If you were born in a Christian home or have been to a Christian school, The Prayer of Our Lord tagged, “Our Father” comes to you naturally. Everybody recites it at the assembly in School, at prayer points, at homes and in churches. It is like the national anthem of the Christian. I have lost count in my short life of the number of times I recited the prayer. I remember as a young boy we used to muddle up the words. But God was still merciful we got our requests and moved on with life, write By Gbenga Osinaike.
The amazing thing however is that apart from Jesus teaching his disciple this kind of prayer there is no other place in the Bible where it is mentioned. In fact the disciples never recited the Lord’s Prayer. Rather they prayed generally and God answered. That goes to show that the Lord’s Prayer is guide for us to follow. It is like a divine format to follow when praying
There had been a lot of explanation on following this format. Recently, as I was meditating on the prayer, the Lord spoke to me. He said to me, “When you go to the place of prayer, know this that prayer is not about you but about me” That statement struck a chord in me. I went through the Bible and re-read the Lord’s Prayer. I found out that many of the words used are about God. “Our father in heaven”, “Hallowed be thy name” Thy will be done”
The first line talks about His will, His name, His divinity, His honour. Even when you read down and say give us this day, it is still about God. He is the one to give you the day. He is the one to deliver us from evil. We can go and on. The fact is that the bulk stops on the table of God when we pray. The conversation I had with the Holy Spirit continued and He opened my eyes to certain misconceptions we have when it comes to praying which I will like to share below:
It is about God not about you
Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with our problems that it consumes all our focus when we go to God in prayer. Our prayers are always about our will, our want and our desires. We don’t have seem to want to carry God along. Some of us bombard the heavens so much not focusing on worshiping God but focusing on him acceding to our request. We magnify our problem before Him and make our problem bigger than Him. Can you imagine a child who goes to his father always and each time he goes to him it is about: Daddy I need this, I need that. God did not teach us that. The first point that should occur to us when we bombard heaven with our prayers is: What is the will of God in this matter? Many of us have taught that God will grant desires of our heart which the Bible confirms but the desire that does not conform to His will only lead to destruction and a good God will not grant that.
God is not deaf
A young girl was praying and the mother wondered why she was not talking loud. She replied her mum, “ I’m talking to God not you”. The girl may appear rude but there is some sense in what she said. Must we shout when we talk to God? I don’t know where we got this theology from. There is no problem when the shouting comes from our spirit man. I mean it comes because it was occasioned by the Holy Spirit. But there are clear cases of people who shout mechanically. Pastors even encourage their congregation to shout when praying. They give instruction like, shout it loud and clear, I can’t hear you and so on. Why must we shout? Or rather why must we give instruction to people to shout in the place of prayer? I think all this are borne out of our emotional and mechanical approach to God. At the place of prayer when the Holy Spirit is fully in charge nobody will control your voice level. It will be as directed by the Holy Spirit. It could be loud it could be low, it could be on the average. Hannah muttered words and God answered her. We must appreciate that the deaf and dumb speak to God and He hears.
You don’t have to call the name of Jesus seven times
Where did we get this from? I don’t understand why pastor sometimes say call the name of Jesus seven times, call the Holy Spirit seven times and so on. Where did we get this from? It is not a sin to do that but it is unnecessary emotional display. Who are we trying to impress by doing that? God? When we call Jesus several times before making our request it’s not fair on Jesus. Why must I call my father several times before he gives me attention? Something must be wrong somewhere. I’m not condemning those who do it but I think we need to address our minds to some things in the body if we really want to honour God. All this emotional outburst at the place of prayer does not make God go extra mile in responding to our prayers.
Prayer does not change God
You may be surprised to hear this. But that is the truth. Prayer does not change God. And fasting does not change Him either. God does not change. Prayer makes us conform to His will. It is like somebody writing WAEC and expecting result. WAEC does not change so to say. It is what you write at your exams that you get. And everybody, whether son of the rich, or poor writes the same exam. If you do well you will get a good result. God has provided all that we need for living. There is a way of escape for every trouble. Prayer is our access to that which God has already provided. When we pray we bring down heaven to our situation. God does not change and when God answer us does not mean He has changed, we have only been able to access what we need from the heavens.
We can’t determine how and when God answers us
We can tell in our spirit that God has heard us. But it is not in our power to determine when and how God answers us. It is true that the prophets made prophetic statements in the direction of precision but the truth is that God chose when and how to answer us. It is sometimes a note of arrogance and not faith when we make statements like: “At exactly 2 pm the money you are looking for will come your way” when we have not heard the Holy Spirit say that to us. When a prophet makes prophetic declaration, he is only echoing what the Holy Spirit has deposited in His spirit. When we pray we should be expectant but we must not try to figure out how the answer will come. But God in His mercy can reveal to us how and when the answer will come.
God will still answer us without oil and mantle
Today, many Christians are carried away with faith extenders and that is what many fake prophets have used to tie many down. Oil, mantle and whatever we use to help our faith have their roles. But they are only good when we have specific instructions from God concerning them and not as a rule or ritual. Many have turned oil and mantle to small gods. Sometimes it makes us look like Christian babalawos. God will hear you irrespective of these faith extenders. There are circumstances that may necessitate the use of oil and mantle or whatever God chooses to use. But such circumstances should be dictated by the Holy Spirit. It should not be what we do as a matter of compulsion. A believer who walks with God in faith will not wait until he sees oil and mantle before he calls heaven to intervene in a situation.
You can’t blackmail God
Sometimes we throw up our good works and try to tell God what we have done and why we deserve to be blessed. Our own is to make request before God and we should allow God to respond at His own time. When we tell God how holy we have been and that we pay our tithe, work in His vineyard it is a subtle blackmail. The example of Hezekiah in the Bible who appealed to God that he had done so and so is an exception. If you read 2kings 20v3 you will find out that he wept bitterly even after reminding God how he has served Him with a loyal heart.
You will notice that it was a spontaneous response to Isaiah’s prophecy concerning His death. He did not rehearse it and did not set out to say what he said when prophet Isaiah came to give him the message that he was going to die. When we make statements that point attention to our good works at the place of prayer in a manner that shows arrogance it would amount to blackmailing God. A sister who is waiting on God for the fruit of the womb who tells God that he has kept herself holy and wondered why God has not answer her prayers may well be treading the path of blackmail.
It is fellowship with God not only about asking and receiving alone
Why do we always go to God with this asking and receiving mentality? Prayer should not be seen only as a tool of getting things from God but should be seen more in the light of fellowship. Is it every time you see your earthly father that you ask something from him? When we go to the place of prayer we should prepare for fellowship. We should prepare for insight into God’s word and His ways. We must be ready to fully interact with the Holy Spirit. It is not about asking and receiving. It is fellowship with the most High God.
Not everything responds to prayer
Not all prayers are answered and not all situations in life need prayer. What we need sometimes is simple obedience to God’s instruction. There are blessings that we can’t pray down. The Bible for instance says give and it shall be given to you. You cannot activate the force of blessing if you are tight-fisted. You don’t need mountain experience to get financial liberation if you are lazy and tight- fisted. Prayer can only respond to what you have on ground. God will bless the work of your hand. No matter the vigils you keep, if you live in disobedience you may not get what you so desire. God may just want you to forgive somebody that has offended you and that will lead to your breakthrough. Unfortunately many of us don’t like simple obedience we will rather give sacrifice.
God’s mercy is key
If there is anything that is key in the place of prayer it is God’s mercy. His mercy will make heaven to respond to our request fast. We must bear in mind that God’s mercy endures for ever. It is by His mercy that we have not been consumed. It is God’s mercy that wakes us up. It is not of our works, righteousness or holiness. He says our righteousness is like a filthy rag before Him so why do we boast? Nobody is above God’s mercy. His mercy is key in the place of prayer.
That God answered your prayers does not mean God is with you
It is important we note that an answered prayer does not mean God’s approval. Moses struck the rock in disobedience to God and water still gushed out. God honours His word and His name. When we make some prayers and there is instant answer, it does not translate that we are in the will of God or that God wants us to have what we have prayed for. We must be able to check in our spirit man whether we are in the will of God in whatever we ask from God. Physical blessings that we get are no proofs that we are in the will of God. The fact that our church is growing does not make us acceptable before God. His will is paramount and the manifestation of His kingdom here on earth is more of concern to God than any prayer request we may want to offer.
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