Decisive and purposeful prayer is what makes for effective prayer. We’ve all heard the adage that those who fail to plan, plan to fail, and this is likewise true when it comes to building up our prayer lives and being disciplined regarding the time we allot to this great and transformative endeavor.
Whether you have two or twenty children, and yes, I know
families with twenty children, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility,
you will have noticed that they all follow the same path from infancy, to the
toddler stages and beyond. Every parent gets excited about that first step, that
first time when they stand up on wobbly legs. Whether holding onto something or
with hands outstretched as though they were walking an invisible high wire,
they gingerly and cautiously take that first step.
It’s one of those momentous occasions that most parents want
to capture and immortalize. Soon enough, their focus shifts to baby-proofing
the house and ensuring that nothing that can shatter is within arm’s reach of a
smiling, giggling bundle of joy that's discovering a whole new world to explore.
We all begin our journey to becoming men and women of prayer
tentatively, cautiously, hesitantly, crawling, then trying to get comfortable
enough with standing before taking our first steps, but the goal is to make
progress daily, and grow in both the quantity and quality of time we spend with
God, maturing our spiritual man and discovering the wonder that is fellowship
with Him.
It’s true that you have to walk before you run, and you have
to crawl before you walk; each stage requires time and perseverance. Prayer
warriors are not forged overnight, and there is nothing one can do to bypass
the growing stages that lead to the confidence only maturity can bring about.
I know God hears me when I pray. I’ve always known it, at
least I knew that He could, but what was a theoretical concept I had no
practical, personal experience or understanding of, became a reality, as true
as anything I could touch or feel over time. It’s one thing to be told that
fire burns. It’s another to stick one’s finger into the flame and watch the
hair on your knuckles burn and singe.
Thinking God hears you, hoping He hears you, and knowing
without equivocation or shadow of doubt that He hears you are three very
distinct mindsets. When we reach full maturity, we no longer think or hope, but
we know that when we come before God, He is there, and when we pour our hearts
out to Him, He hears.
Most people are quick to leave God a negative Yelp review,
insisting that He doesn’t engage, He doesn’t hear, or He doesn’t respond, when
they never bothered to cry out to Him, entreat Him, or make time for Him. I will
phrase the following as delicately as I can: without a consistent life of
prayer, your Christian walk is a self-imposed illusion. We can’t say we serve a
God to whom we never speak, or with whom we never spend any time. We can’t say
we know the depths of divine wisdom itself when we ignore and avoid the source
of all wisdom as though being in His presence were an inconvenience.
We prefer entertainment over stillness, the bombastic over
the still, small voice, because it stirs the flesh and compels an emotional
reaction. Deep down, we know that were we to come before God in prayer, there
may be chastening, reproof, or correction, and you get none of those things
lip-singing Hillsong, now do you?
Do you desire to be what God wants you to be, or do you desire
to remain unchanged while God cosigns every bad decision, foolish choice, and
crooked path your feet take you down? If we never come before God with
brokenness and sincerity of heart, if we never approach Him in prayer, we can
fool ourselves into believing He is validating our poor choices because, well,
He never said anything about it, now did He?
We justify spiritual atrophy because we are unwilling to
submit and surrender our all to Him, attempting to avoid the pruning process we
know is necessary in order for us to live vibrant, obedient, and faithful
spiritual lives. It’s like getting a report card and refusing to hand it over
to your parents, knowing that there’s something there they may not be very
happy with, so you conveniently leave the envelope at the bottom of your
backpack for weeks on end. Then, when the parent-teacher conference rolls
around and your teacher asks your parents how they feel about your progress or
lack thereof, their only answer is a blank stare.
You don’t have to show God your report card. He already knows
everything. You can’t avoid correction by not coming before Him in prayer
because that will only exacerbate the problem and make the situation worse. Rather
than attempting to play games with God, humble yourself in the sight of the
Lord, come before Him with a repentant heart, and He will forgive and restore.
God knows you’re not perfect. He never said only perfect
people can come before Him in prayer. The only prerequisite is a humble and
contrite spirit that acknowledges the flaws and imperfections and cries out to
Him to create in them a clean heart. That’s the caveat, though: you must desire
a clean heart, you must desire true fellowship, you must desire His presence
and not just some form of fire insurance.
Psalm 51:10-12, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew
a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do
not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and
uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”
If that’s the cry of your heart, do not delay in going before
Him, spending time with Him, and crying out to Him. No man can avoid God
forever. Whether in this life or when we stand before the throne of judgment,
we will all give an account. Better that we repent now, better that we submit
now, better that we surrender now, that we might hear the glorious words, “well
done, good and faithful servant.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
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