Four Things About Prayer

On a recent Sunday, I preached a message on prayer. I wanted to share that with you in print as well. As we were studying the story of Elijah, we noticed in chapter 18 that Elijah goes to the top of Mount Carmel and begins to pray for rain. He drops to his knees and does four things that can help us learn to be a better praying people.

First, Elijah humbles himself. Going to God is an overwhelming act. To present ourselves to God can be uncomfortable to many of us. There is a fear of going before God because God is… well… God! God knows all about each and every one of us. There is no hiding, yet many are reluctant to stop and actually try to connect with God.

Secondly, Elijah shows that prayer needs to be specific. Asking God for what we actually need. That takes planning (homework). What do you need not want??? God is no heavenly butler simply catering to our whims. God will provide our needs when we are specific.

Third, Elijah is persistent. Seven times (many) Elijah sends his servant to check the sea for cloud activity. Each time there is nothing happening, Elijah goes back to praying for rain. He is persistent and will pray over and over for his need.

Fourth and finally, prayer is expectant. As I just said, Elijah asks the servant for a report each time about the cloud activity. Elijah expects something to happen! When we pray earnestly for a specific need we can expect God to get going, it just may be awhile.

Learning to pray is a discipline. We cannot expect to only go to God once in a blue moon and somehow know have a relationship. You see, prayer is not about getting what we want. Prayer is about relationship. I believe this is where the Muslim faith seems to have an edge on Christianity. Muslims are expected to practice prayer daily, Christians can seem lazy in their prayer life and thus, undisciplined. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly advocated Christianity above all things, but many converts to Islam may see Christians as people who simply don’t practice what they preach without prayer as a discipline.

Prayer is also what keeps us connected to God. When a crisis hits, it is not the Sundays that get us through, it is the prayer Monday through Saturday. Sundays are like going to the gas station… we get re-fueled for daily life. I hope this has helped in a meaningful way because I believe that the practice of prayer is life-changing.