Teach Me to Pray - Week #6

Chapter three is titled "Alone with God" and has to do with our private prayer life.

Taking the words of Jesus about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:6), Murray points out that it's important for the believer to have a time and place for prayer in his/her life. Having just said in the previous chapter that true worship is not about a certain place, he shows in this chapter that Jesus also taught that it's important that we humans pray in designated times and spaces.

Years ago I heard a quote by saint in Church history who said something to this effect: "You will not pray all of the time everywhere unless you pray some of the time somewhere." I've found this to be true; the "unceasing prayer" of I Thess. 5:17 comes through the practice of the "ceasing prayer" of Matt. 6:6.

The times and places for personal prayer will vary immensely from one person to the next; and even in the same person's life, there will be changes to this depending on one's season in life and one's maturity in God. However, I don't believe we ever outgrow the need to find regular time alone with Him of some sort. Healthy human relating bears this out; even in a strong and growing marriage, the couple never outgrows the need to find time to be alone together. How that looks will change from season to season, but the reality that they need to relate alone regularly in order to continue growing together doesn't change.

There is other great stuff in this chapter, but the one point I most want to focus on in this posting is Andrew Murray's emphasis on the ideal "atmosphere" for effective prayer. First, he reiterates that "it is Christ who teaches us to pray", reminding us that we are in His school of prayer; a teacher always wants the classroom to be attractive and appealing so that the student will want to be there, and so our great Teacher desires us to learn to pray in the ideal atmosphere.

In Matthew 6:6-8 Jesus repeats "your Father" three times, and Murray suggests that this is the atmosphere in which true prayer happens - the light of the Father's countenance.

"The first need in private prayer is that we must meet our Father. The light that shines in the prayer closet must be the light of the Father's countenance. The fresh air from heaven with which Jesus would have it filled - the atmosphere in which we are to breathe and pray - is God's Father-love, God's infinite fatherliness. Thus each thought or petition we breathe will be simple, hearty, childlike trust in the Father. This is how the Master teaches us to pray. He brings us into the Father's loving presence. In this atmosphere our prayers will accomplish much."

This is a problem for fallen and sinful humans whose image of the Father is twisted, not only because of weak earthly father models, but also because of our own sin which has distorted our view of God the Father. Without the cleansing and healing work of the cross and the Spirit in us to help us see Him rightly, the idea of God's Father-love being the ideal atmosphere for effective prayer doesn't find agreement in us because the thought of father brings feelings of fear and the need to prove myself rather than the assurance of being fully accepted and confident in His tender affection and goodness.

But Jesus' teachings about the Father and prayer are clear, so it's critical that we seek to know the Father in truth and receive cleansing and healing where necessary in order to have the veil removed from our eyes related to the nature and character of God. Without this open and clear "'atmosphere" of His presence, our prayers are limited in their effectiveness.

Later in the chapter Murray says that we often complain that our personal prayer life is not what it should be because of our weakness and coldness of heart. "But precisely when your heart is cold and prayerless, is when you should go to the loving Father...do not think how little you have to bring God but how much He wants to give to you. Look into His face. Think of His tender, compassionate love. Tell Him how sinful and cold and dark you feel. The Father's loving heart will give you light and warmth..."

I can't stress how important this atmosphere of the Father's smile/countenance (knowing we are loved and accepted by Him) is for confident prayer! If our heart's view of God is distorted, we will tend to cringe and beg without faith as we approach Him in prayer or we will avoid prayer altogether if our focus is on our lack rather than on His abundance of grace and goodness towards us. If we know that He longs to have us come to Him even in our weakness and coldness, then we will confidently approach Him in Jesus, and in His presence we will be cleansed and strengthened and our hearts made tender once again.

To close I'll quote part of Murray's prayer at the end of this chapter and encourage you to pray it as well:

"Blessed Savior, with my whole heart I bless you for the appointment of the quiet place as the school where you meet each of your pupils alone and reveal the Father. My Lord, strengthen my faith in the Father's tender love and kindness so that my first instinctive thought, when sinful or troubled, may be to go where I know the Father waits for me and where prayer never goes unheard..." Lord, would You send Your Spirit to remove the veil from my eyes that keeps me from clear vision of the nature of the Father to want me with Him; may this revelation grow until my first response when I am aware of my lacks and failures is to run to Him rather than away from Him and there find that He is and has all that I need to be more like Him in prayer. Thank You for hearing my prayer...in Jesus' name, Amen.