Winter
1987
Developing a Personal Prayer Life
With The Lord
Wade E Taylor
Prayer should be a natural function of our everyday life,
and at the very heart of our relationship with our Lord.
Our need is not to be better informed about the methods
and principles of prayer, but rather to be stirred to pray.
Prayer is the expression of our love for, our dependence upon,
and our communion with the Lord, for we were created to look
to Him for all things.
Prayer is the means whereby this dependence finds its expression
and its completion. It is through this union with Him in prayer
that the Lord meets our needs. Thus, prayer is at the very
heart of our Christian experience and growth.
If we are searching for some new revelation, personality
or fad to follow, we will easily be led into some form of
deception, as the foundation of our spiritual life is not
established on a personal prayer relationship with the Lord.
When Jesus called His disciples, He said: "Come ye
after me, and I will make you (cause you) to become fishers
of men" Matt 4:19. Note that the emphasis is on "becoming",
rather than on fishing. We are prone to rush out and at once
begin to fish, forgetting what the Lord really said.
There must be a time of preparation, before "fishing"
can be effective. "Fishing for men" will follow
as the normal outworking of a life of prayer and communion
with the Lord. If this were practiced as the Lord taught,
most of the problems that we have in our Christian experience
would cease.
The enemy greatly opposes anyone whom he finds earnestly
praying. If possible, he would cause them to "do"
something, rather than let them alone to spend time in prayer
with the Lord. The devil knows the value of prayer, and will
seek to hinder it at all costs. The saint who is determined
to pray must discern the source of these hindrances to prayer,
and then rise above all opposition and distraction.
At this critical hour in which we live, the Lord is calling
His people to serious prayer. Throughout the Body of Christ,
the glitter and charisma of personalities and special ministries
is fading. At the same time, the door of the prayer closet
is opening wider for those who desire something more from
the Lord, and are willing to enter and pray.
"But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and
when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is
in secret: and your Father which seeth in secret shall reward
you openly" Matt 6:6. It is here that the battle must
be won. All else has failed to bring the Body of Christ to
its desired maturity.
Comparing Isaiah 50:4 with Mark 1:35 reveals to us that
Jesus began each day in prayer alone with His Father. His
disciples noticed this, and were stirred with the desire to
pray. "And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in
a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said
unto Him, Lord teach us to pray" Luke 11:1.
The answer that He gave to them was very easy to understand:
"When you pray, say..." In other words, Jesus said
to them, "You do not need to be taught how to pray, but
you are to pray. You will learn to pray by praying."
Prayer is more than telling the Lord what we think He should
do, and all the wonderful things that would happen if only
He would do as we ask. Real prayer begins when we enter into
such communion with Him, that the Holy Spirit can pray the
will of the Father through us.
This is taking hold of the willingness of the Lord, not
overcoming His reluctance. He may reluctantly give us something
that we continually press Him for, to our own hurt. Note the
children of Israel who pressed Him for meat, rather than being
satisfied with the Manna that He had provided. He gave them
quail, but Scripture tells us that it brought "leanness"
to their souls.
There are no shortcuts or push-button methods of entering
into His presence. "Prayer" means spending quality
time with the Lord.
When the Lord's people come to an understanding of the value
of this place of prayer and communion with Him, they will
be on their way to a life of fruitfulness in His purposes.