Prayer by its very nature involves encounter – The coming of Jesus, his life, death, resurrection and ascension opened up to us not only the possibility of being saved, and the hope of life eternal, but access to the very presence of God in the here and now of our messy everyday lives – that involves encounter… without it we are simply being religious.
But it begs a question, what is an encounter?
Encounter can take different forms:
• Sovereign encounters – ones over which we have no intention, influence, or control. God just turns up and does what he does… I.e. Paul on the road to Damascus.
• Salvation encounters – where we encounter love, grace, mercy and forgiveness of God…
• Holy Spirit encounters – baptism of the Spirit, gifts…
• Affirming encounters – think of Jesus at his baptism. As he was praying, heaven opened and the Spirit descended… And a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.” Luke 3:21-22.
• Healing encounters – may be spiritual, mental, physical, emotional. In them we may experience love, peace, joy…
• Freeing encounters – deliverance from oppression or strongholds caused by sin or Satan.
• Crisis encounters – in the midst of some critical situation that is beyond us we cry out to God for his intervention and he meets us in some amazing way. Think of another of Paul’s encounters with God regarding his “thorn in the flesh”…. when God said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you”. 2 Cor 12:7-9
• Convicting and challenging encounters… God’s presence may not always be pleasant or safe but it is good. When Lucy in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first encounters Aslan the great lion and asks is he safe? Mr Beaver replied, “Oh, no. Who said anything about safe? But he’s good.”
• Kick-start encounters – encounters that set us on a path of engagement.
• Transforming encounters – dynamic encounters that impact our lives and ministries. Think of Isaiah in Isaiah 6 and 2 Cor 3:18
• Word encounters – encounter God in the Word.
• Worship encounters – God is in this place
Then we mustn’t underestimate Life lived with/before God. Beware the sacred secular divide. Living prayerfully…
Encounters are transforming moments. If we are not changed through prayer, the question isn’t one of whether prayer really works, but whether we have really prayed, whether we have truly sought God’s face.
Prayer is at once the simplest and the hardest thing to do.
• Simple, because it is engaging with God in conversation about life and service.
• Difficult, because our flesh, the world, and the devil oppose it. Disciples slept…
Yet it is the powerhouse of the Christian life and church. Without it we have no power. The old saying “Seven prayerless days make one weak” still rings true.
FIVE THINGS ABOUT PRAYER
- Prayer is a relationship not a ritual. Not about how many times you do it or in what way… The danger is we make it religious… Prayer if it is anything it is personal intimate communion with God. It is heart to heart fellowship with the living God.
This is what staggered the Jews of Jesus’s day. They knew God formally, as the creator of the heavens and the earth, the giver of life and the covenant God of Israel. But when they saw and heard Jesus praying it was on a different level. Yes they prayed, but there was no intimate communion. Perhaps the closest to some form of personal relationship would be Psalm 23, but even there it’s that of a shepherd and his sheep. But when Jesus prayed, there was personal relationship, there was intimacy, the intimacy of deep relationship.
And the staggering thing is that through Jesus we are invited to know God in the same way. Jesus said when you pray say, “Our Father…” – We do not come to him as our judge or CEO both of which excludes intimacy and assurance…
We get to call God, Father, to come before him as his children… Children are natural, no performances, no airs and graces…. There’s a certain audacity…
Intimacy though takes time and develops with honesty. Don’t pretend, God knows, be real. - Prayer is a “power-sharing” device.
It is the means whereby God has chosen to accomplish his purposes in the earth. Dallas Willard said that “Prayer is a power sharing device for a world of recovering sinners…”
To that end Jesus said, “When you pray say, “Hallowed be you name, Your kingdom come, your will be done…”
There is power in Prayer. - Prayer then is doing business with God or a conversation with God about what we are doing together. It is not a selfish enterprise. The Lords prayer: “Your kingdom come…”
Prayer only works when it’s centred in God’s will….
Are we for him or for ourselves?
• Lives that are devoted to God will encounter him.
• Lives that are devoted to God will hear his voice.
The question is who and what are we living for? - There are different types of prayer:
• Being present prayer – “Be still and know that I am God.” Some of us are just too busy… Looking to the next moment even in our prayers and missing God in the present… Need to learn to be in this moment with God
• Conversational prayer – doing life with God. “Pray constantly…”
• Arrow prayers – God, help!
• Intercessory prayer – times of special pleading… Standing in the gap…
• Prevailing prayer – prevail upon God to act… The parable of the widow…
• United prayer – praying andwith others
• Wrestling prayer – I think of what Paul said about Epaphras: “He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.”
• Unceasing prayer – not necessarily constant speech, but constant dependence; abiding; living with a constant awareness of our need…
• Warfare prayer – spiritual conflict; times when we know we are up against the enemy.
• Praying in spirit/tongues – using the prayer language that Paul speaks about. - PUSH = Pray Until Something Happens – Luke 11:5-13. Not about God’s reluctance but having shameless boldness, being audacious.
• We learn to pray by praying.
• Be yourself in prayer
• Pray until you pray!
Luke 11:1-13; 1 Thess 5:16-18.
The Word 4 Life 