not because of the strength you bring, but the manifest power of God Almighty demonstrated through and as a response to our prayers.
And as for those lies we previously mentioned, the ones that keep us from prayer, recognize them for what they are: lies. We could explore each of them and their nuances, but we will just hone in on one today: our inadequacy in prayer.
Technically, you are correct when you say, “I am not able to pray effectively,” because none of us possess any power in our prayers without the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. Just as we cannot earn our salvation (see Eph. 2:8-9), we cannot muster enough spiritual power on our own to bring about the results of Elijah and the early Church’s prayers. All of God’s people are only able to pray transformative prayers because of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. He worked through them. (For more about the work of the Spirit in a believer’s life, see Jesus’ teaching in John 14:12-26)
We can do nothing without Him, but with Him, nothing is impossible (see Luke 1:37).
So if you desire a deeper prayer life, if you long to constantly commune with God and witness His power work through your prayers, friend, you must become desperate. Desperate to the point of weakness. Only when we reach the end of the deception of self-sufficiency can we realize the supremacy of God; or in the words of John the Baptist, “‘He must increase, but I must decrease’” (John 3:30). We can do nothing without Him, but with Him, nothing is impossible (see Luke 1:37).
This is the idea behind Paul’s words in his letter to the Corinthians. When Paul pleaded for God to remove his thorn in the flesh, God replied, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Cor. 12:9a). Rather than depart rejected, Paul responded, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (vv. 9b-10, emphasis added).
God is infinitely more powerful than all of mankind (past, present and future) and angels, as well as Satan and his demons. Compared to the magnificent strength of God, our strength is less than nothing, if such an idea existed.
Our self-exalting world doesn’t embrace this mentality. The mere thought of drawing attention to our weaknesses is considered nonsense, let alone rejoicing in them. Yet, as Paul and God so clearly state, only when we realize just how weak we are as humans do we begin to see the magnificent power and strength of God. Just as we often do not appreciate what we have until we lose it, neither do we comprehend our weakness until held in stark comparison to the supremacy of God.
But God, being rich in grace and mercy, does not withhold Himself from those who give their lives to Him, those who recognize His sovereignty in this world and our lives. To them, He delivers His power, strength, wisdom, hope and love. Including in our prayers (see Matt. 7:11, John 14:27, Romans 8:32, James 1:5).
In another one of his letters, Paul writes, “...the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26).
When we don’t know how to pray, our Advocate is there to intercede on our behalf. When all our strength is gone and all we can do is pray the name of Jesus, our Helper lifts our needs to the Father.
It’s not a vice to be weak in self and strong in the Lord, it is a blessed virtue. The pressure is off. Gone are the days of performing and guessing. God has won the victory for you, and He empowers you to walk in that victory in every area of your life, including in your prayers. You don’t need an abundance of Bible knowledge or a vast vocabulary. Jesus taught against such prideful hearts when He condemned the Pharisees and pagans for their attention-seeking and lofty phrases (see Matt. 6:5-8).
If you feel weak in your prayers, know that the Spirit helps in our weakness. God doesn’t ask you to be a seasoned theologian or eloquent orator to talk with Him. He wants to hear from you, the person He created. Just start talking and listening. With His Spirit within you, He will guide and answer you. Sit at His feet, child, and be with your Father. He has great things to tell you.
References:
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). Crossway Bibles.
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