Do We Have to Pray?

 

As Christians, we know we should pray.  From listening to sermons and from reading Bible, we have the sense that we should be taking time out to talk to God.  We look around us and we see a few people praying.  Pastors are always praying – but that is their job, right?  And we see the super-spiritual types praying, those people who seem much farther down the road than we are.

 

But we may not be a pastor.  We may not be one of those super-spiritual types.  Should we be praying too?  Should prayer be a regular habit?  Is prayer something that is required of Christians?  Is talking to God something that all Christians – not just the turbo ones – are commanded to do?

 

The Bible gives us a few intersecting lines to look at in regards to this question.

 

The Bible Models Prayer for Us

 

Old Testament Examples

 

It seems reasonable that if prayer is something vital to our spiritual health and joy, then Biblical characters would be people of prayer.  If talking to God is important, we will see it demonstrated by those characters so familiar to us.  Let start in the beginning of the Bible and take a look.

 

In Genesis 20, Abraham has lied to King Abimelech about his wife by saying she was her sister.  Abimelech takes her as a wife.  The whole issue gets sorted out after some angst, and the story ends with Abraham praying for Abimelech, “Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so they bore children.  For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.” (Genesis20:17-18, ESV) Shortly thereafter, Abraham’s son Isaac prayed, “And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren.  And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.”  (Genesis 25:21, ESV)

 

The great Moses, of the Red Sea fame, was no stranger to prayer.  Pharaoh, surrounded by the plague of flies, pleads with Moses to take them away.  “So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD.” (Exodus 8:30, ESV) When the nation of Israel angered God yet again, Moses interceded, “Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down.”  (Numbers 11:2, ESV) Then take a look at Psalm 90. We are told in the opening notes that Moses wrote this Psalm.

 

Hannah was a woman deeply distressed by her inability to have children.  Not only a personal tragedy, but in that culture, a public humiliation.  Her response was a heartfelt pouring out to God of her feelings and desires, “She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.”  (1 Samuel 1:10, ESV)

 

 

King David, the man described as a man after God’s own heart, was certainly a man of prayer.  As the author of a great many of the Psalms, it is clear he knew how to pray.

 

The prophets were mouthpieces God used to communicate to his people.  As such, they were well versed in speaking on behalf of God.  Yet, they also spoke to him as well.  Surrounded by an army holding ill intent, “Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O LORD, please open his (the opposing general’s) eyes that he may see.’  So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”  (2 Kings 6:17, ESV, parenthesis mine)

 

The prophet Nehemiah was in the presence of King Artaxerxes – his boss – and he was sad.  We all have had moments of sadness, but bringing such melancholy before this king was strictly verboten.  The king noticed, and confronted Nehemiah with it.  Nehemiah confesses he is bothered by the condition of Jerusalem, the home of his people.  Nehemiah relates what happens next when he says “. . . the king said to me, ‘What are you requesting?’  So I prayed to the God of heaven.” (Nehemiah 2:4, ESV) Nehemiah asks God for help in a moment of crisis and confrontation.

 

Daniel was in the habit of praying.  His friends knew it.  His enemies knew it.  He was so committed to his habit, and to his God, that his enemies convinced the king to ban prayer to anything except himself for thirty days.  “When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.  He got down on his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.” (Daniel 6:10, ESV)

 

New Testament Examples

 

Our Lord and savior Jesus Christ was himself a man of prayer.  Luke tells us, “. . . he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.”  (Luke 5:16, ESV) Several times we are told of Jesus going up mountain to pray.  The night before he goes to the cross, he prays in Gethsemane.  Jesus talked often with his Father.

 

 

Like his mentor, Peter had picked up the habit of going off by himself to pray.  “The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.”  (Acts 10:9)

 

 

 

 

Paul was another person who conversed frequently with the Lord.  In many of his letters he speaks of his prayers for his readers.  He tells the Roman believers, “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers . . .” (Romans 1:9-10a, ESV)  To the Ephesian church he writes, “. . . I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers  . . .” (Ephesians 1:16, ESV)  In a touching letter to his protégé Timothy, Paul tells him, “I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.” (2 Timothy 1:3, ESV)

 

We could speak of numerous other examples of believers praying to the heavenly Father.  This list is by no means exhaustive.  The Bible records in its pages many other characters who converse with God.

 

Looking at the example of all of these men and women, spanning thousands of years and throughout the story of the Bible, it is becoming clear that the example God’s people set for us is that God’s people pray.  If your bracelet says WWJD – What Would Jesus Do? – it is clear that at least one of the things he would do is pray.  If you had a bracelet that read WWMPBD – What Would Most People in the Bible Do? – the answer remains the same.

 

God’s people pray.

 

Example is not enough

 

The pages of scripture contain a great many examples of people who pray.  We have examined some of them.  But, some of us might advise caution.  An example cannot always be a command.  After all, for many of these characters, the Bible also records their major failures.  Failures which include adultery and murder.  No one looks at the presence of these actions in the Bible and construes a command.

 

This gets us down to brass tacks.  Does the Bible actually command believers to converse with God?

 

The Bible’s Commands to Pray

 

As it turns out, the Bible does command Christians to pray.

 

Paul closes his first letter to the Thessalonian church with a list of things they need to remember to do.  On that list is a short sentence on prayer, “. . . pray without ceasing . . .” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, ESV) This command is pretty clear.  Pray.  We must pray.  Occasional prayer is not enough.  Prayer during just times of crisis is insufficient.  We must pray without ceasing.  We must be constant and fervent in our prayer.  The God of the universe wants you talk to him – regularly.

 

Jesus also issues a directive to pray.  He prefaces one of his parables by saying, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1, ESV) The parable he goes on to share helps people understand that they need to pray, and pray a lot.  He proceeds to tell the parable of the persistent widow.

 

The parable is the story of a widow who is being oppressed and appeals to a judge for justice.  This judge does not fear God or people.  He is not motivated by a love for God, and he does not care what other will think about him for ignoring the widow.  So, he ignores her at first.  But the widow keeps coming to him seeking justice.  He resists for a while, but ultimately gives in – only to get her to go away.  Jesus implies we need to be like the widow.  We must pray.  And we must pray frequently.  We should pray so much that God could identify with the judge.

 

For good measure, Paul adds a few more commands to pray.  To the Colossians he says, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2, ESV) Clearly an imperative: pray.  Pray faithfully.  Be sure to be grateful and give thanks as well.

 

To the church in Philippi he pens one of the more familiar passages on prayer, “. . . do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  (Philippians 4:6, ESV)  A word of encouragement to many.  Great hope comes from being told to not worry and ask God for your requests.  Make no mistake though, the word in the original Greek for “let your requests be made known” is in the imperative.  This is an encouragement, but also a command.

 

At a fundamental level then, prayer is a matter of obedience.  The Word of God commands us to pray.  We must strive to become people of prayer.

 

The Command is Paired with a Promise

 

For some people, reading the above may have just been a “bad news first” moment.  Already stretched by life’s demands, we are now adding something else to the to-do list.  We might feel like our burden just got a little heavier.

 

This is a normal response.  Theologian John Calvin knows this is a common response, and in his Institutes of the Christian Religion he points us to hope.  He acknowledges the command to pray.  He Calvin also points out that the command to pray is paired with promise.

 

Preaching his sermon on the mount, Jesus tells his disciples, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11, ESV)

 

What an amazing promise.  Especially for someone who has just been ordered to pray.  Yes, we have to pray, but we are also promised that God will answer our prayers.  Prayer is not intended to be some empty ritual that we do simply because we must.  It is intended to be powerful experince.  And it is intended to be effective.  What we seek in God’s presence – we will find!  What we ask for – we will get!  Our time conversing with God will have meaning far beyond rote ritual.

 

Jesus’ promise is a broad overarching promise to make our prayer effective.  God’s Word reveals many other, more specific promises in regards to prayer.  In the Psalms, Asaph tells us of God’s promise to hear our prayers: “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.” (Psalm 77:1, ESV)

 

The apostle Paul reminds the church in Philippi, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:19) This verse appears on a lot of coffee mugs, but it is still true.  God promises to meet our needs.

 

The pages of God’s word include other promise in regards to our prayer life.  One is God’s promise to guide us (Psalm 31:3).  Another is his promise to give us wisdom when we ask (James 1:5).  One of the most comforting to me is the promise to always forgive us when we confess our sins (1 John 1:9).

 

These promises change everything.

 

Promises and Lottery Tickets

 

Imagine I had the power to order people around.  Then imagine that I ordered people to purchase lottery tickets every day.  Most peoples’ response would be negative.  Why?  People’s response would be negative because they know they are not going to win.  The odds are too great.  Any normal person would be angered by a command to waste significant time, effort, and money pursuing something that would not benefit them in any way.

 

Many people think about prayer in the same way.

 

But imagine that along with the power to order people to purchase lottery tickets I also had the power to guarantee that you would win a large amount of money every time you played.  Purchasing our lottery tickets would jump straight to the top of our daily to-do list.  Why? – because we now expect the time, effort and money expended to be richly rewarded.

 

God’s promises in regards to prayer are just like the guarantee for the lottery tickets.  These promises mean that we will attain what we are seeking.  We will not be wasting our time or efforts – because God promises to hear and answer.

 

Exchange Our Lottery Tickets for Plane Tickets

 

These promises are great news to us who don’t have a consistent prayer life up and running.  This pairing of command and promise allows us change our whole conception of prayer.  Gone is the idea that we must endure drudgery and rote ritual.  In its place we have the idea of hopeful expectation.  Praying is not buying a lottery ticket.  It is buying a plane ticket.  We buy plane tickets with the expectation of getting somewhere.  We can now pray with the same expectation.

 

So, let’s embrace our responsibility to pray.  Embrace it with hope.  And start praying.  Or start again.