The disciples came to Jesus and said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” They were good Jewish young men. They had gone to synagogue. They had learned the prayers for every occasion. The culture and background had taught them how to pray. But when they got around Jesus, He prayed differently. When Jesus prayed, stuff happened. Bondages left people. Blind eyes opened. Provision came. After a while the disciples began to notice. He does not pray like we pray. When we pray we mumble our words. Nothing really happens. When Jesus prays, stuff happens.
Stuff is a theological term. It comes from the Greek stuffadocious.
I once heard the testimony of a Jewish rabbi who worked in a concentration camp during the Second World War. Every day they kept him alive so he could stand over the pile of bodies and read a Jewish prayer: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” In his heart he was crying out, “Yahweh, where are You? There is no help.” Then two young Christian girls from the Red Cross arrived. They invited him to pray with them each morning. He was starved for fellowship, so he joined them. These girls got on their knees and worshipped. They sang. They prayed specific, accurate prayers in the name of Jesus. The rabbi began writing down their requests and noticing that they prayed and God answered. At times a knock came at the door with the very thing they had asked before they finished praying. In the end the rabbi went to them and said, “You know something about Yahweh that I do not know. He listens to you.” They answered, “We pray in the name of Jesus.” Jesus never said, “Whatever you ask I will do.” He said, “Whatever you ask in My name.” As written in John 14:13, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
I want us to love our prayer life. I want us to be satisfied with it. Is it perfect? That is not the question. Does it work? Am I glad I have it? Most things in life will not be perfect. The goal is not perfection. The goal is to show up. My ambition is to pray badly. I do not mean I want to pray badly. I mean I want to show up and pray. I do not want a perfect prayer life. I want to actually pray. I do not want to live in tomorrow-land where one day I will float around with an amazing prayer life. Learn to pray badly and then keep improving. How do you learn to ride a bicycle? You have a go. How do you read your Bible? You open it and start. The more you read, the more you understand.
Be Real with God
God is not mad at you. God is not disappointed in you. Any shame comes from Satan or from yourself. Let us get rid of the shame and build a prayer life that works. When Jesus teaches about prayer He tells people to be real. The Pharisees came with special clothes and funny voices. Have you ever heard anyone pray with a funny voice? We all have a little Pharisee in us. The key is not to hide it. See it and slap yourself. Sometimes I am praying for someone who is sick and I start saying words that are not connected with my heart. I stop. If my heart is not connected with God I am only mumbling. People talk about God like He is not in the room. There used to be a British radio programme called “Does He Take Sugar?” The idea was that people would speak about someone with a handicap as if the person were not present. People do that with God. We want to keep pressing into reality. God is real. We do not need to pretend.
I love the book of Psalms. David is real with God. At times he is raw. He brings everything out. Look at the wicked. They are prospering. What about me? He does not hold it in. Then he does not stay there. He moves into praise. Even though this is true, You are my God and I will praise You. You will have the last word. Let us learn to be real with God. Get a list of things you are praying for and use your faith. As written in Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
Throw Out Religious Ideas About Prayer
If there is one thing I want you to grasp, it is this. God wants fellowship. What do you want from your children? You want to enjoy being with them. Philosophers have asked for thousands of years, “What is the meaning of life? Why are we here?” God is not looking for you to serve Him. Service is the outworking of relationship. God is looking for relationship with you. There was a Father who had one Son and wanted more. The dream of God was to have billions of children. He loves them all equally. He can know them all equally. He longs to spend time with you. He longs to enjoy you. He wants you to enjoy Him. Until we get that—not as a fact but as a practice—our prayer life is a waste of time. We will be ticking boxes and going through religious practices that mean nothing. God does not want you coming into His presence mumbling words whether traditional or charismatic if there is no heart connection. God does not want you yabbering in tongues if your heart is not connected. It is just noise.
I am convinced that most Christians know this in their heads but it is not how they lived yesterday. There is a Father who loves you and says, “Come into My throne room. Come into My presence and spend time with Me. Learn to fellowship with Me as a much-loved son or daughter.” We were created by a Father. We were created for a Father. We were created for fellowship and union with Him. He is the only thing that will ever satisfy us. Amazon will never bring enough boxes. You will never climb enough mountains. Your soul will stay empty until you are fellowshipping with your Father.
A lot of the charismatic church has what I call transactional Christianity. We develop methods and teaching. Do this and God will do that. The Lord wants you to spend time with Him. End of story. You do not earn it. Jesus already earned it. The Lord said to Moses, “Come up the mountain and be there.” Every day the Lord is saying the same. You do not need to climb a mountain. The gates are open. The veil is torn. Every day you can come in and sit down with Father, Son and Spirit. You are accepted in the Beloved. Fellowship with Him.
Step into Your Identity as a Child of God
We have to step into that identity. I am a child of God. I am not a sinner saved by grace. I am not a cleaned-up project. I am a child. I belong here. Satan does not belong here. The God of heaven came to the orphanage of sin and chose me and chose you and adopted us. You need to know that and anchor your soul in it because the accuser will say, “Why are you here? You are not worthy. Remember what you did.” Throw all of that away and come in like a little child. “Father, I love You. I belong here.” The angels cry, “Holy, holy, holy.” We can do that too. We can also come right up and jump on His lap and say, “Father, I love You.”
Learn to sit in the reality of what God’s Word says you are. Take a truth—“My Father loves me”—and sit quietly in the experience of Him. Everything in God’s Word is true in the spirit. It is a description of who I am and what I have in heavenly places. I want it here on the earth. Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. As written in Isaiah 40:31, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” You wait on God. You do not wait for God. Like a servant to his master, so my soul waits on the Lord. We need to wait on the Lord. Sit in a truth from God’s Word. Your mind will go crazy. Your mind will give you a list of twenty-seven things you need to do. Ignore it. Keep refocusing on the Lord. If you get distracted, gird up the loins of your mind and come back. If you will sit in a truth of God’s Word you will begin feeling it in your soul. Go to the Word first and sit in that Word until it begins overflowing in your soul and in your body.
Sit in the Finished Work Until Peace Overflows
If the average Christian would spend three or four minutes just sitting and being with God, abiding and letting the overflow come, such a peace would enter the soul and the body that everywhere you go it would push out fear, strife and tension. Practice your peace. It will linger. You are not trying to be religious. You are abiding with Him. As written in John 14:20, “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. You cannot get any more of the Holy Spirit. You can experience more by allowing Him. God does not have revival to pour out on a region. He has revival to pour out of His people. Out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water. Learn to sit and be with God. Learn to sit in the “I am.” There is no work to do. No performance. He has done it all. Sit in the finished work of Jesus and let it mark your soul. You will feel it, but the feeling comes because the truth is established on the inside. Everything coming from the outside will not be able to touch you. You have greater internal pressure than external pressure. When the pressure on the inside is greater than the pressure on the outside, what is around you will change but it will not touch you.
The peace of God is powerful. Jesus is in the storm yet in perfect peace. He stands up and says, “Peace, be still.” Greater was He that was in Him than that which was around Him. As written in Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” All the other things we pray for become a to-do list and transactional until we find that place of fellowship. I give you permission to pray badly. Grace. God’s not mad at you. It would be a breakthrough for some if you did it for three minutes at the beginning of the day and enjoyed it. Those three minutes will become four because you enjoy it. Have fellowship with your Father. Put the to-do list away. Close your mouth at times. If you really have to speak, say, “Father, I love You.” Learn to listen. Learn to ask, “What is going to happen today?” If we would shut up we would hear His voice.
You already have the relationship. You were given a relationship with God. You inherited Jesus’ relationship with the Father. Your mission is to enjoy it. You have been adopted. You are part of the family. Do not sit outside saying, “I am the ex-orphan. I am not worthy.” Those lies will keep you out. The greatest danger of sin in most of our lives is the effect it has on us in keeping us away from God. It is not about keeping God away from us. If there is sin, repent. As written in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Run to God quickly. Do not sit in it. Do not let it touch your soul. Run to Him. Whoever has been born of God does not sin. That is who I am. I am born of God. I have been made a slave of righteousness. I am set free from sin. But if I sin, I have an advocate with the Father. Run to God. If you catch yourself starting to sin, repent. Keep moving the bar. You can repent before you ever sin.
Lord, teach us to pray. Let us develop and step into fellowship with the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Let us sit with You and fellowship. Wipe away any sense of failure or shame. This one thing we do: we forget what is behind and we step into a new season of prayer, a new season of grace and joy in prayer.
Selah.
Scriptures for Study
Luke 11:1, John 14:13, Psalm 34:8, Isaiah 40:31, John 14:20, Isaiah 26:3, 1 John 1:9, 1 John 3:9, 1 Corinthians 6:17, John 7:38, Hebrews 6:12, James 1:22, Romans 10:17, Matthew 24:35, Psalm 121:1-2, Matthew 3:17, 1 John 2:1, Exodus 24:12, Psalm 23:3, John 15:5, Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 1:6, Hebrews 4:16, Revelation 3:20
10 Questions for Reflection
- What would it look like for me to “pray badly” and simply show up this week?
- Where have I been talking about God as if He were not in the room?
- How can I step more fully into my identity as an adopted child rather than a cleaned-up project?
- What single truth from God’s Word will I sit in quietly until it begins to overflow?
- In what ways has my prayer life become transactional instead of relational?
- When pressure comes from the outside, is the pressure of God’s peace greater on the inside?
- How quickly do I run to the Father when I sense sin or shame, rather than hiding?
- What three minutes of simple fellowship with the Father could I protect each day?
- Am I waiting on the Lord or merely waiting for the Lord?
- What would change if I believed that revival flows out of me rather than needing to be poured onto me?
