“The LORD would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend.”
Exodus 33:11a
“And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.”
James 2:23
One church leader has suggested, ‘when it comes to prayer, we have not paid enough attention to the Bible.’ It was his strong conviction that we need to reform our thinking along with our manner of praying considering God’s Word.
The Bible not only teaches us about prayer; it gives us many examples of prayer. It is not only God’s Word to us, but it also teaches us how to respond to that Word. If prayer is the language of faith, then it should reflect the language of Scripture. Our understanding of prayer is bound up with our understanding of God and the gospel.
There is an ancient Latin maxim: lex orandi est lex credenti et agendi (the rule of prayer is the rule of belief and action.) If you cannot pray it, then you should not believe it or do it. The reverse is also true, our prayer and our concept of prayer can rise no higher than our concept of God. So, the best way to teach about prayer is to teach about God. Increasing knowledge of God yields a spiritually mature response to God.
We get more interested in ourselves than in God. We get absorbed in what is or is not happening in us. Prayer has primarily to do with God, not us. Therefore, our thinking, our imagination, and our understanding need to be trained to begin with God and not ourselves.
Prayer is the conversation of friends. It is not simply a vehicle for letting God know what we are thinking or what we want. Prayer is that for which we were made. To understand and appreciate the privilege and import of prayer, we need to view it in the context of God’s desire to have a relationship with His people. Further, it is not possible as a Christian so say I will pray, or I will not pray. To be a Christian and to pray mean the same thing, it is as much a necessity as breathing is to life.
You and I were created to be God’s friends and to answer His loving self-communication with responsive love. Jesus not only gives us access to God, but He also makes us family. He invites us to call God ‘Father’ while He himself calls us friends. It was for this reason we were made: to know God; to be with Him, and to enjoy friendship with Him. Prayer is an expression of the very heart of God to know us and to be known by us.
We all readily rejoice in knowing and conversing with someone who is even moderately important, how much more should we bask in knowing and conversing with the One Who is ultimately and eternally important. Be sure and have a conversation with your Friend today! He loves to hear from you!
