What
is the Purpose of Prayer?
Exodus
4:1-17; John 4
Jim
Davis
Prayer is the only avenue to recognizing
the reality of God’s presence. Paul writes to the Thessalonians
instructing them to, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks
in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do
not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test
everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil" (1 Thessalonians
5:16-22 NIV). You cannot continually pray for the Spirit’s guidance in
every circumstance without experiencing the reality of God’s presence.
My greatest need is to recognize God’s presence
and guidance in every circumstance. I can’t do this without the avenue
of prayer.
Dennis Cox says, "A good prayer life
is being aware of God’s presence and being transparent with him about what
I am experiencing." Too often our experiences in our circumstances
are simply programmed responses. Often we have our minds set in such a
fashion we only get out of things what we are programmed to get out of
them. Only through prayer can we realign ourselves in our circumstances
to see what God wishes us to see.
The psalmists writes, "Be still and
know that I am God" (Psalms 46:10). Prayer times are the times
to be still and know God. If we neglect prayer we will lose sight
of God’s presence.
Psalms 18:2
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress
and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom
I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn
of my salvation, my stronghold. NIV
Who
Am I?
When Moses faced God in the burning
bush he was told to take off his shoes for the ground he stood upon was
holy ground. We may wonder if we are permitted to come to God on
holy ground. Prayer brings every person to holy ground. Moses wasn’t invited
to stand on holy ground because of his personal holiness, but rather because
of God’s desire to make him holy. A couple of days ago I was asked, "Does
God hear one man’s prayer over another, or are some people’s prayers more
important than others?" God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34-35).
Every person has the equal privilege of approaching God on holy ground.
The only prerequisite for coming to God on holy ground in prayer is a contrite
heart and a broken spirit.
Psalms 51:16-17
16 You do not delight in sacrifice,
or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in
burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are
a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
NIV
Moses came to God in the burning bush
with a contrite heart and a broken spirit. God told him to go to
Egypt to lead the Hebrews out of slavery. When God calls you would think
that men and women would jump on their white horses and ride bravely into
battle. But this is not the way we do when God calls. Most of us are like
Moses.
Exodus 4:1-17
4:1 Moses answered, "What if
they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear
to you'?"
2 Then the LORD said to him,
"What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied.
3 The LORD said, "Throw it on
the ground."
Moses threw it on the ground
and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him,
"Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and
took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This,"
said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their
fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has
appeared to you."
6 Then the LORD said, "Put your
hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when
he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.
7 "Now put it back into your
cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he
took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the LORD said, "If they
do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they
may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or
listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground.
The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."
10 Moses said to the LORD, "O
Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have
spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
11 The LORD said to him, "Who
gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or
makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak
and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord,
please send someone else to do it."
14 Then the LORD's anger burned
against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite?
I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his
heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put
words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what
to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he
were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in
your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it." NIV
Initially it doesn’t seem as hard to
jump on at white horse and ride into completely new territory, as it is
to jump on a white horse and face our old fears and failures. God
is asking Moses to face his past failures and fears after spending forty
years running from them. Instead of allowing our failures to build walls
around us to keep God out we must face God with our failures realizing
his presence.
Exodus 2:11-15
11 One day, after Moses had
grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at
their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian
and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews
fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow
Hebrew?"
14 The man said, "Who made you
ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the
Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become
known."
15 When Pharaoh heard of this,
he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in
Midian, where he sat down by a well. NIV
When Moses confronts God in the burning
bush his feelings are very transparent as he contemplates going back to
Egypt. Who would believe me? I am not an eloquent man. Send someone
else! Behind all this Moses no doubt is thinking of his previous failure
in Egypt.
Prayer doesn’t guarantee life will be
easy. We will still face problems, frustrations and difficult times.
God can’t refocus our lives without getting us to face our problems. When
Moses went to Egypt he faced bigger problems than he could have imagined—he
experienced the hardness of the world’s most powerful leader face to face.
He faced the Hebrews disbelief that God was with him to make their lives
better. He faced his own personal failures and his need for obedience.
Proper
Prayer Focuses Our Lives
If we refuse to come to God on holy
ground through prayer we will lose sight of God. We will become
proud and arrogant men and women who think we don’t need God.
Prayer exerts unbelievable demands on
us. This is why we feel like Moses as we say, "Please send someone
else." But as we open our heart to the Lord’s rule, he will develop us
in ways far beyond anything we have ever attempted on our own. Prayer is
the only thing that can take us beyond ingrained behavior and rigid church
tradition that confines prayer to church doctrine to be adhered to.
We have reduced prayer to an act of
worship that seems necessary but often meaningless. Have we lost sight
of the purpose of prayer? Human pride prevents prayer from being
a natural thing. Prayer interferes with our own ambitions and our personal
agendas. Prayer forces us to surrender our independence and submit to God.
Prayer is not just an act of worship; it is a matter of God salvaging my
life as I come to him through prayer.
The purpose of prayer is to get our
lives aligned with God. Jesus taught us to pray for God’s will
to be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is the most basic purpose
of prayer. More specifically desiring God’s will be done on earth is tantamount
to getting his will done in my life.
Often our prayers are more like the
conversation the Samaritan woman had with Jesus.
John 4:7-18
7 When a Samaritan woman came
to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples
had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to
him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for
a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, "If you
knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would
have asked him and he would have given you living water."
11 "Sir," the woman said, "you
have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this
living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the
well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and
herds?"
13 Jesus answered, "Everyone
who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the
water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become
in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
15 The woman said to him, "Sir,
give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming
here to draw water."
16 He told her, "Go, call your
husband and come back."
17 "I have no husband," she
replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are
right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five
husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just
said is quite true." NIV
This woman had no problem talking about
religion—you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan, "How can you ask me for a
drink." She was ready to debate religious practices. However, she
didn’t want the conversation to focus on her personal life. Jesus directs
her attention to her personal life, but immediately she shifts the focus
back to religion.
John 4:19-26
19 "Sir," the woman said, "I
can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,
but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
21 Jesus declared, "Believe
me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on
this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not
know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet
a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the
Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit
and in truth."
25 The woman said, "I know that
Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything
to us."
26 Then Jesus declared, "I who
speak to you am he." NIV
The woman sought to limit her conversation
to the religion. Her conversation with the savior was should we
worship on this mountain or that mountain. Jesus replies, "God is a spirit,
and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." Jesus is not talking
about the nature of a formal worship service; the remarks are focused on
the heart of the woman. He refuses to turn this into a religious discussion.
He is talking about the condition of that woman’s heart. He keeps the conversation
focused on the woman’s innermost needs. Her personal need of the savior
is manifested. She has had five husbands and is now living with a man out
of wedlock. Later when she went back to town to tell others about the Messiah
she says, "He told me every thing I ever did." The amazing thing is that
Jesus refocused her life through his conversation with her. This is the
essence of a prayerful conversation with God.
John 4:27-30
27 Just then his disciples
returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one
asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"
28 Then, leaving her water jar,
the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a
man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30 They
came out of the town and made their way toward him. NIV
There is nothing holy about this woman,
but she is standing on the same holy ground Moses stood on when he had
a conversation with God. Of course she is not in Midian; there
is no burning bush; but it is the same place Moses stood when he had a
conversation with God.
The beauty of a prayerful conversation
with God is that God helps you see yourself through his eyes. There
is no other way for God to salvage our lives than to allow us to see ourselves
through his eyes.
Approaching God in prayer doesn’t exempt
us from dealing with our own problems, rather it forces us to face ourselves.
After agreeing to go to Egypt, the Lord confronted Moses with his personal
disobedience.
Exodus 4:24-26
24 At a lodging place on the
way, the LORD met [Moses] and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took
a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched [Moses'] feet with
it. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said. 26 So the LORD
let him alone. (At that time she said "bridegroom of blood," referring
to circumcision.) NIV
If we come to God on holy ground through
prayer he will force us to face our personal disobedience. He does
this because he must get our lives focused on him.
Moses was somewhat transparent with
God when he expressed his apprehension about going to Egypt, but he was
reluctant to confront God with his personal struggles with his family.
Moses’ wife was a Midianite—she abhorred the thought of circumcision, but
God revealed how important it was for Moses to face his personal problem.
It was a matter of life or death—it was a matter of obeying God’s will.
It is evident for God’s will to be done in Egypt he would first have to
get his will done in Moses’ life.
There is no short cut to getting God’s
will done on earth without it beginning with me. Religious questions
are unimportant if God hasn’t refocused our lives on him. Jesus prayed,
not as I will, but your will be done with my life. This is the focus of
prayer.
Prayer
Reveals God’s Provisions
Prayer reveals God’s provisions to get
our lives focused on him. God revealed to Moses his provisions
to help Moses get his life focused on God’s mission.
Exodus 4:6-17
6 Then the LORD said, "Put
your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and
when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.
7 "Now put it back into your
cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he
took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the LORD said, "If they
do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they
may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or
listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground.
The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."
10 Moses said to the LORD, "O
Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have
spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
11 The LORD said to him, "Who
gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or
makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak
and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord,
please send someone else to do it."
14 Then the LORD's anger burned
against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite?
I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his
heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put
words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what
to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he
were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in
your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."
When fear becomes our God, God gets
angry. "But Moses said, "O
Lord, please send someone else to do it." Then the LORD's anger burned
against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite?
I know he can speak well." When fear prevents
us from facing ourselves it becomes our god. Through prayer you can realize
God’s provisions to remove your fears. There was nothing wrong with Moses
understanding his limitations, but our limitations do not limit God’s provisions.
Matthew 7:7-12
7 "Ask and it will be given
to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks,
the door will be opened.
9 "Which of you, if his son
asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will
give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give
good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what
you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
NIV
What do you ask for? The things
he desires to give you—a humble and contrite heart—resources to accomplish
his purpose for your life.
God’s plan is for your success in accomplishing
his will. Seeing ourselves through the eyes of God is the key to developing
a faith that take us into the presence of God
Rubel Shelly wrote
the following:
"It was poet Robert Burns who
wished for humankind the power to see ourselves as others see us. My, what
insights that would bring! But there is still another perspective on human
affairs that is greater still.
"What if we could see as God
sees? From the study of life, human nature, and Scripture, I’m convinced
his perspective would set us free to really live.
"If we could see as God sees,
we would know that most human fears never materialize. Most of the
things most of us spend most of our time worrying over are never going
to happen anyway. So we waste energy and weaken ourselves for the day’s
task. Maybe this is why Jesus said, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow
will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today."
"If we could see as God sees,
we would realize that no problem that does come is insurmountable.
In our gloomier moments of financial stress, illness, or family problems,
we brood over questions without answers. But the promise of Scripture stands:
"God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength,
but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be
able to endure it."
"If we could see as God sees,
we would understand that no trial comes without a blessing attached.
It cannot be seen in advance. In our perplexity, we doubt that anything
good can come from a heartache. But the half-brother of Jesus put the divine
pledge this way: "My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of
any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing
of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect,
so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing."
"If we could see as God sees,
we would know that pain always signals the possibility for growth.
Although we sigh for a world free of stress, we know deep inside that such
a world would produce calloused and unfeeling people. "Endure trials for
the sake of discipline," wrote the unnamed author of Hebrews. "Discipline
always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields
the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
"God has given us the certain
knowledge through Jesus that the meaning of all that happens here is found
in realities we have never seen. To see through his eyes and to live on
the basis of his promises is the meaning of a life of faith."
The purpose of prayer is to help us
see ourselves as God sees us.
When we begin to respond to what God
sees in us we will begin to lead others to Christ as Moses and the Samaritan
did. When God touches your life in a personal way others will be
led to Christ.
John 4:39-42
39 Many of the Samaritans from
that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me
everything I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged
him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words
many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, "We
no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for
ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
NIV
Conclusion:
Your life’s struggles should be the
content of prayer.
Discovering God’s mission for your life
is the focus of prayer.
Accepting God’s provision is the means
to living out God’s mission.
