How to Better Petition God

Following are Cliff Notes on Prayer 101.

Jesus said “When you pray…” That means do it, pray. Then He gave a model for prayer. It is not necessary that those exact words be prayed, but they serve as a model. It is also good to often pray the actual words on occasion. I pray them six or more times a day.

When you pray He said to pray, “Our Father….” We do not pray to God the Holy Spirit nor to God Jesus Christ, but to God the Father. There are all sorts of times, places, and forms of prayer. There should at least be a couple of times a day we engage in focused prayer. 

No person knows what God looks like. Not having seen Him we can at best compare Him to something in our world of experience, a person. Envision yourself in the actual presence of God. He is spoken of in I Timothy 6:16 as God “who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power.”

Take time to do what the Quakers call “centering down.” I hear some people say “let’s just have a little prayer,” and they jump in with no focus. In centering down consider bringing into focus a brilliant glow that symbolizes His presence. 

The most important thing I can tell you regarding prayer is concentration on the One to whom you are praying, not the thing about which you are praying. Envision yourself as being humbly in His presence respectfully talking to Him.

Jesus’ Model Prayer included these elements worthy of your inclusion.

PRAISE: “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as in heaven.”
PETITION: “Give us this day our daily bread.” 
PARDON: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
PROTECTION: “Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
PROFESSION: “For yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

He answers every prayer. One response might very well be, “Wait, which one of us is God.” You are after all petitioning Him, that is asking Him, not mandating Him.

Having a sense of humor He might answer some prayers, “You have got to be kidding.”

One response might be, “Wait a while.” Give God time to be God. Often the wait draws us closer to Him than the answer.

The saddest of all responses must be, “I thought you would never ask.”

At times we think God has not answered our prayers, forgetting “No” is an answer. Some of His best answers to some of my prayers has been no. When He says no I say thank you that in your love and wisdom you knew that was not best for me, so thank You for Your no.

Prayer can be offered in many different ways under various circumstances. The important thing is to pray. Pause now and commit yourself to Him as one resolute on purposefully praying to Him using these guidelines.

How Do You Know There Is a God?

Everybody has a sense of God consciousness. Oh, yes they do. Some believe in Him and sense a personal relationship with Him.

Others spend their time trying to deny His very existence. They can’t according to a basic law of logic which states you can’t prove a negative. To prove God doesn’t exist you would have to know all there is to know about everything and know that in that body of knowledge there is no God. 

Suppose you knew ninety percent of all there is to know. Would it not be possible that in the unknown ten percent He exists? Even if you knew ninety-nine percent there is still the possibility of His existence in the unknown.

No one knows one hundred percent of all there is to know. Some persons indicate they are all-knowing and profess God does not exist. I know some such people and respect their opinion. They are gracious in response. A minority of such people attack the intellect and assault the very character of those who disagree with them. These are the evangelicals of no faith. 

I had a friend who owned a large trucking company. He told me he required every potential driver to take a lie detector test before being employed. One question always asked was do you believe in God? He said there never was a person who said no that the test didn’t indicate they were lying.

God cannot be proven to exist. However, He has given us lines of logic leading to conclusions only answerable by His existence. Some are:

Where there is a law there is a law giver. Highway speed laws indicate someone made the law. 

Inertia, gravity, and thermodynamics are laws in nature indicating there is a Lawgiver. Bio means life. Genesis means life. There is an irrefutable law of biogenetics that says life only comes from life. The existence of life indicates there is a Lifegiver.

Where there is design there must be a designer. The design of the human body indicates there is a Designer. The design of the universe such as the precise revolution of planets in orbit, and the earth’s rotation on its axis reveals design which demands a Designer.

The law of cause and effect speaks of God. For every effect there must be an equal or greater cause. The universe is the effect. It shouts of a greater cause —- God.

Blaise Pascal was a 17th century French mathematician/philosopher renowned for his work in calculus and author of the famed Pascal Wager. He held that the prudent person torn between atheism and belief should “bet” on the existence of God. The reason: If God exists, at death the prudent person will get a heavenly reward. If God does not exist, well, no harm done. If one bets against God’s existence and He does exist, well ….

You Have Not Because You Ask Not

Let me tell you a wonderful story regarding the answer to prayer. Stay with me, it will take a bit of time to share a related story.

Today I was looking through some things in a drawer and found a little booklet given to me by Bruce Bickel and signed, “I am glad we were called to serve Him together.” Bruce played quarterback at Navy following Roger Stauback and broke some of Roger’s records. Bruce and I met when he was on the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) staff in Chicago and I on the FCA National Board.

One night he was out for a walk with his Doberman on an isolated street when he saw four thugs closing in on him. He prayed for help. As Bruce tells it, the dog was a big sissy, overly friendly. Nevertheless Bruce reached down, caught the dog by the collar, and stood him up on his back legs resulting in the dog panting for air. To the thugs it looked like the dog was panting trying to break free to attack them. They fled. Prayer answered.

Bruce was on a rather small FCA staff salary and Roger was getting very wealthy playing quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.

Bruce needed a car and was telling no one while praying for a miracle. Bruce and Roger talked frequently as Bruce taught Roger the Bible. Bruce never hinted at his need for a new car.

One night Roger called and told Bruce he had been given a new car as the NFL Player of the Year, and had just been given another as being named the Player of the Game in the Super Bowl. He asked Bruce if he could use a car. Prayer answered. 

That is a wonderful way to pray at times. You don’t need to advertise for an item when you can go directly to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. I have done so many times when God said no to my petition. I accepted the facts knowing God knew better than I. There have been numerous times when God said yes.

All prayer doesn’t need to be secret, but some should be.

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” (Matthew 6:6)

Like Bruce, I have done it many times and seen its effect. As a satisfied customer I recommend it. There are occasions when “You have not because you ask not.” (James 4:2)

Mind Over What Matters

Two attitudes wrestle for mastery in every event of life. One will prevail and that will be your mental attitude and action.

One response to the events of life is thanksgiving. It will prevail if we consider events in accord with the ancient Anglo-Saxon spelling: “thinksgiving.” If we consider them with the mind of Christ we can see the good in even the worst. The Greek word for think carries the idea of reasoning through a matter logically and carefully. 

The British author George MacDonald wrote:

This is a sane, wholesome, practical, working faith: first, that it is a man’s business to do the will of God; second, that God takes on Himself the special care of that man; third, therefore, that man ought never to be afraid of anything.

Thanksgiving is a reaction of joy. A thankful heart will enable the lips of laughter to overflow again.

A mind fixed on Christ is stable and secure. A divided mind is the breeding ground for the other potential response, anxiety. Anxiety, that is, worry, makes the heart nervous and even neurotic. It eats the soul out of one’s personality and makes that person a torture to self and a torment to others.

When we fail to reason from a biblical, Christ-like attitude, anxiety is inevitable. To drown out anxiety, flood your mind with Bible concepts. Therefore, memorize Scripture. Start by memorizing a new text every other day. In one month you will have memorized fifteen texts. I recite myself to sleep by recalling them. If you do, you will fall asleep before recalling all of them.

The same event met with thanksgiving can be met with anxiety. A bee finds nectar in the same flower from which a spider gains its substance for poison. It is a matter of the will. You chose. The person who prays about everything worries about nothing. A word of thanksgiving or a song of praise can unlock the prison of anxiety.

Goth, the 18th century German writer, beautifully describes two mutually exclusive responses:

“We always hope; and 
in all things it is
better to hope
than to despair.

When we return to
really trust in God, 
there will no
longer be room
in our soul for fear.”

Do You Ever Feel Like a Butterfly in the Rain?

What happens to a butterfly when it rains? An average monarch butterfly weighs roughly 500 milligrams and large raindrops have a mass of 70 milligrams or more. According to Scientific American, a raindrop this size striking a monarch would be equivalent to a human being pelted with water balloons weighing as much as two bowling balls.

Therefore butterflies seek protection when it rains. Some hide under large leaves, some crawl down into dense leaves or under rocks, and some just sit head down on grass stems or bushes with wings held tightly. Without shelter, when it rains exceptionally hard or of long duration many of the butterflies become tattered or die.

That process can be spiritually applied to us when in one of life’s storms. Shelter is essential. Face it, “storms” are inevitable. Examples of storms are the loss of a job, sickness or death, divorce, or injury.

Prepare your shelter in advance. Perhaps one is needed now. Therefore, consider this bouquet of blessings, my fellow butterfly:

“Those who go to God Most High for safety will be protected by the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “You are my place of safety and protection. You are my God and I trust you.” (Psalm 91:1-4)

“You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.” (Psalm 119:114)  Hide His word in your heart in advance in order to be assured.

“Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.” (Ecclesiastes 7:12-14) Wisdom is knowing how to apply God’s word.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7) With confidence you can be assured He cares for you. Therefore, talk to Him, pray.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) Don’t act like He is present, act because He is present. Claim it.

The option is to neglect His shelter, and like the unsheltered butterfly, suffer the consequence. Begin today to build your shelter. Review those texts and one by one evaluate how you are going to apply them.