Listen to my words, Lord;
consider my sighing.
Pay attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for I pray to you.
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you and watch expectantly.
— Psalm 5:1-3
One aspect of Liberty Baptist Church that I have always appreciated is that we are a praying church. Since my very first Sunday morning service, I was struck with how intentionally prayer was emphasized during corporate worship. For the early days in my "new-life in Christ, prayer had not been a regularly practiced spiritual discipline.
It wasn’t until a fellow pilgrim shared Psalm 5:1-2 with me and provided loving direction, did I begin to truly appreciate and take advantage of making the most of prayer. When I shared that I often put off praying because I didn’t “feel” any closeness to God, he challenged me to consider what prayer actually is. Among other things prayer is an act of entreating, pleading, delighting, and conversing with God our Father. It is an act of worship that is enlivened by the Holy Spirit and fostered through the advocacy of Jesus Christ.
In the NASB translation of this passage, the end of verse 3 reads, “I will order my prayer to You [God] and eagerly watch.” For me, this particular wording brought both the solemnity and privilege of prayer to bear on my soul in such a way as to inform a more disciplined and heart-felt posture of prayer to God in my daily life.
Perhaps you find yourself feeling disconnected from God in your prayer time. Maybe you aren’t even sure what or how to pray. I want to share with you a few helpful principles that I believe, when applied, can help you make the most of prayer.
Consider what you are praying.
This may seem obvious, but the topic of conversation we have with God can tell us quite a bit about our spiritual state and how we judge the “effectiveness” of our prayers. In order to see us make the most of prayer, we need to be sure that what we are praying for (regardless of the request) is brought to God to please Him and is asked for by faith (Matthew 6:33; Luke 12:31-32; James 1:5-8). To help you better take inventory on current requests, you can ask yourself questions like, “What am I currently asking God for?” or “Is what I am asking for God’s glory and am I asking Him in faith?” I would encourage you go to the Scriptures to think thoroughly about the answers to these questions. Write them down and ask God to help you to better “order” your prayers to Him.
Consider why you are praying.
Once you have the specific content of your prayers in view, it is important to ask yourself the reason behind such requests. More than anything else, asking yourself a question like, “Why am I asking God for this?” can reveal important desires of the heart very quickly. Why is this important? Luke 6:45 states that the words of a person come from the “overflow of the heart.” Thus, when we pray (whether we realize it or not), there is something about what we think, desire, and feel in our hearts about God and our lives that is revealed in our words. Taking time to consider the reasons behind our prayers can help us further craft our prayers to God in such a way that they are in line with His purposes and will as well as setting our expectations within the bounds of His reality.
Consider how you expect God to answer.
Just because we pray for something, doesn’t necessarily mean that our request (or even our reason) is valid. I knew of a dear brother who struggled with sexual sin for years. He prayed countless times that God would help him stop sinning in this way. Of course, when he didn’t stop, he became angry at God for not answering his prayers. Sadly, this young man was set up for failure . . . not because God had failed him, but because he was operating out of faulty expectation about how God operates. Sanctification requires faith, but it also requires obedience. This young man’s prayer revealed little of both. The heart behind his prayers revealed he was willing to do very little to work towards killing sin and his expectations revealed that he wanted God to just “make Him stop.” No wonder he responded to God in frustration and saw his situation as hopeless!
While this example is specific to him, perhaps something in it rings familiar to you? Do you find yourself feeling that God is not listening or is perhaps actively working against what you are praying? Along with the first two principles mentioned above, ask yourself questions like, “How do I expect God to answer my prayer?” or “Are my expectations of God in line with how he works with his children?” Such questions will help you pray more in line with the will of the Father and the spirit of truth.
My prayer for all of us in this season, members of Liberty Baptist Church, is that we take time to carefully consider all of our prayers to God. Only then can we, in full joy and trust, “watch expectantly” for Him to answer.
Pastor Sam