Garden of Discipline: Tool of Prayer - Still Listening

Recently I wrote (extensively!) about meditation as described in Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline. I was so struck by how it was essentially listening to God. As I looked ahead to the upcoming chapter titles, I saw that the next one was Prayer and I assumed that would mean switching from listening to God to speaking to God. I was wrong.

Most of us, when sitting down to pray, have a list of people and problems that we want God to do something about. Imagine if every time you saw your neighbor they were coming at you with their checklist of what they wanted you to do today. Actually, that sounds a bit like the experience of my in laws who live in a beautiful neighborhood with a very active HOA. Cut that grass! Trim that bush! Park that somewhere else! Seems like Jesus’ command to love your neighbor would be especially difficult in that scenario. But, honestly, do we approach the throne of Almighty God like an annoying and demanding neighbor?

Let’s step back from that question for a minute and ask some others. Do we trust God? Really trust Him? Do we believe that He is working all things together for the good of those who love Him? (Romans 8:28) Do we believe that He loves those that we care about? That He has good plans to give them a future and hope? (Jeremiah 29:11) Do we believe that He already knows what would be best for each item on our prayer list?

Let’s assume you said “Yes!” to each of those questions. Then what, you may ask in return, is the point of praying if God knows everything and will already do what He’s going to do? The first, I would answer, is relationship. Just as any human relationship will suffer without communication, so does ours with God when we don’t pray. A great mystery of the universe is that God desires communion with the people He made.

The second point of praying is to get the results we want. It is perhaps one of the most shocking things we find in Scripture, that God allows the prayers of His children to change His mind and direct His actions. It feels almost heretical to type, but the evidence is there. Moses, Joshua, Hannah, Daniel, Paul are a few of the warriors in the Bible who clearly had the ear of God and watched Him act on their behalf.

So if we can agree that there is indeed reason to pray, let’s look at a better way than just demanding God get right on our to-do list.

Meditation must be the foundation. It is the perpetual seeking of the Father’s heart, His priorities, His will. This is the first listening. The key is listening with a heart that wants God’s will and is ready to obey whatever He shows you. Then when we are  bringing our requests, what could be more natural than to continue listening, this time for what God wants to do in this instance.

For example, you may have a friend going through a health crisis and you want God to heal them. Begin by spending time with God, just enjoying the fact that He wants to be with you. Read Scripture. Thank Him for all that He has done for you. Then be quiet and listen for what He wants to say to you. It may sound like your own voice, but it’s a thought that seems random or a sudden insight into something you’ve been pondering. That is God responding to you. It’s a conversation.

Then picture your friend. You may tell God about what’s going on – knowing He already knows – or you may be silent. Ask God to show you what His will for your friend is. You may be surprised what His priorities are. You may see them completely healed. You may see them filled with peace and joy even as the medical journey continues. You may see relationships in their family being reconciled because of the path they are on. You may see them in a new ministry with an increased awareness of the nearness of God. (Psalm 34:18, I Peter 4:19) This is the second listening. Then pray those things in agreement with Him, knowing that everything you are praying is aligned with His will and that they will come to pass.

I once heard an interview with Joni Eareckson Tada. She became a quadriplegic at seventeen years old. She said that there had been many times that people told her they were praying for her, specifically that God would heal her. She never told them not to and she would still welcome the miracle of walking today. But she’d encourage them to pray for patience with her caregivers and a loving attitude towards her husband and an energetic will to continue the work that God has given her (serving the disabled all over the world). Her priorities have become aligned with God’s. She still yearns for the day that she will run and dance and swim in Heaven, but she knows that there are reasons for why God has not healed her here on earth. And she knows that there are other miracles that God has done and continues to do in her life.

Back to the neighborhood analogy. What if yours was the ultimate Good Neighbor who was a master mechanic/plumber/electrician/contractor and was always willing to help? What if you were to take a plate of cookies over and just hang out, enjoying their company, before making your next request? And what if, while you are hanging out, you were to ask them what they thought should be the next priority on your house? And then what if you asked if they’d like to help you accomplish it? Because wouldn’t it be infinitely more enjoyable and ultimately more satisfying to do the work with Him by your side? (Philippians 2:13)