Prayer
Prayer has been a weakness for me. My thoughts are always racing, my body is constantly moving. Quietness, like sleep, is a foreign concept to me. During prayer meetings I struggle to stay connected to the group. My hearing loss has added to this problem, because I can't hear the person praying next to me. Shamefully, I would tell people I would pray for them and then it would end up in the mess of the thoughts of my mind. Sometimes, I would pray, but many times I would get distracted. Over this summer (2024), Laura introduced me to George Müller. I knew of his name; however, I didn’t know about his amazing prayer life and life story. He was a man of prayer, like Paul. I would highly recommend reading his books. He documented 5,000 answered prayers. Concurrently, my Tuesday night Bible study was studying Job. God has placed amazing examples in my life during this journey of spiritual warfare (I talked about in the Bitterness and Suffering blog.)
During these ongoing spiritual attacks, God led me to prayer because it was absent from my spiritual life. Even though I had two serious critical conditions, those didn’t preclude me from prayer. I read George’s words about his prayer life and how God provided greatly, even with the heartbreaking losses of his wife, children, etc. He was steadfast in his prayer. His prayers consumed his life, such that even when the queen of England visited, he had no time to meet her. Would I be able to have that kind of radical faith in prayer?
My other fault was a lack of confidence in open group prayer. Everyone else seemed to have beautifully worded prayers. How could I compete with those? Not that it was a competition, but my prayers were so primitive. God doesn’t care about the poetic nature of the words but just that I am communicating with Him.
My autistic mind started exploring what the Bible says about prayer. There are close to 1,100 references about prayer and 450 answers to prayer in the Bible. Genesis 3:8-18 and 4:9 are dialogues between God and His creation. These are models of prayer. Then, Genesis 4:26 starts the weaving of prayer into His Word as a way for His people to call on His name.
Jesus modeled a prayer life in His ministry with 25 references to Him praying. Often Jesus withdrew to an austere place and prayed alone. He spent hours or even days fasting in prayer. During the torment on the cross, He prayed for those who cheered on His death, the thief, His mother, and His followers. Until His last breath He prayed. Even through the agony, He prayed in love, and He prayed for the Father’s forgiveness for those who mocked Him. Paul, the man who murdered Christians with great zeal, became the faithful apostle who worshiped and prayed in prison. He references prayer 41 times in his writings. He prayed for the thorn to be removed, but God didn’t grant that prayer. Paul didn’t become bitter about this unanswered prayer. These are amazing examples for us.
The Bible illustrates five body positions for prayer. 2 Samuel 7:18 references a sitting position for prayer. A standing position is in Mark 11:25, and a kneeling position in Chronicles 6:13; Daniel 6:10; Luke 22:41; Acts 7:60, 9:40, 20:36, 21:5; Ephesians 3:14. The two last positions are lying face down in Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:35, and with hands lifted in 2 Timothy 2:8. At times I found these positions difficult to be in due to sensory issues from Aspergers or a lack of stillness due to Bipolar. In my over-thinking, I thought, “God wants us to do these positions for prayer to be obedient. Or is this a guide? How can I be obedient to His Word with my conditions? What is or is not permitted as prayers?”
The Bible defines ten types of prayer. James 5:15 references the prayer of faith, we pray in faith for God to heal the sick. We pray in faith for the power and goodness of God (Mark 9:23) The prayer of agreement (corporate prayer) we see in Acts 1:14 and then after the Pentecost in Acts 2:24. We should be encouraged to pray with others. Prayers of supplication in Philippians 4:6 teaches us to take all our needs to God. We should always pray with the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:18) Also, in Philippians 4:6 is the prayer of thanksgiving, where we give all glory and thanks to God as our provider.
Like the prayer of thanksgiving, the prayer of worship gives thanks to God. (Acts 13:2-3) The prayer of consecration is to set ourselves apart to understand God’s will for us. Jesus modeled this in the garden the night before His crucifixion. (Matthew 26:39) Like Jesus, we need to be apart from the chaos of the world to meditate on His Word and pray about His will for us. In 1 Timothy 2:1 and John 17 is the prayer of intercession on the behalf of others. This prayer is illustrated in the Old Testament with Abraham pleading with God to save people in Sodom. (Genesis 18:16-33)
Lastly, the prayer of imprecation is in Psalm 7, 55, and 69; His people are invoking God’s judgment to avenge His righteous people. The psalmist used this prayer to glorify the holiness of God and His judgment. In the New Testament, Jesus teaches us to pray for the blessings of our enemies, not curse them. (Matthew 5:44-48) The Bible refers to praying with the Spirit’s helps when we have no adequate words to express in prayer (1 Corinthians 14:14-15 and Romans 8:26-27). Importantly, prayer is the way to communicate with God and we should do it without creasing (1 Thessalonian 5:16-18). To grow in Christ is to have an abundant prayer life.
I found these types of prayers overwhelming. My over-thinking was on the type and when I should be praying that type of prayer. Over-thinking how can I pray without ceasing? Over and over, thinking has clouded my mind to be disobedient to my Father, my Salvation, my Jesus. Thoughts racing through my mind further impede my ability to be stillfully quiet for prayer. My constant, compulsory, physical movement further thwarts the stillness in prayer. I truly believed that my conditions prevented a full prayer life. These past months of spiritual warfare showed me that the adversary was fooling me. There are times where prayer is difficult, however I was self-justifying this during periods of stability. Prayer can be as simple as a private out loud conversation in the car, bathtub, or anywhere. Don’t get caught up in the positions to pray or the types of prayer. They are all important, but praying and calling out to our God without ceasing is greater than all of that. Simply put, just pray.