Prayer. That is the theme in this issue of the magazine. The word ‘prayer’ has many personal associations for each of us, but I would like to share with you some of the associations that I have when I think of prayer. My purpose in doing so is to encourage you and certainly not to send you on a guilt trip.

Helplessness

As a young convert in university, I was urged to buy Hallesby’s book entitled, ‘Prayer’. I did not read it immediately. In fact, over the years, I have had an aversion to reading books on prayer. The reason?  Because they invariably discourage me. But when I eventually read Hallesby’s book, I found it was written pastorally and honestly. It was an easy read. Yes, I admit, it was encouraging.

But what stood out most for me was Hallesby’s definition of prayer. Quite simply, he insisted that prayer is not words or a posture or an activity to be measured by length of time or words. Rather, Hallesby emphasised that essentially prayer is an attitude of helplessness and then dependence on the Lord. That has stayed with me over the years. Whether struggling against sin and seeking to grow in Christ-likeness or involved in evangelism and church work, many times I have felt so weak, that I have often been driven to seek the Lord’s help. That is prayer. The Lord’s words ‘without Me, you can do nothing’ (John 15:5) are profoundly true.

In your felt weakness, depend on the Lord by praying.

Mentoring

As a young Christian, one Christian worker mentored me, especially in prayer. Often we prayed together. On our knees together, I was learning to pray. Occasionally, we spent longer periods praying for the Lord’s work. I learned a lot from him. He encouraged me in prayer by praying with me.

Another Christian prayed with me in the context of Christian camps. Whenever there was a spare hour or afternoon, we would meet to pray. They were precious times. The Lord answered prayers, sometimes remarkably. Increasingly I was recognising the intimate, spiritual relationship the believer has with the living God. Prayer involves developing this relationship and these two men helped me to recognise and pursue as well as enjoy this.

Are there individuals you can pray with privately or in a small group? Or is there someone you can get alongside to encourage in prayer? Remember it is far better to pray privately, then also with someone regularly than to spend time talking about prayer and lamenting your prayerlessness! Why not try it?

Family

I associate prayer with family. As the first believer in my family, it took courage to offer to pray with my parents. They were embarrassed initially and so was I. If that is your situation, I encourage you to persevere, if possible, and pray daily for unconverted relatives. The Lord answers prayer. Learning to pray together in courtship and consequently maintaining daily family worship has been challenging; at times, it has been a struggle to prioritise on family worship but the Lord has blessed in ways I could never have imagined. When prayer remains central in family life but in a natural, wise, loving manner then husband and wife as well as parents and children can be brought much closer together, even in difficult situations. Do you need to review the place of prayer and the Bible in your family?

Triune God

I associate prayer, of course, with the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. However, I am concerned at this point. In different contexts, including public worship, I often hear prayers which are addressed to ‘Jesus’ exclusively and without any reference to the Father or the Holy Spirit. Unintentionally perhaps , but some believers are in danger of reducing the Trinity to ‘Jesus only’, a form of ‘Oneness’ teaching which has troubled evangelicalism and Pentecostalism over the past decades and was known in different forms as a heresy in early church history under the name of modalism.

While prayers can be addressed to Jesus, it is wrong to do so exclusively without regard to the Trinity.

Consider this. Concerning post-ascension prayers from Acts 2 onwards, there are only three prayers addressed directly to the Lord Jesus. These are in Acts 7:59, 9:5 and Revelation 22:20. And they are unique situations too. But the normal apostolic practice was to pray to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. Examples include Ephesians 1:17-22, 2:18 and 3:14-21.

I hope you find the articles on this extremely important theme encouraging, helpful and stimulating.

D. Eryl Davies is the former principal of WEST.