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Communication with God.
Because God is
personal, all people can offer prayers. However, sinners who have
not trusted Jesus Christ for their salvation remain alienated from
God. So while unbelievers may pray, they do not have the basis for a
rewarding fellowship with God. They have not met the conditions laid
down in the Bible for effectiveness in prayer.
Christians
recognize their dependence upon their Creator. They have every
reason to express gratitude for God's blessings. But they have far
more reason to respond to God than this. They respond to the love of
God for them. God's love is revealed through the marvelous
incarnation and life of Christ, His atoning provision at the Cross,
His resurrection, as well as His continuing presence through the
Holy Spirit.
Prayer cannot be
replaced by devout good works in a needy world.
Important as
service to others is, at times we must turn away from it to God, who
is distinct from all things and over all things. Neither should
prayer be thought of as a mystical experience in which people lose
their identity in the infinite reality. Effective prayer must be a
scripturally informed response of persons saved by grace to the
living God who can hear and answer on the basis of Christ's payment
of the penalty which sinners deserved. As such, prayer involves
several important aspects.
Faith.
The most
meaningful prayer comes from a heart that places its trust in the
God who has acted and spoken in the Jesus of history and the
teachings of the Bible. God speaks to us through the Bible, and we
in turn speak to Him in trustful, believing prayer. Assured by the
Scripture that God is personal, living, active, all-knowing,
all-wise, and all-powerful, we know that God can hear and help us. A
confident prayer life is built on the cornerstone of Christ's work
and words as shown by the prophets and apostles in the
Spirit-inspired writings of the Bible.
Worship.
In worship
we recognize what is of highest worth-- not ourselves, others, or
our work, but God. Only the highest divine being deserves our
highest respect. Guided by Scripture, we set our values in accord
with God's will and perfect standards. Before God, angels hide their
faces and cry, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts" (Is.6:3).
Confession.
Awareness of God's holiness leads to consciousness of our own
sinfulness. Like the prophet Isaiah, we exclaim, "Woe is me, for I
am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the
midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts" (Is. 6:5). By sinning we hurt ourselves and those
closest to us; but first of all, and worst of all, sin is against
God (Ps. 51:4). We must confess our sins to God to get right with
Him. We need not confess them to another being. But we should
confess them directly to God, who promises to forgive us of all our
unrighteousness
(1 John 1:9).
Adoration.
God is
love, and He has demonstrated His love in the gift of His Son. The
greatest desire of God is that we love Him with our whole being
(Matt. 22:37). Our love should be expressed, as His has been
expressed, in both deeds and words. People sometimes find it
difficult to say to others and to God, "I love you." But when love
for God fills our lives, we will express our love in prayer to the
one who is ultimately responsible for all that we are.
Praise.
The natural
outgrowth of faith, worship, confession, and adoration is praise. We
speak well of one whom we highly esteem and love. The one whom we
respect and love above all others naturally receives our highest
commendation. We praise Him for His "mighty acts... according to His
excellent greatness!" (Ps. 150:2), and for His "righteous judgments"
(Ps. 119:164). For God Himself, for His works, and for His words,
His people give sincere praise.
Thanksgiving.
Are
we unthankful because we think we have not received what we deserve?
But if we got what we "deserved," we would be condemned because of
our guilt. As sinners, we are not people of God by nature. We have
no claim upon His mercy or grace. Nevertheless, He has forgiven our
sins, granted us acceptance as His people, and given us His
righteous standing and a new heart and life. Ingratitude marks the
ungodly (Rom. 1:21). Believers, in contrast, live thankfully. God
has been at work on our behalf in countless ways. So in evervthing,
even for the discipline that is unpleasant, we give thanks (Col.
3:17; 1 Thes. 5:18).
[from Nelson's Illustrated Bible
Dictionary]
[Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson
Publishers]
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