I've come to the realization that my prayers, simply put, are not good enough. I've spent so much time praying for the wrong reasons, for the wrong things. I'm reading a book by Andrew Murray (With Christ in the School of Prayer) that has totally changed my perspective of prayer. I can only read about a chapter a day because the implications of what he talks about are so great that it's impossible to digest any more than that. Andrew Murray lived through most of the nineteenth century, born in South Africa to missionary parents and after his education returned to pastor there. He has such amazing insights! Let me share some:
The True Worshippers: God seeks our worship (John 4:23) because it satisfies his loving heart and it's a joy to him- he calls us to worship in Spirit (we must be in harmony with God as the eye is for light and we must not confine Him to one place or time, and we must recognize that it comes from God, the Spirit-which could only happen after Christ) and in Truth (sincerity, in accordance with the Word, in Jesus). But because we're fallen beings, we can never worship as He deserves. So how can we worship then? Murray suggests that our attitude should reflect this shortcoming. How? A confession of our deep inability for us to bring God the worship He seeks, a child-like teachableness which waits for Him to instruct us, and the simple faith that yields itself to the breathing of the Spirit.
"The secret of prayer in spirit and truth is the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God, the revelation of his intimate fatherliness in our hearts and the faith in his intimate love of us as children."
Alone with God: "The atmosphere in which we breathe and pray is God's Father-love, God's intimate Fatherliness...God is a God who hides Himself from the carnal eye...the man who withdraws himself from all that is of the world and man and waits for God alone, the Father will reveal Himself." We have a Father who sees and hears and knows!
The Model Prayer: "Christ has opened the school of prayer especially to train intercessors for the great work of bringing down, by their faith and prayer, the blessings of his work and love to the world." We will not grow unless this is our aim. "Jesus wants to train us for the blessed life of consecration and service in which all our interests are subordinate to the name, the kingdom, and the will of the Father."
The Certain Answer to Prayer: "We may and must most confidently expect an answer to our prayer...If questions and difficulties arise, don't try to settle them before accepting His word..It is in prayer and it's answer that the interchange of love between the Father and His child takes place."
The Infinite Fatherliness of God: "All He requires is our child-like and whole-hearted surrender to love as children with Him in obedience and truth....He wants us to see that the secret of effective prayer is to have the heart filled with the Father-love of God." This chapter was especially interesting to me because of my relationship with my Father. I love my Dad more than just about anything on this earth and he's an awesome dad. So if an earthy, fallen human can be so amazing and so committed to taking care of me and loving me, how much more will my heavenly Father be? I can't imagine a better dad than my own, but there is One! My favorite quote of this chapter, though, is this one: "We aren't supposed to learn to be holy as a hard lesson at school so we can make God think well of us. We are to learn it at home with the Father to help us. God loves you not because you are clever or good but because He is your Father.The Cross of Christ does not make God love us. It is the outcome of His love for us. He loves all His children: the clumsiest, the dullest, and the worst. His love lies underneath everything. We must grasp it as the solid foundation of our religious life, not growing up into that love, but growing up out of it. We must begin there or our beginning will come to nothing. Grasp this mightily! We must go beyond ourselves for any hope, strength, or confidence. And what hope, what strength, what confidence may be ours when we begin with Our Father which art in Heaven!" AMEN!
The All-Comprehensive Gift: the Holy Spirit is the best gift we've ever been given! It's the gift in which the Fatherhood of God is revealed in.
The Boldness of God's Friends: God prefers our friendship-we are His children always, even when we stray. Friendship depends on our conduct! "Prayer is an appeal to the friendship of God." We pray to obtain blessing and strength for our own lives and for the work of intercession. "God doesn't want us to pray for ourselves, but for those perishing around us."
Prayer Provides Laborers: We must pray for laborers! Why don't we? We miss the compassion of Jesus that made him pray for them and we believe too little in the power of prayer to bring definite results.
And I still have like twenty more chapters! It's been so exciting to learn all this and it's completely changed my prayer life.
