Prayer: Beyond Asking

Introduction: 

Welcome my friend, 

Have you ever wondered why “Thank God it's Friday” is a thing?

But not Thank God for other days, especially not “Thank God it's Monday” when we're still grumbling about having to get back to work.

Well, that's your answer, we all love to cool off over the weekend, after the week's work, unwinding, resting, spending time with loved ones and stuff like that. 

However, on this front “Thank God it's Friday” is exciting because it means being here with you my friend and getting on with another conversation. 

How are you really? 

Today I have a gist for you. 

Discussion: 

In our featured story a boy is about to relocate to another city for the purpose of studying there. 

His father gave him a telephone saying;

 “I'll miss you my son, please call me daily to check on me”.

So he left, and for the first month he called his father twice daily, keeping tabs with him as if he wasn't even away. 

Then all of a sudden, he got “busy” and stopped calling, except for those odd calls to ask for money for his upkeep, rent and school fees. 

His excuse remained that he didn't have enough time as study was really demanding. 

Now a few months went by and he never called, yet each day his father sat there watching his phone hoping he would. 

He had something important to tell his boy.

Then one day it did and as the excited father sat there listening to him he never asked about his well being but just made demand after demand. 

His father didn't mind, he was just pleased to hear his voice. 

So he let him know that he had paid his fees in advance up to his graduation and that he left him some money to meet his upkeep for the next couple years. 

However, before he could tell him his reason for doing so, he already ran off in excitement. 

Apparently, he'd run out of time for the call. 

Years passed and he never called daddy but now the supply is running low and “Ole boy” needs some top up. 

Ring, rung, rang, the phone remained unanswered, his father had passed away a few weeks after their last convo. 

At this point most people would have been worried for their father but not this boy who was rather left unimpressed by his father's selfishness in ignoring his calls as a payback. 

After all, the reason he hasn't called was because he's been too busy studying hard to make him proud. 

So he made the journey back home to confront his father but when we arrived it was a house full of cobwebs and rodents. 

The remains of his father lay there beside the telephone with this dusty note that read;

“Dear son, 

I wanted to let you know that I was dying, hence those advance payments.

There are documents that would give you access to all that I have, and I thought you could come home to sign them so that I could see you one last time. 

Now you're here, you can find them in your room. 

I've never lacked anything just as you my son who I've always given everything you needed and at the right time. 

Yet if there's anything I never got enough of, it was those moments shared with you my son. Love you”

The boy fell on his knees.

He'd come to the realization that he neglected his father, coming to him only when he needed help. 

His whole talk of being busy and working hard enough to achieve success were all convenient excuses. 

A “good lie” (self deceit) to do the wrong thing. 

■ The Meaning Of Prayer 

We've defined and accepted prayer to be a means of communicating with God, our heavenly father.

Keyword here is COMMUNICATING. 

Yet if we're asked to pray we just sit there making one demand after the other sometimes even thoughtlessly.  

For emphasis, there are four (4) elements of effective communication. 

Information, which refers to the words of the Sender to the Receiver and Feedback which is the response of the receiver to the sender. 

In this we can see that the sender, information, the receiver and feedback represent these elements in that order of transmission on the chain.

However, when it comes to prayer, we're somewhat not keen on the feedback as long as it's not meeting our desires and doing so immediately. 

This opposes our definition. 

Which means that in praying without giving room for that feedback loop what we've done is ineffective communication; the same as dysfunctional. 

■ Why We Pray 

To the boy, his father only came through when he asked, but from the father's show of supplication even in death it's obvious he was aware of his son's needs. 

In the same way our heavenly father knows all our needs, so when we come to him in prayer only to make demands we miss out on the whole essence of it. 

All his father wanted was for them to check in with each other, actively sharing each other's lives regardless of the distance until he returns home again. 

This is why we pray. 

To intentionally build an intimate relationship with our heavenly father and not necessarily to ask him for anything. 

When we spend this time with him it impacts us transformatively so that we begin to understand the following: 

▪︎ His Perspective

God's viewpoint of every situation supercedes ours and those of every other person because it's the order by which life plays out. 

Many times we've seen crushing disappointments and massive failures redirect us into something bigger than everything we've lost.

This doesn't make it less painful to endure, it just means that we can do so with some sense of purpose and meaning. 

When we understand God's perspective, we become ready to accept his feedback even if it's not what we wanted, because we trust that it's in our best interest. 

▪︎ His Will 

It's through prayer that we can hear God's voice, listening to his words and paying heed to his counsel. 

Our maker has beautifully and purposely crafted us and it's for this reason that he's hugely invested in everything that concerns us. 

When God gives us the discernment to do the right thing, it's because he wants to help us achieve his purpose. 

▪︎ His Love 

God's love can be felt in his willingness to take care of us before we even make our requests. 

The boy's father to the best of his ability provided his son with everything he needed in his absence. 

All he just had to do was to come sign the documents. 

God is saying “Tap In”. 

▪︎ His Discipline 

When the boy got into the room he noticed that rodents had eaten up the documents he was supposed to sign. 

His access to everything his father had left him was lost.

Sometimes this is how God's discipline works. 

It's never his intention for us to lose access to the abundant riches that he's freely given to us but sometimes we do so as part of the consequences for our actions. 

If the boy had come home earlier he would have met those documents in good condition. 

▪︎ His Immortality 

The Immortality of God gives us second chances because unlike our earthly fathers, he cannot die. 

By virtue of being his children we have the authority to access everything he's blessed us with.

We don't have to sign any documents having been redeemed and sealed by his blood. 

■ Why We Don't Pray 

We've made prayer about requests, so we only come to God to meet our needs and then run off afterwards. 

Prayer is intimacy with God, it's hanging out with our heavenly father that loves us enough to want to share our lives with us. 

Like the boy's father who wanted to know his son's day to day life and routine, God is interested in all aspects of our lives; and it's only by the intimacy established through prayer that this can be expressed.

Summary: 

If we don't want to pray, it's very easy to find reasons not to. 

While some of them may sound like flimsy excuses, others sound a bit more genuine so that we can convince ourselves that they're enough. 

Things like: taking care of the home, working extra hours at work to provide more for the family, or spending more time doing church work can sound reasonable but nothing can substitute time spent with our maker.

If we can remember God when we: need money, fall sick, get betrayed or accused, fall into bad debts and so on, we can as well spend our good times with him, hanging out and showing gratitude for his faithfulness. 

My friend, today is a good day to check in with our heavenly father, we don't want to be that boy. 

Master Apprentice.

www.x.com/truekingmaker