Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Whose Line is it Anyway?

by Grant Gaines

We are a culture that loves to make our opinions known. Just take one look at all the social media websites. You have Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, MySpace, LinkedIn, Google +, Orkut, Deviant Art, Café Mom, Live Journal, Ning, Meet Up, my Life, Badoo, Meet Me, and Tagged just to name a few. And while these sites have differing capabilities, they all exist for the same purpose: to get your opinion out in the open.

If we are not careful, this habit can follow us into prayer. So instead of conversing with God, we are preforming a monolog in which God is simply an audience member rather than a key contributor in a conversation.

When we start to address God rather than interact with God, we miss the point of prayer. As is often said, the point of prayer should not be to get our will done in Heaven, but God’s will done in our lives. And the only way we can accomplish that purpose is to take the microphone out of our hands and turn it over to God.

One way we can give God the floor in prayer is by remembering that He already knows what we need before we can even ask Him. God tells us in Isaiah 65:24 (NIV), “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” Before we can even pray God already has an answer for us!

That knowledge will do one of two things for us. Some people will misuse this idea as an excuse not to pray. “God already knows what I need before I can ask so what’s the purpose in praying?” they will reason. However, the Bible commands us to, “pray continually,” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NIV) and Jesus Himself lived a life full of prayer. The Bible also makes it very clear that we miss out on blessings if we do not pray. James 4:2 (NLT, italics mine) says, “You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.” So it is obvious that not praying is NOT an option.

Instead, knowing that God already knows what we need before we can ask should give us confidence in prayer. Rather than depending on a well-formatted argument in order get what we need from God, we can be genuine and to the point in prayer knowing He already has His response ready!

To further cement this point, Jesus warned His followers early in His ministry on earth against self-focused prayer when He said in Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV), “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” There it is again. Do not let your prayers consist of an excessive overflow of repeated words because God already knows what we need. Instead follow the council of Ecclesiastes 5:2 (NIV), “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”

But please don’t misunderstand what God is saying. He is not asking that you cut down your prayer time because He is busy with other activities or bored with you. God loves when we pray to Him and hangs on every word we say. Instead, He is asking that you shoot straight with Him. There is no need to lie when talking to God because He already knows your heart and there is no reason to ramble on. Instead, we need to take the time to hear what God has to say as well.

Are you starting to come to the same conclusion about prayer that I am? It seems that it is much more important for us to hear what God has to say than for Him to hear what we have to say. Think about it, God spoke and the Heavens and earth were formed (Genesis 1:1). God spoke and light appeared from the vast darkness (Gen. 1:3). God spoke and the storm was calmed (Luke 8:24). God spoke and demons fled (Luke 8:32-33). God spoke and the dead were raised (John 11:38-44). And when I speak…well, nothing special happens.

Maybe you’ll find it helpful to write out your prayers in order to see exactly what you are saying to the Lord Most High. Let me challenge you today to look at the transcript of your prayers. Maybe you need to speak them out loud to hear what you are praying. I believe if we are faithful in looking at the transcript of our prayers, we will vastly improve in the art of a God pleasing, conversational prayer!

Why not start today?

Comments? Questions? Suggestions?

Email Me

©Grant Gaines 2013