Effective Prayer
“If only I knew where to find Him;
If only I could go to His dwelling!
I would state my case before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments” Job 23:3-4
Job was in a terrible state when he said these words, but we see that his deepest desire was to see his Father’s face. His first prayer wasn’t “Please heal me”, or “Please give me back my children and my property.” When God’s children go through difficult times this is how they react – most of all they want to know God’s presence with them. In Job’s case, the desire for God’s presence was made even greater because all his other friends failed him. When he saw his friends coming, he probably hoped that they would comfort him, but actually they made things worse. So Job looks for God, because he knows that there is nowhere else to go for help and comfort.
We see that Job is searching for God, but cannot find Him. This is sometimes the case with Christians, and it is what hurts Job most of all. In one sense God is always with His people, He is always sustaining them, but they may not be conscious of it. You may be loved by God, but not feel that you are loved. You may be as precious to God as Jesus is, but there may still be moments when God is far away.
But at times like that a believer does not give up looking for God. Instead of being proud, and saying “Well, if God is far away I must manage without Him and do the best I can”, the believer says, “I must have God; I can’t live without Him. If I knew where to find Him, I would go there, no matter what I must go through to reach His presence, and know that He loves me.” It seems to me that this is how Job feels.
In verse 4 we see that Job wants to come into God’s presence so that he can pray to Him. He wants to state his case before someone he knows will hear and help him. This verse has a lot to teach us about how we should pray.
I. Stating our case before God
A common idea about prayer is that it is something you can do without much preparation or effort. Some people think they have prayed because they have recited some beautiful words. Others think that you pray by saying whatever comes into your mind at the time.
Neither of these are the models of prayer that we see in such people as Abraham, or David, or many others. They took prayer a lot more seriously than many of us do, and they experienced greater things as a result.
Like Job, they took time to prepare their case – just like when someone takes a case to court. You don’t go to court on an impulse; you go well-prepared, and with the understanding that what you are doing is important. So, when we come to God in prayer, it is best to be prepared – to have thought about what we are going to say, and who we are coming to. Of course, in times of danger or trouble we run into God’s presence just as we are.
Let me illustrate this point. Think of an Old Testament priest. He comes to offer a sacrifice – but he doesn’t just rush into the temple and start stabbing at the animal with the first thing he finds; instead he washes his feet, puts on his priest’s clothes, and then offers the sacrifice, following the clear procedure given by God. Now of course we don’t offer animal sacrifices anymore, but spiritual sacrifices instead, of which prayer is one. So we should offer our spiritual sacrifices with holy carefulness, not just jumping out of bed in the morning and saying the first thing that comes into our heads.
In Psalm 5:3 David says, “Morning by morning I lay my requests before You, and wait in expectation.” I have often explained to you that the words used here mean that David set out his thoughts in the same way that a general sets out his plan of attack, or that David took aim with his prayers as if he was shooting arrows. When you shoot an arrow, you take careful aim at the target – you don’t just fire arrows at random, hoping to hit something. Then, looking at the target, you control all your strength, and let the arrow go at just the right moment – and you watch it all the way, to see if it hits the target, as David says, he waits in expectation. You want to see if your arrow has had the effect you intended – and so we shouldn’t forget about our prayers as soon as we have said “Amen.”
David understood that prayer was something that needed all his concentration – so he went about praying in a purposeful way, believing that it was important work, and intending to get results. The more important a job is, the more planning and attention it needs. If we take more care planning our daily work than we do in praying, then we are basically saying that the world needs our best efforts, but anything will do for God.
Some of you may be wondering it there is a set pattern that we should follow in prayer; well, I don’t want to define prayer in the way that sometimes people do: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and so on. I don’t believe that this is commanded in the Bible; our prayers may take many different patterns, as we see all kinds of prayer in the Bible. True spiritual prayer is not about the order in which we pray. It is actually about knowing that we are doing something real. It is knowing that we are talking to God – that He is actually here with us, even though we cannot see Him, and that we are talking to Him just as we do to a friend who has a physical body. When we have this sense of God’s presence, our prayers won’t be automatic, like a child reciting a poem he has learned. Neither will our prayers sound as if we are giving a lecture, or even as if we are demanding something at gunpoint – and I have heard people praying in this way! Instead, we will be humble, yet bold. Our relationship to God won’t be the distant one of slave and master, but the close one of child and father – not a spoilt child, always demanding things, but a teachable, obedient child, who asks from the heart, but is ready to accept his Father’s will.
When I am aware of God’s presence, and I realise what I am in contrast to Him, the next thing I realise is that I have no right to what I am asking for, and can only expect to receive it as a gift of God’s grace, which comes to me because of Jesus Christ. I realise that I need Jesus with me when I pray.
What should I ask for? We should be clear and specific about what we are asking for. I have heard prayers – and I have to admit that I have sometimes prayed this way – which were full of good theology, but never got to the point of asking God for anything. I think that prayer should be asking for something definite, because I have realised that I need that specific thing. I like Abraham’s prayer in Genesis 17:18 “If only Ishmael might live under Your blessing!” Abraham comes straight to the point, and in a few words makes clear who he is praying for, and what he wants. We need to say what we mean in prayer, and ask for specific things, not vague generalities like “Bless everything I do.” We do not need to list everything we think we might need at some point, but just ask for the things we need now, “our daily bread”. We should ask plainly, like Abraham did. God is not impressed by lots of long words or repetition. Let your words be few, but from the heart.
It is not enough to ask for what we want and say “in Jesus’ name”. We have to think about whether the blessing we want is actually what we should be asking for. If we thought about this more, some prayers would not be prayed. We would realise that some of the things we want would not actually be good for us. It’s also possible to ask for things out of selfish motives, not really caring about God’s glory, but only about our own comfort and happiness. It’s not wrong to ask for things that bring us happiness or comfort, but our comfort or happiness must not be more important than God’s glory. For prayer to be acceptable to God, there must also be submission to His will. I like what Luther said: “I know You’ll give me what I want”, because he went on say, “because I want what You want.” When we are sure that what we are asking for will glorify God, then we have real power in prayer, and can be like Jacob, who wrestled with God (Genesis 32), and refused to let Him go until he got what he wanted from God.
So put these things together: recognising that prayer is a real conversation with the invisible God; asking for specific things we know we want; submitting ourselves to God’s will; and asking from the heart, determined to get what we ask if at all possible. This is what it means to “state our case” before God.
Having said all that, only the Holy Spirit can teach us how to pray. He is the One who gives prayer. So pray that you will be able to pray; pray for Him to help you to pray. Don’t give up praying because you can’t pray – because when you think you cannot pray is often when you really are praying. Sometimes when you are finding prayer hard work, that is because you are wrestling with God, and He is hearing you.
II. Filling our mouth with arguments
Why do we need to use arguments, or reasons, in prayer? Not because God needs to be persuaded to give, or because He doesn’t know our needs. Using arguments in prayer is good for us – it shows that we value what we’re asking for. When a person looks for reasons why he needs something it shows how important he thinks that thing is. Using arguments is good for us for another reason – we very quickly realise that we can’t ask for anything from God on the basis of what we deserve. We are reminded then that everything comes to us out of God’s grace – and it’s good to be reminded of this! Also, the process of asking, of seeking something from God, is good for us. It makes us appreciate it much more when we receive something from God.
Let me give you a few of the arguments we can use in prayer:
1. God’s character:
Abraham used this argument with God when he prayed for God not to destroy Sodom (Genesis 18). He uses God’s justice as a reason why God should not destroy the city – if there were 50 righteous people there, God would be destroying them as well as the wicked (v.25).
We can argue on the basis of God’s character – His justice, His mercy, His faithfulness, wisdom, patience, kindness, and so on. Such arguments are very powerful. You see that Abraham argued God down to sparing Sodom if only 10 righteous people lived there.
2. God’s promises
When Jacob was returning home with his family, and his brother Esau was coming to meet him with armed men (Genesis 32), he prayed that God would not allow Esau to kill his family. The argument he used was “You have said, I will surely make you prosper, and will make your descendents like the sand of the sea”(v.12). What a powerful argument this was – he was reminding God of His promise, and asking Him to keep it
You can search the whole Bible, and all of church history, and you will never find a promise that God has not kept. God doesn’t make promises to keep us quiet or give us temporary hope; He gives us promises because He intends to do what He has promised, and nothing will stop Him. When you have a promise of God behind what you are praying for, you can ask with complete certainty, without any “if it is Your will”. What God promises is His will.
3. God’s reputation
In Numbers 14:15-16 Moses argues with God in this way, to persuade Him not to destroy the Israelites – people would say that God couldn’t bring them into the promised land. Often God’s reputation is closely connected to what happens to His people, and we can use this as a strong argument when we are in trouble, and need God’s help: “I have told my family and friends that You are the only true God; rescue me, so they will see that You are with me”.
When the Assyrians were besieging Jerusalem, Rabshekah (the Assyrian commander) sends a letter to Judah’s king Hezekiah (2 Kings 19). The letter said: “Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says ‘Jerusalem will not be handed over the the king of Assyria’.” Hezekiah shows this letter to God. Why? Because Rabshekah was calling God a liar. Now it’s not just Hezekiah and his small army that are being attacked, but God Himself has been insulted. Hezekiah calls on God to defend His reputation, and this argument is powerful indeed.
We see a similar argument used by Elijah on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-39); Elijah prays to God to send fire, so that people will know that He is the true God. Elijah was being incredibly brave at this point – he was actually putting God’s existence to the test in front of unbelievers – but what an amazing result!
4. The desperate condition of God’s people
This argument is used often in the Bible, but Jeremiah is probably the greatest example of it. Throughout the book of Lamentations Jeremiah describes to God the desperate condition of His people during the final siege of Jerusalem, and he calls on God to have mercy. Just as a parent cannot ignore the cries of their child in pain, so God will help His people when they cry to Him in desperation.
We can even use our sinfulness to argue for God’s help and mercy. David does this in Psalm 25:11, when he says, “Forgive my iniquity, for it is great.” This seems a strange argument, to ask God to forgive him because his sin is great – we would usually argue for forgiveness on the basis of our sin being small. But what David is arguing is this:”Why should You only forgive small sins? You are a great God, and I am a great sinner, which means that I am an ideal opportunity for You to display Your great mercy. Show Your great love by forgiving me." Our unworthiness and weakness are powerful reasons why God should have mercy on us – in this way He demonstrates more fully His great power and love.
5. Our past experience with God
When we are in trouble, we can remind God of how many times He has already rescued us, as David does in Psalm 27:9: “You have been my helper, do not reject or forsake me”. We can argue this way with God:”What was the point of helping me this far, if You’re going to desert me now?” We have an unchanging God, who will do in the future what He has done in the past.
6. The worthiness of Jesus Christ
I am afraid that we do not really understand what it means to be able to ask God for something “for Jesus’ sake” or “in Jesus’ name”. Usually when we pray this way we mean something like “Lord, Your Son deserves this, so please do it.”
Actually, we can go further than this. If you have your own company, and you tell a friend, “Go to my office, use my name, and tell them to give you what you need”, that friend could go and ask for what he needed as a matter of right, not as a favour, because he has your name as his authority. This is what it means to ask “in Jesus’ name.” Jesus has the right to be heard by His Father, so we can ask in His name, boldly and full of confidence. Jesus’ name is the name that shakes the gates of hell, and commands the armies of heaven – and in that powerful name we come to God in prayer.
If we use these arguments with God in prayer, and come to Him ready to clearly state our case, we will soon have our mouths filled with thanksgiving and praise for answered prayer. Let’s fill our mouths with prayer, not with complaining. Let’s open our mouth wide, so God can fill it (Psalm 81:10). We have great needs, so let’s ask for great things; God is not limited, so let’s not limit Him!
