When I was
growing up, I learned to pray using written prayers that I memorized. Before meals, I prayed, “God is great, God is
good. Let us thank Him for our food. By His hand we must be fed. Give us, Lord,
our daily bread. Amen.” At bedtime I prayed, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I
pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I 'wake, I pray the Lord
my soul to take.” Then we added God bless, Mom, Dad, Bob, Susan, Bill, etc. Every week at church we prayed the Lord’s
prayer[1]. I also memorized the 23rd Psalm which
is a pretty good prayer to pray for almost all other occasions.[2] I thank my Mom for teaching me these prayers because
they made me aware of God’s existence and provision in my life. But I never realized that prayer was meant to
be a conversation with God. Nor did I
have any clue that I could pray about my specific life situations and that God
would actually respond to my prayers.
The
first prayer I prayed as a cry from my heart to God was during my freshman year
in college when I asked Jesus to come into my life and change it with his love. The week after I made this fateful decision,
I went back to the Bible Study with Bev and Suzie to learn the implications of
the choice I had just made. I attended
that group for what was left of the semester.
In those few weeks I learned that God was interested in me and the
everyday things that concern me. If it
is important enough to worry about, it is important enough to pray about: “Don’t
worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need,
and thank Him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which
exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds
as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7, NLT).
Less
than a month after I became a Christ follower, it was time for Spring semester
exams. My professor for Survey of Modern World History decided he was
going to give us an oral exam. This meant
that everyone in the class had to meet individually with our professor for an
hour while he grilled us with questions that could cover anything in the 1000
plus pages of our textbook.[3] Doing well on this exam was important to me
since this was a required foundational course for history majors like me. I studied hard for the exam but so had the
other students who came back from their exam appointments and told me how awful
it was. When my turn came to meet with
my professor, I was scared to death. I
have a distinct memory of walking from my dorm to the classroom building and praying
along the way. I asked God to calm my
nerves, bring to mind everything I had studied and help me put my thoughts
together to answer the questions. I have
no idea what questions my professor asked but I do remember being calm and
confident as I answered all his questions.
At the end he even commented that I had done a good job. Little did he know that my performance was an
answer to prayer!
From my current
perspective of almost 50 years later, I can see that failing that exam would
not have been earth shaking. But at the
time it was important enough for me to worry about so it was important enough
to pray about. And this taught me a
valuable lesson. God cares about what I
care about: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.” (1
Peter 5:7, NLT). I loved my mother but
if worrying were an Olympic sport, Mom would have been a gold medalist. Unfortunately, worrying is one of the
characteristics I inherited from my mother.
Because I learned early in my walk with Christ to replace worry with
prayer, by the grace of God I have not suffered many of the debilitating side
effects of anxiety that Mom experienced.
Fighting fear with prayer is still a constant battle for me but I have
the ultimate prayer warrior on my side—-the Holy Spirit. During the Last Supper Jesus shared with His
disciples before He went to the cross, He assured them (and us), “But when the
Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—He will
teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. I am
leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift
the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:26-27, NLT)
When I pray, I know that the Holy Spirit is conveying my concerns to the
Father. I don’t even need to worry about
expressing myself clearly because “… the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.
For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit
prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” (Romans
8:26, NLT) Over and over it has been my experience that when I turn my worries
into prayers, God floods my heart with “the peace that passes all understanding
that the world can neither give nor take away.”[4]
Learning the Lesson:
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares
about you.”
Make a list of everything that is causing you worry or
concern today. Pray over the list and give each worry or concern to God. If you are new to prayer, here is a suggested
prayer you can use for each item on your list:
Dear heavenly Father, today I give
You [worry or concern]. Thank You for
caring about everything that concerns me. I trust that You will take care of
this situation and work it out for my good and Your glory. I will rest in the peace of knowing that You
are in control. In Jesus name, Amen.
[1] Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
(Matthew 6:9-13, KJV)
[2] The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He
restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's
sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my
head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm
23:1-6, KJV)
3] Palmer, R.R. & Colton, J. (1971). A history of the modern world (4th
ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. While
writing this book, I was pleased to discover this wonderful textbook is still
being used to teach history. The most
recent editions, however, are divided into two volumes.
[4]
Don’t know where this exact expression comes from but Pastor Joe Warner used it
as part of the benediction when I was a member of Royal Palm Presbyterian
Church.
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