Prayer Is Not Passive

"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving."

Colossians 4:2

         
          Prayer. It is the door-knocker into the throneroom of God Almighty, the key that unlocks the treasure chest of spiritual blessing, the admission into the armory of the heavenlies. As such, one would think that believers would take it a little more seriously and a little less like a pathetic platitude thrown at a milk-toast God who isn't really listening and doesn't really care. But how often is this the attitude? We pray before meals, we're not really sure why, and mention something about when someone is sick. When things get a little sticky and a little too hard for us handle, we get desperate and might pray for a whole 10 or 15 minutes. But other than that, prayer is little more than an apathetic, lazy cop-out that probably won't do any good, and is kind of a waste of time, especially when we could actually be doing something, but hey, we could give it a try. I mean, it's not gonna hurt anything, right? But really, we should save prayer as the last resort, when you know, all we can do is pray.

          But Scripture says to be vigilant in prayer, not passive. Continue earnestly, or steadfastly, or diligently in prayer. 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." Don't be foolish or naive, child of God; the enemy would love for you to think that prayer is merely a religious rite that should be reserved for special occasions and extreme situations. He may even convince you that is a bother to God that you bring your requests before Him, and presumptuous for such a small thing to be thought worthy of prayer. But what we must realize in such an attack is that coming before God is a right given by grace, not one that is deserved.

 

"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize withour weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldy to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Hebrew 4:14-16

The right to enter the throne room comes from the blood of Christ. It is only through His sacrifice that we can come to the Father. But now that it has been granted to us to come to God, we have a responsibility in it as well. Just as an American citizen has the right to vote, they also bear it as an obligation. Regardless of how corrupt the government may be, to not be involved on any level in the political system forfeits one's rights to complain about what is going on. Then again, it is also possible to use your right and fulfill your obligation but do it in the wrong way, by being uninterested or flatout wrong in who and what you vote for. Again, James 4:2-3 states, "You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." This Scripture has been misquoted and misused too often. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a name-it-and-claim-it adherent but, believer, realize that when you pray in faith and earnestness, you are calling for all the resources, strength and ability of your Father in heaven, whose good pleasure it is to give you the kingdom. "Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask for them." Yes, it is true that the Lord allows trouble in our lives. He promised that we would have tribulations in this life. Paul said that all those who would live godly in this world would suffer persecution. But He is also a loving Father who doesn't like the suffering in this world any more than we do; in fact, He despises it more, seeing as He created a perfect world that has now been perverted by the stain of sin. And while those things are allowed in our lives, to focus on them rather than on the goodness and love of the Lord, is a twisted view of the relationship.

        Here's the crazy part, when earnestness and vigilance characterize our prayer life, our hearts will become intertwined with His. His desires will become our desires. His ways in His world will be what we strive for, and not a new car (shout out to Paden there - brother, you know who you are). Prayer is not the quarter you drop in the vending machine of heaven; it is the way in which we engage in the war taking place on the battle ground of the spiritual realm. And when we begin to pray the way that we are called to pray, our motives, desires and requests will reflect more of God's heart.

A haunting lyric penned by Keith Green reveals the heart behind so much of our praying:

"Bless me, Lord! Bless me, Lord! You know, it's all I ever hear. No one aches, no one hurts, no one even sheds one tear. But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds and He cares for your needs. And you just lay back and keep soaking it in."

May God rid this self-seeking, passive, apathetic approach to prayer from the heart of His church. Wrestle in prayer, struggle, sweat, weep, cry, prostrate yourself before the Lord - understand the profoundity of this thing called prayer, the reality of the war and the power of the One to whom you present your petitions.