Deconstructing prayer

Last week Ps. Dexter shared with us the five marks of a healthy church. And the last point was about prayer and he gave us this quote -

Prayer is the battering ram against all strongholds.

I might be paraphrasing. However the impression on the power of prayer was enough to trigger something in my brain.
Another quote that he shared that day -

I care not if the place is crowded at your other services; the church is not prosperous if the prayer-meetings be thin. - Spurgeon

We can clearly see how important prayer is. And how he is using it as one of the metric for a healthy church. Impressing upon prayer - this week I have been looking at prayers. The last two post being a modern translation of the 2 prayers by Spurgeon. Which going through each prayer I noticed some similarities between the prayers he wrote and the prayers we see in the Bible. These are the results of the comparison and analysis I have done to help me pray better.

Key Elements of Effective Prayer

1. Beginning with Worship and Acknowledgment

All effective prayers begin by acknowledging God's sovereignty and expressing reverence. Notice how both sample prayers start:

• "Dear Lord, Help us to truly worship You..."

• "O God, King of kings and Lord of lords, we worship You."

This mirrors the Lord's Prayer's opening: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."

2. Honest Expression of Need

Both prayers demonstrate vulnerability and honesty about human weaknesses:

• They acknowledge distractions

• Admit to struggles with focus

• Confess human frailty

• Express dependence on God

3. Multiple Dimensions of Prayer

The analyzed prayers follow the ACTS model:

• Adoration: Expressing love and worship

• Confession: Acknowledging weaknesses and sins

• Thanksgiving: Showing gratitude

• Supplication: Making requests

4. Balanced Focus

These prayers maintain a balance between:

• Personal needs and global concerns

• Individual and communal requests

• Spiritual and physical needs

• Present circumstances and eternal perspective

Comparing to the Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer provides a perfect template, and we can see its elements reflected in these longer prayers:

1. Recognition of God's holiness

   • Lord's Prayer: "Hallowed be your name"

   • Modern prayers: Extended worship sections

2. Kingdom Focus

   • Lord's Prayer: "Your kingdom come, your will be done"

   • Modern prayers: Requests for global impact and spiritual growth

3. Daily Needs

   • Lord's Prayer: "Give us this day our daily bread"

   • Modern prayers: Requests for practical help and support

4. Forgiveness

   • Lord's Prayer: "Forgive us our debts"

   • Modern prayers: Requests for cleansing and spiritual renewal

5. Protection from Evil

   • Lord's Prayer: "Deliver us from evil"

   • Modern prayers: Requests for protection from temptation and worldly influences

Holy Spirit ?

Since the time I learned that the Holy Spirit is a teacher, and it taught Paul for three years, I have been asking the Holy Spirit to teach me how to pray. To give me the words while I pray. To help me understand better what prayer is and talk to God the things I want to be asking God and just talking to Him.

Somewhere I feel I have missed the essence of prayer. To understand that a little better, I had to look into Matthew 6.

The intimate nature of prayer

But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6-8

Jesus is asking us to go to an inner room and pray in secret. Talk to God, tell God things that you wouldn’t tell anyone. Then there is this quote by Timothy Keller

"Prayer is continuing a conversation that God has started through his Word and his grace, which eventually becomes a full encounter with him." - Timothy Keller

When I was in class 12, I had a girlfriend. I would tell her the transpires of my entire day, including and not limited to - What I ate, how I felt, what I liked. These conversations would often lead to a sense of longing for each other which eventually resulted in us meeting up on dates. Its interesting how Timothy is saying almost the same thing. Prayer is a continuous conversation which was started by God. Eventually - this becomes a full encounter

Not only does Jesus tell us how to pray, But he also gives us a structure that we should use to pray.

This blog post is incomplete. I still have more to learn and maybe someday in the future I will update.