Towards a Pastoral Theology of Prayer
I still remember, shortly after becoming a Christian, often having mixed feelings every time my pastor preached about how important it was for Christians to pray regularly.
Like with most teenagers these days, it is not that they don’t know what is the best thing to do, but they get de-railed by peer group pressure. I was not that eager to pray simply because none of my non-Christian friends did. I probably also shared many teenagers’ rebelliousness at the time: I resented having to play the role of a dutiful son pleasing parents by conforming to their expectations.
Besides, like people trying hard to lose weight but without success, I constantly struggled with my guilt feelings for not praying like my pastor expected. If prayer was an important indicator of spirituality, then my sub-standard prayer life could only be a source of frustration and discouragement to me.
Slowly, the rationalisation set in: if God is so sovereign that He has already pre-ordained everything and if his purposes will eventually be fulfilled despite our feeble human efforts, then surely there is not much point in us praying at all? Isn’t it simply “whatever will be, will be?” Dare we think we can change God’s mind? I suspect the attractiveness of such theology was based on my desire to excuse my own prayerlessness!
At the other extreme, there is the common assumption that, whether God answers our prayers or not will largely depend on our faith or our efforts: the more we believe and the harder we pray, the more likely God will be to say YES to our requests. The so-called “Parable of the Demanding Friend at Midnight” is often quoted to support such a view. In our everyday life, such an approach would be called “nagging” or “twisting someone’s arm”! Sadly, many Christians still think they can do the same with the Almighty!
Some would even go so far as to say “Only our prayers can move God’s hands”, as if God cannot function without our prayers. In short, such theology teaches that the fulfilment of God’s purpose will be solely dependent on our efforts at praying. They have failed to appreciate that even our desire and ability to pray come from God in the first place. Looking back now, I wish I was not just told I should pray often when I began my Christian journey. How much better would it have been if I was also shown how to pray, and more importantly, that I was also taught the theology behind why we should pray!

Since I now understand that conceptual learning without practice is inadequate, that I can’t become a good golfer just by reading good books about golf, so I need to practise the how of prayers, as most professionals do. After all, aren’t clergy paid to pray in public? In fact, I have become so good in offering “professional prayers” that I am in danger of becoming a “professional pray-er” myself!
So let’s get back to the fundamental question – what is prayer for us as Christians? The practice of praying is common to many religions. In fact, most Muslims are more eager to pray than their Christian counterparts. Martin Luther once observed that the Lord’s Prayer could be summarised by one word, namely, petitions. As Jesus’ disciples, we are taught to ask for the coming of God’s Kingdom, to ask for God’s will to be done, to ask for our daily bread, to ask for forgiveness of our sins, etc.
So while prayer can simply be defined as “asking God”, there is a radical difference between Christian prayers and other religious forms of petitioning. Only Jesus Christ taught us to pray to God as Abba, Father. Christian prayer is not just asking any god, but more specifically asking the God who is our Father in Heaven. While it does not preclude praying to Christ or to the Holy Spirit, yet God the Father should be the primary focus of all our Christian praying endeavours.
Most Christians pray to ask God to let them get into a good university, graduate into a good job, find a good boyfriend or girlfriend, be led into a good marriage so as to start a good family etc. Of course there’s nothing wrong in itself in asking God the Father for good things.
But Christian prayers are more radical, because our Lord Jesus also taught us to seek first God’s Kingdom and His Righteousness (Matt 6:33). We learn by Christ’s own personal example that it is not our will, but that of our Father that should be done. In real life situations, however, it is often our experience that, when we’re called upon to make a decision in an ever-changing world, we may not actually know what to pray for, since we may still be very uncertain of God’s specific will for us at that particular point in our lives.
Hence true prayers to God require a mediator who can truly reveal God’s will to us. While Moses once stood as a great mediator in giving us the Ten Commandments, we Christians are to pray “in Jesus’ Name” because only Jesus has been appointed as the Mediator par excellence (Heb 7:21,25) In times of personal turmoil, praying will become very difficult, if not impossible, when we are emotionally stirred and rationally confused. Through this One True Mediator Jesus, however, the Spirit of the Living God indwelling in us will actually pray for us according to the will of the Father!(Rom. 8:27)
So while it may not make any logical sense, yet in theological terms we can affirm that Christian prayers are Trinitarian in nature: that is, we address God the Father, through God the Son, in the Power of God the Holy Spirit.
Accessing God in prayer implies the desire to do the will of God. Yet often while our spirits may be willing, our flesh is weak. Thus it is important to be reminded that we are to pray to God our Father. Many Christians prefer “me” to “we”! But while Christian prayer is intensely personal, it should also be a corporate act. That is to say, when Christians pray, we are all collectively participating in an inward communion with the Triune God. We too are part of the community of the saints.
The Spirit encourages and empowers us to pray for the Father’s will, only as we live faithfully among God’s People. Within such a community of faith – the church – prayers in many ways reveal our true hearts’ desires and expose us to our true allegiance. In short, prayer is more for us to get to know our true selves than for God to know what we really want. We Anglicans knew this all along, for we begin our worship service by praying “Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open and all desires known…”.
Most Christians will naturally turn to God in prayer when they are confronted with insurmountable problems in life. Prayer to the Father implies dependence. The necessity of prayer should be a constant reminder of our utter dependence on God for everything (hence the proper postures for prayer have always included the bowing of our heads, kneeling and closing of our hands etc.) Thus true Christian prayer must be learned in humility through obedience and it would certainly preclude any boasting on our part.
Prayer is not a game or sport we play to score points. It is neither a display of the strength of our will power nor the depth of our faith. Yes, we are urged to pray persistently without ceasing, but it is a call to discipline for our own sake! For our benefit, God has ordained us to pray so that we can experience God’s grace in our own lives and, in return, consciously and duly give God thanks and praise. So in God’s Divine Economy, through prayers, we will get God’s help while God will get the glory. As Dr. John Piper reminds us, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”.
Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. (Psalm 50:15)
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
So don’t just be satisfied with reading this article about prayer - it is time to practise praying with the help of the Holy Spirit, so we may truly bring glory and honour to our Father in heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
thx dear Rev.....
ReplyDeletei dunno... this is a bloody long reading... but i cried after reading it....
maybe i hav been a “professional pray-er” myself for frigging long...
Oh I managed to read the whole article! Thanks Rev Rick!
ReplyDeleteWith no doubt at all, all of us Christian do pray to God when we face dilemma and I must say we pray extra hard for that too, but in fact alot of times we've (or I've) forgotten to Thank God for tiny things (finding a spot at carpark, didnt get ticket while all cars around mine got fine, be able to speak out my prayer..etc)... its a blessing from God. Not totally on track of wat u shared but Thanks Rick, inspired :)
"As Jesus’ disciples, we are taught to ask for the coming of God’s Kingdom, to ask for God’s will to be done, to ask for our daily bread, to ask for forgiveness of our sins, etc." yeah.. thts wht i hav forgotten ... b4 my prayers...
ReplyDelete"prayer is more for us to get to know our true selves than for God to know what we really want"
thx Rev Rick!! very well written!!
ReplyDeleteyun loi our Rev ho ho mun choi !!
If praying is like making a phone call to God ...
i prefer to do it like a WIFI with continuous connection anytime and anywhere i walk ... to share, ask, praise everything i encountered ~