Prayer As Essential (Daily Encouragement)
To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servantslook to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us. – Psalm 123:1-2
Psalm 123 shows us a posture of dependence in prayer (and all of the christian life). Understanding this posture of dependence allows us to get past viewing prayer merely as obligation or duty and viewing prayer as essential and life-giving:
*Only when we acknowledge our complete dependence can we begin to enter prayer with a proper focus on God. Our status as needy servants reveals the importance of taking time to pray. Many Christians complain of being too busy to talk with God. We are always on the run—working overtime, taking the children here and there, preparing for school, going to church, entertaining family and friends. Unhappily, we begin to live as if we don’t need God at all.
Understanding our dependence on God also prevents us from praying simply out of religious obligation. Christian leaders often try to motivate others to pray by speaking of prayer as a necessary act of obedience. To be sure, prayer is a Christian duty. Paul commanded us to “pray continually” (1 Thess. 5:17). However, over-emphasizing the obligatory character of prayer can actually cause Christians to pray less. When we view prayer as a duty, our failure to pray leads to guilt. This guilt, in turn, makes talking with God even more difficult.
To avoid this downward spiral, we should stop viewing prayer solely as an obligation and see it also as essential for life. Every kind of prayer ultimately rests upon our dependence on God. Petitions are based on what we need. The confession of sin points to our hope for forgiveness from God. Intercession expresses the needs of others. Praise recognizes that God blesses us with great gifts. If we fully consider our absolute dependance on God, prayer becomes more than an obligation; it becomes a way to acknowledge the one who provides for all our needs.
Given this perspective, we can remove prayer from our list of boring chores and begin to rank it where it belongs—among the essentials for meaningful existence. Fruitful, life-giving prayer rests firmly on the foundation of recognizing our need for God; it begins with the attitude of a dependent servant.
*From Praying With Your Eyes Open by Richard Pratt