(January  23, 2025) Dr Richard Winter encouragingly hits home…

If I told you that you were going to have the opportunity to talk with Jesus for fifteen minutes today and could make one request of Him, what would be your request? If you could ask Him anything, would you ask for protection, a new job, money… or just what would you ask?

The disciples got this opportunity one time. Luke 11:1 tells of them caming to Jesus with a specific request— ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’ 

Desire
Why, of all the things they could have asked of Jesus, did they ask that?

I think it was because they saw the results of His prayer life! They saw Him pray and saw what happened. It’s interesting that the disciples had watched Jesus preach the greatest sermons ever and perform many miracles… heal the sick, raise the dead and all kinds of things, but never once did they ask ‘Lord, teach us to preach’ or ‘Teach us to do miracles, and to raise the dead.’

Instead they requested, ‘Teach us how to pray.’  They saw that was the life support system of Jesus. They recognised praying was the key to His life and ministry.

You follow Jesus, dear reader? Then there’s nothing more vital to your Christian life than prayer— it can change our life! Why? The average Christian knows more about football, cricket, baseball and basketball than about prayer. And… there are a lot of faulty misconceptions about prayer, a lot of ignorance about how prayer works and why we pray and when to pray.

Deception
Here’s what different people wrongly conceive about prayer—

(i) Magic wand
God is like a genie. You rub the vase and out He comes and you pray requests expecting to hear GenieGod say: ‘Your wish is my command!’ (Whereas with Almighty God, it’s ‘My wish is my command for you!’).
(ii) First aid kit  
For those who think this way, prayer is an act of desperation.
(iii) Fire extinguisher
Some only treat prayer like the sign reads: ‘Use only in emergency.’
(iv) Last resort 
You do everything you can then when things finally fall apart, you pray.
(v) Guilt!
The basic motivation behind praying with many is guilt! ‘I know I should pray more; ought to pray.’ There’s a sense of obligation that if you don’t pray you’ll be on God’s Bad List. Result? You go through a meaningless boring ritual that becomes a rut!
(vi) Unnecessary 
Why do I have to pray? God knows everything anyway. (Usually accompanied by a querying ‘Well… doesn’t He?’).
(vii) Religious duty!
The worst misconception for many people about prayer is that it’s simply a religious duty. Well, if prayer is a religious duty for you, you’ve missed the total point of prayer.

Demolition!
If you don’t understand prayer in the slightest, so it’s no wonder you can’t get motivated!

So let’s demolish such misconceptions. I encourage you to read John 13-16— Jesus’ last words to His disciples before He was crucified on the cross.

He is telling them, ‘I am going to die, be resurrected and go back to heaven. I’m not going to be here physically but I’m going to be here spiritually. I’m going to put my Spirit, the Holy Spirit, into your lives and you can still talk to me, even though I’m not here physically. You can talk to me through prayer.’ 

Definiteness
And Jesus gives us four concrete reasons for prayer. Prayer is acts of definite—

1.  Dedication
It is an opportunity to express our devotion to God and our dependence on Him. An act of dedicating ourselves, saying, ‘God, I need you.’ 

Our biggest problem in prayer is we don’t feel a dependence on God. We think we can do it ourselves. Ever since Adam and Eve, we have all vastly overestimated our ability!

The biggest problem in prayer is admitting we need God’s help. The reason why a lot of people don’t pray is because it costs. It costs honesty. As long as you think you’re self-sufficient, prayer can have no meaning for you. You think you’ve got it all together. Reality: You need to be honest to God— ‘I admit I’m inadequate, helpless. I need your help in this situation.’

Prayer is an act of dedication:  ‘God, I admit I have a need…  your help in my life.’ Prayer is a declaration of dependence on God. It’s our way of saying ‘This proves I’m depending on you, God.’

Jesus gave an illustration of a plant to His followers: ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers…’

The branch is connected to the vine or stem; if you cut it off, it loses all its strength, power. Christians who cut off from God wither… xeraino, shrivel, dry up, pine away!

A TV documentary showed deep-sea divers recovering some gold from a sunken ship in the North Atlantic. They talked about how they let down a diving bell 800 feet under the water, that the only link between the people below was the air hose. It was the lifeline, support system, the connection between those above and those below.

Likewise, prayer is our connection, our support system. Cut it off and you run out of spiritual air. Prayer is an act of showing our dependence on God.

2.  Communication
We all know how important communication is. Most of our problems in life result from poor communication! For example… you can’t understand your marriage partner unless you communicate with them. Likewise you can’t understand God, or His will for your life, unless you communicate with Him!

In 1962 there was an international incident— the Cuban Missile Crisis. There was a standoff between President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev of Russia over planting missiles in Cuba. America nearly went to war over it… but didn’t because a communications link called a Hot Line was established (one positive benefit of that crisis).

They put a red telephone on the president of the United States’ desk and one on the premier of Soviet Russia’s desk. If at any time either leader thought somebody else was doing something wrong, they could simply lift up the phone and communicate. Communication is vital on the international scene… and in the Christian life!

Prayer is also an act of communication. What’s our relationship to God? You can’t communicate with somebody unless you know your relationship to them.

Jesus made the most remarkable statement in John 15:15-16: ‘I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit— that will last— and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.’

Isn’t that amazing? Jesus says that the reason you can ask God anything in prayer is because we’re friends of His, not slaves. Prayer is the way we communicate with God, the umbilical cord of the Christian life from which we draw our strength.

We seldom pray because we fail to recognise what a privilege it is to talk to God. Suppose I told you that tomorrow I’d arranged a twenty-minute personal interview with someone very important… say the president of the United States at 07:45 and you could talk to him about anything of your heart’s desire, what would you do?

You’d be so nervous, and probably not go to bed tonight. You’d probably go out and buy a whole new wardrobe, maybe get a haircut, hairdo. You’d probably write out some questions you’d want to ask so you didn’t waste the time.

We have a greater invitation than that… in John 15 (above) you’re invited to converse with the creator. Now that’s going to the top!

If you find prayer is a routine that you don’t look forward to, it means you don’t understand how much God loves you and how much He’s interested in everything that is of interest to you.

3.  Supplication
Prayer is an act of supplication, a request. Philippians 4:6 says, ‘Don’t worry about anything but in everything, with your prayers and your supplications, make your requests known to God…’ 

The result of our prayer requests will be peace of mind. Supplication, God’s chosen method of meeting our needs, actives Jesus’ John 16:23 promise: ‘… truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.’ 

Some people think, ‘God knows what I need so I don’t have to ask. He’ll just give it when I need it.’ Not true! There are some things God will only do if you ask in prayer. James 4:2 warned, ‘You have not because you ask not’; Luke wrote about keeping on asking, seeking (Luke 11:9-10).

There’s a story about a guy who dies and goes to heaven where he finds all these warehouses. Inside there were these tremendous gifts, fantastic things, spiritual situations, homes, jobs, happy families, all kinds of neat gifts. Dumbfounded, he asks, ‘Lord, what are all these gifts?’ and Jesus says, ‘There is a tag on every one of them, all saying the same thing.’ So he goes over to look and reads, ‘Never asked for.’

C.H. Spurgeon, that great London pastor, once said this, ‘God never shuts His storehouses until you shut your mouth.’ You have to ask… it’s your act of supplication! Question: What are you lacking right now in your life simply because you’ve never asked God for it?

Now God’s not interested in you asking for something you don’t want or really need! Ask for what you want… and not just needs but desires too. Why desires? Because if you’re reverencing God, your desires will be genuine!

Why does God Himself want us to pray? ‘… that your joy may be full’ (John 16:24NKJV). You’ll be happy! As a father, I love to grant my children’s requests. If I, being an imperfect dad, know how to respond to my children’s requests, how much more does our loving, perfect God know how to respond to us in love?

God delights in answering requests!

4.  Cooperation
This is the most exciting thing about prayer!

God has sovereignly chosen that we, even if we feel like church no-bodies, can cooperate in His plan by praying and help see His work done here on earth.

(i) Prayer is God’s modus operandi
It’s God saying, ‘I have chosen to limit myself to what I accomplish on earth simply by limiting myself to the faith of my children down there. What they believe me for, including kingdom victories, I will do.’

Therefore when we pray for other people, we are cooperating with God, teaming with Him to accomplish His work in this dark world.

(ii) Prayer isn’t limited by time
Jesus’ prayers 2000 years ago are still being answered today! The prayers I pray— you pray— today can be answered even three weeks or more hence!

(iii) Prayer isn’t limited by space
When you pray it’s like sending a missile. I could pray for somebody in Washington D.C. and it’s like sending a missile directly to that person’s heart without me leaving California. I can penetratingly pray for places all around the world. This why we pray for faraway missionaries!

(iv) Prayer is limitless in its power
People may reject your appeals, and you as a person… but they’re totally defenceless against your prayers which go straight to the heart. Like a river, God can change the course of history by prayers.

(v) Prayer is hero-rewarded
Prayer is the most important thing we can do, just not for ourselves but for others. Another question… who are the heroes going to be in heaven? Unknown people who prayed for frontline church leaders! Those who prayed for Christianity’s superstars whose ministry God blessed because ‘little unknown’ people prayed.

Feel like an ‘unknown prayer person’? There are no little people in God’s eyes! The great church leader D. L. Moody has said, ‘Every great movement of God can be traced to a single praying, kneeling figure.’ 

Deliberation
The above is an introduction to why we pray. In the future I’ll talk about praying deliberately—

• For other people.
• Specifically… and getting answers.
• For impossible situations… and
• Hanging loose when it seems the answer isn’t coming.

When you pray with a deliberate attitude, it makes you sensitive to God… and other people. Personally, I want our church to be a praying church. Do you want yours? A praying church is a holy one, committed and enthusiastic.

Be excited about praying. Churches that deliberately pray see miracles regarding health issues, jobs, finances both personal (and church), marriages and more. A growing, praying church is a happy one that sees God acting according to its prayers. And that gets people excited! When you pray and get answers, your joy is full, your excitement contagious— other people want to get involved.

Decision-making
Lacking something in your life right now simply because you’ve failed to ask God for it?

Well decide to ask! Sit still and let God talk to you as you think of one specific thing that you should pray for… something that’s currently uppermost on your mind. What’s your greatest need that you would like to ask God for? Not sure? Then pray, ‘Lord, just like the disciples, teach me to pray’and let God pop something into your mind.

Here’s my own prayer:

• Dear God, continue to teach me more about prayer.
• Lord Jesus, thank you for calling me your friend. I want to have a friendship relationship with you. Help me to really understand what that means as I want you to direct my life.
• Father, I want to see miracles happen in my life, things that can’t be explained by my own effort. I want to see impossible situations made possible through prayer. Right now I ask you for [certain matters… ]. Help me to believe that you’ll answer.
• I pray also for our church, that it will grow, developing spiritually as you answer our requests.
• And, heavenly Father, I thank you that readers of this article will see answers to their prayers as they too learn what it means to really pray. Amen!

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Dr Richard Winter pastors The Connection Church, Huntington Beach, California. Link:OnlinerConnect@gmail.com
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