Page 29 - January15-Catalyst

this unfortunate dilution and diversion from real New Testament prayer.
finding reSolve!
From my own journey in personal and cor- porate prayer, I see four vital ingredients for breaking through our reluctance in prayer to enjoy the Lord’s gift of intimacy with Him.
mind your moTivaTion – Like the Phar- isees Jesus called out in Matthew 6:5, we can be motivated by improper pursuits. For them, it was praying for show – to be seen by others. For us, it could be guilt, duty, or even a resolve to manipulate God into do- ing our will on earth rather than His. Years ago, the Lord spoke to me powerfully about my own heart and branded this truth into my heart: the only enduring motivation for prayer is that God is worthy to be sought. This worship-based focus transformed my prayer life and how our church prayed. When motivation wanes and the enemy strikes, I say it aloud: “God is worthy to be sought! I must pray!”
acTion above feeling – Real prayer, like other important issues in life, cannot be mastered by feeling our way into action but rather by acting our way into feeling. Prayer is not a mood. Prayer is the lifeline of all that is good and must be chosen in spite of current feelings, impulses, and con- veniences. The more we understand God’s worthiness, the more we grasp our needi- ness and the deeper our conviction takes root. We must pray, regardless of circum- stances or spiritually counterproductive urges.
avoid a falSe STarT – On the walls of my childhood home hung a plaque that read, “When it seems hardest to pray, pray hard- est.” I would revise that to say, “When it seems hardest to pray, worship passionate- ly.” Too many times our starting place in prayer is simply the articulation of what- ever is on our minds to say to God. Let’s be honest – our human thoughts are often misguided, shallow, and punctuated as the beginning place of prayer. This is usually
a false start.
That is why I have concluded that the best beginning point in prayer is from the pages of God’s word. His truth gives our hearts language, especially as it provides truth and fresh insight about His character, His names, and His mighty works. God’s word quickly sparks a new motivation for prayer, regardless of our mood or circumstances, by fixing our eyes on Him and opening our hearts to His word to us, not just our words to Him.
compelled by communiTy – The Lord never designed us to learn prayer on a dis- couraging solo journey. He has placed us in a body so that our worship, learning, fel- lowship, and prayers might be powerfully enjoyed in community. All of the New Testament commands to pray were written to believers in community and applied in- stinctively in corporate prayer, since there were no personal or individualized copies of Scripture until the advent of the printing press. (For more on this see my book, Fresh Encounters - Experiencing Transformation Through United Worship-Based Prayer, where an entire section is devoted to dis- pelling our concepts of the “prayer closet” as simply an experience of individual prayer.) When we pray together, motivation soars through the encouragement, accountabil- ity, and edification of the Spirit working through others to inspire our hearts. Of course, the very commitment to show up and pray with others keeps us regular in prayer. Alternatively, going it alone is the environment for easy excuses and neglect of prayer.
Prayer is often our last resort rather than our first resolve. Yet, the more we learn about why our motivation wanes and how we can find consistent inspiration, the more faithful and fruitful we can be as we seek Him and grow in our Christlikeness through prayer.
Copyright © 2014 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.
January 2015
CityLight.org 29