A few months ago, many 5:17ers shared in our community groups what they would like to grow in as Christians – and prayer was a common thread in our discussions. So how do we grow in prayer?

The first thing we need to grasp is that we have no right to pray to God, except through Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5 says: For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. We can only approach the perfect God if all of our sin, guilt and shame has been lifted off us. To understand this in more detail, have a read here. As Christians, we can pray to God. That’s a simple statement, but a profound truth.

Following on from this, we need to understand what prayer is? I think the Westminster Shorter Catechism gives us a wonderful answer when it says (in Q&A 98):

Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God,(1) for things agreeable to his will,(2) in the name of Christ,(3) with confession of our sins,(4) and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.(5)

(1) Ps. 62:8. (2) I John 5:14. (3) John 16:23. (4) Ps. 32:5-6; Dan. 9:4. (5) Phil. 4:6.

Have a read of the Bible verses referenced above. Prayer really is a multi-faceted act between fallen people and the glorious God. In line with this, I was recently reading an autobiography by an ex-American basketballer, Bill Reiser, and he made the following statements on prayer that I really like (p63ff):

Prayer tells your problems how big your God is instead of you telling God how big your problems are.

True prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance but laying hold of His willingness.

I think the above two points are really good distinctions to make, and give us some interesting things to think about in regards to prayer.

Prayer is one of our immense privileges – we can with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). So let’s keep praying – individually and as a church community – so that we and the people around us can receive mercy, grace and help in our time of need.