I have realized lately that my prayer life needs an overhaul. So it is back to the basics for me. Without prayer I cannot do anything well as a minister. The Psalms are full of lessons on prayer. Here are just a few:
1. Anxious toil accomplishes little.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to His beloved sleep.” Psalm 127:1,2
Maybe the biggest reason that we do not pray is simply because we do not believe in the power or effectiveness of prayer. But we do certainly believe in the power of hard work. So when we get in a bind we naturally look to ourselves rather than God to solve the problems we face. When we wake up in the morning we naturally look to our to do list rather than to prayer because we don’t believe prayer gets anything done…really. But the truth of the matter is that prayer is effective and powerful for the simple reason that nothing gets done without God’s approval. God is the one who is in charge of everything. Nothing can get done without Him. We work in vain when we ignore God. Contrary to our natural instincts, prayer is the best and most effective thing we can do in any and all circumstances.
2. The Lord is the one with the true power.
“To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till He has mercy upon us.” Psalm 123:1,2
If we want help then we need to go to the ones who have the power to help us. The truth is that there is no one more capable or willing to help us than God. He is in absolute authority over us and everything else in this world. He can do whatever He wants. So we should seek the Lord, first and foremost, if we want real help.
3. Our job is to wait on the Lord.
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning…” Psalm 130:5,6
Waiting on God is difficult. But this is what prayer is all about. Prayer is submission to the Lord’s power, authority and ultimately His timing. We acknowledge through prayer that God is our only hope and we wait for His help. It is not easy but it is simple. Help will come just in time. He knows our circumstances and needs better than we do. So we seek Him and we wait.
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