A complex simplicity

Hello faithful friends and first-time readers! I hope you'll take the time to check out past posts while you're here.

This week, the Lord has answered a prayer of mine that I've had for some time. All praise goes to Him. It got me thinking about the concept of prayer and led to this week's column. Some of you may have been part of my prayer circle regarding this particular request, and for that I thank you for going to the Father on my behalf! 

As always, share it along if you like it!

Original publication date: Friday, May 29, 2015
Random Writer
A complex simplicity 

There’s this complex simplicity about prayer that my mind can’t comprehend. When we think about the actual process--talking to God--it’s easy, but when we look at the concept itself, it’s one that staggers the imagination. I might be the only one, but let me just explain myself.

The model prayer Jesus gave to the disciples, better known as the Lord’s Prayer, gives somewhat of a layout as to how we should pray. We acknowledge who He is (Matthew 6:9), and then seek out His will (verse 10). We ask for daily provision in verse 11, and in the next verse we seek His forgiveness. The final verse of the prayer, verse 13, asks for strength to overcome temptation and evil before concluding with exaltation once more.

In Matthew 21, Jesus said that faith--even as small as a mustard seed--could move mountains. Later in the chapter, He said that whatever we asked for in prayer, if we believed, we would receive.

The Gospels even discuss that Christ Himself prayed to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane to see if the cup of crucifixion and anguish and death would pass from Him, although He still sought the will of the Father. His prayer was so intense that the Bible says that Christ began to sweat drops of blood.

Even going back to the Old Testament, so many of the heroes of the faith called to the Lord in prayer, like Abraham and Moses and the prophets. Hannah sought the Lord when she asked for a child--in which she would be blessed with Samuel--and Job even prayed for his friends, even though the advice and counsel they gave him was anything but encouraging or positive.

Daniel fell on his face in prayer, all while knowing that there would be steep consequences--like being thrown in a den of lions--for praying to God. And on many occasions in the book of Psalms, the writers--which included King David--called to God in prayer. In fact, the written words could even be considered like one of the first prayer journals.

One of the most familiar verses when it comes to prayer is Philippians 4:6, which says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”  

First Thessalonians 5:17 is another familiar verse because it’s only three words long: “Pray without ceasing.”

Another phrase that’s thrown around a lot is the second part of James 5:16--”The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

And yet another well-known verse on prayer is found in the Beatitudes when Jesus tells us to pray for those who despitefully use us. It’s a well-known verse, but it’s not very popular because it challenges us to go against our sin nature in order to truly reflect Christ in our lives. (Hashtag: easier said than done.)

My prayer life, unfortunately, ebbs and flows. Last summer I kept a prayer journal where I would just pour my heart out to God to seek His will and see if some of the things I wanted in life were what He wanted for me. And when things didn’t go my way, afterward I honestly struggled on how to pray. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to God because I really did; I just didn’t know how to talk to Him because I felt convicted on some level for using God as a personal genie who granted wishes.

Recently, I’ve made it a point to seek out fellow prayer warriors in particular areas of my life to call out to God on my behalf for His will. As a result, I’ve seen God at work in ways that I hoped but never really imagined--I guess it stemmed from a lack of faith. And when those prayers were answered, He’s shown me the importance of not only praying for needs or wants, but praising Him thereafter for the way He answered the prayers, whether I liked it or not.

And the thing that blows my mind is that in all these times of praying and talking with the Lord, He already knew the outcome. The outcome was decided in eternity past when He created everything. When He created me, He knew what I would consider as hindrances and how I would pray--or even not pray and begin worrying--about these hindrances and how these situations would unfold. Is it that my prayers change God’s mind? I don’t believe that’s the case. I believe that God wants us to spend time in fellowship with Him, and prayer is one avenue of doing so.

Thus, worry shouldn’t be an option. It’s the go-to reaction with many of us because it’s part of our human nature, but it’s also a ploy used by Satan to get our focus off of Jesus. The same thing can be said about fear or even pride, as these and other emotions--even the ones of the positive side of the spectrum--can get in the way of communing with the Father.

I’m preaching to myself at this point, because I worry way more than I should or feel that I shouldn’t bother God with my little prayer request when there are much more pressing issues around me and around the world. But He loves when His children call on Him, and we should be thankful we have a Father we can take our burdens to as well as rejoice with in the good times. And when we take the time to pray, that “complex simplicity” becomes a part of our everyday lives that we no longer have to think about because it’s something that’s woven into our being.

It’s something that we just do.