Nearness in Prayer
Have you ever wrestled with what it means to pray? Prayer is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us, but though it is a great gift, I get bogged down on so many minutiae that make it sometimes feel more like a curse! Should my eyes be open? Closed? Are my hands folded? What if they’re not? With my eyes closed, should I be picturing something? If so, what should I be picturing? If any of these are wrong, will God even hear me???? And all the while I grow distracted by all of these thoughts that, somehow, I can even feel more distracted and further away from God than when I started! And the further away I go, the less likely God is to hear and answer my prayer. After all, the goal of prayer is to get God to listen to us and give us what we ask for, right?
Ole Hallesby, in his book entitled, “Prayer” says simply, “To pray is to let Jesus come into our hearts.” Prayer is something that takes place in the context of a relationship, God with us and us with Him. His desire isn’t that we learn all of the right tips and tricks to get our Father to listen to us so that He will grant us all of our wishes how and when we want. Rather, His desire is to be with us, to spend time with us, to talk with us, to love us. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, “Here I am, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” This picture of Jesus waiting at the door for us to let Him in to our lives so that He can eat with us is a powerful one.
Eating is an intimate thing. Just think of this: why does the stereotypical first date usually involve going to get dinner together? Because of the intimacy of talking with one another and allowing a relationship to grow. You don’t just sit silently at dinner and stare awkwardly at one another. You share things about one another over a meal. You talk about how your day went, what you want to do in the future, the things that you like and the things that you don’t like! And you listen to your date as they share the same things with you. This builds intimacy and grows your relationship. This intimacy is what God wants from us, that close relationship.
In this intimacy, prayer grows and takes shape in our lives. In the context of this relationship with our God, this is where true prayer takes place. Prayer becomes a conversation with our Father, one where we praise Him and thank Him for our joys and our victories and where we tell Him about our difficulties and our struggles. Prayer is intimate. Hallesby writes, “Helplessness united with faith produces prayer.” When we go to God with the things that we are helpless to control, in faith that our Father will care for us how we need, that God provides for us. For it is in His very presence in prayer that God begins to provide. He assures us that He is near and that He will work.
How is your prayer life? Is it stagnant because you are focusing on the wrong things? Are you frustrated because He’s not giving you what you want? Maybe then it’s time to remember the real gift in prayer… His presence. When we pray, God draws near, whether we feel it or not, and His word reminds the faithful to, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you,” (James 4:8).