THE MIRACLE OF PRAYER

"Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me"
Psalm 27:7

Recently I read something by Paul Tripp that really encouraged me. I hope it does for you as well.

I never get used to the moment-by-moment miracle of prayer. It’s an amazing thing that God would ever even once listen to me, let alone answer! In little moments and big, again and again, I choose my own kingdom over his. I often run to him for help for messes that in my foolishness and rebellion I’ve made. I’ve no righteousness to present as an argument that he should hear me. I’ve no autonomous wisdom that I can present as a reason for his
attention. I’ve no independent track record of good deeds that would get his attention.I’ve often been more fickle than loyal. I often justify my sin rather than seek his forgiveness. I struggle more with being attracted to the temporary pleasures of this physical world than I am committed to godly living. The desires of my heart wander again and again. I forget my identity
as his child, and in my amnesia I seek identity where it was never meant to be found. Again and again I contradict the theology that I say I believe with the way that I live. I sadly have to ask for his forgiveness for the same things over and over again. Undeserving is the way I always stand before him.

This is precisely why David appeals to God’s mercy as he prays in Psalm 27:7. He can’t look to himself for any reason that God would listen and respond. Yet, the miracle of his existence and ours is that he doesn’t have to fear God’s rejection or fall into thinking that prayer is an exercise in spiritual futility. Why? Because God is his own reason for answering. Prayer finds its hope not in the qualifications of the one praying, but in the character and
plan of the God who is hearing. He answers because of who he is. He answers because of what he is doing. He answers because he loves to see us come, and he loves to provide just the grace for that moment.

But why exactly would God respond to me?” Here are five reasons:

1) His love. He’s the ultimate wise, patient, kind, gentle, and forgiving father. He delights in his children. Because of his great love, his eyes look out for us and his ears are always attentive to our cries. Because of his love, he invites us to bring our cares to him, and he assures us that he really does care for us. He is never too busy or distracted or too tired to hear and answer. He doesn’t refuse to answer because of our weakness and failure. He doesn’t get impatient because we have to come again and again. He is love, and he loves to exercise his power and glory to meet the needs of his struggling children.

2) His grace. Grace provides the whole structure and standing of our relationship with him. If it weren’t for the grandeur of his forgiving grace, we would have no relationship with him at all. Because of his grace, he is unwilling to rest until the work of transformation is complete.
In grace he looks on us and knows that this work isn’t done. We’ve not yet been completely formed into the likeness of his Son. Although the power of sin has been broken, he knows that the presence of sin still remains. He hears our prayers because, when we pray, we confess that we still need the grace of forgiveness and deliverance, and in so doing we place ourselves in
the center of what he has committed himself to complete—his work of redemption.

3) His faithfulness. He doesn’t change his mind. He doesn’t ride the roller-coaster of the rise and fall of emotions. His heart isn’t a battle zone of conflicting motivations. He doesn’t get bored, exhausted, or distracted. He won’t quit what he has begun. He won’t forsake those upon
whom he has placed his love. He won’t harden his heart, shut down his mind, and turn his back. He won’t take a break or go to sleep. He will never tell you that you have asked too much or that you have come to him too often. You never have to work to figure him out. You never have to wonder if his response to you will change. He is absolutely faithful to every promise he
has made and every provision he has offered. Your hope in prayer is rooted in his faithfulness, not yours.

4) His kingdom. As I come to him in the patterns laid out by Christ and pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” I pray words that bring him delight. He loves the exercise of his will. He finds joy in the success of his kingdom. The spiritual growth and prosperity of his children means the growth and prosperity of his kingdom. He is King,
and he delights in his children’s recognizing his lordship and submitting to his rule. Every good thing he does for his children is done to rescue them from their self-focused kingdom of one and to welcome them into the expansiveness of his kingdom of glory and grace. And his ears will continue to be attentive and his hands will be active until his kingdom has been
fully and completely established forever.

5) His glory. The thing that God is most committed to is his own glory. But here’s what you need to understand. His commitment to his His own glory is your only hope. Because he is committed to his own glory, he has committed to draw to himself a multitude of people who forsake their own glory and do the one thing that they were created to do: live for his. So his commitment to his glory causes him to listen and respond, listen and respond until all
of his children no longer look to the shadow glories of creation for their satisfaction but, rather, look to him. Because he is committed to his glory, I can go to him in prayer, knowing that he will hear and answer.

So even though you have nothing to bring to the Lord that would commend you to him, you can approach him with confidence. He really does delight in hearing and answering his children. Your hope in prayer is never found in you; it is always found in him.

Praying with freedom to a merciful prayer hearing and answering God,
Pastor Bill