Our relationship with God is built on faith; faith is kept healthy by the quality and consistency of our communication with God. We communicate with Him through prayer. It's straightforward. And yet, different seasons in life change our prayer posture. From examples in scripture, we see the reality of what raw, natural prayer looks like in different stages of life and faith. Let it help us to grow in our own prayer life and to feel absolutely comfortable pouring it all out to God.
Hannah's Prayer to the Lord, 1 Samuel 2
[9] After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. [10] She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. [11] And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”
[12] As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. [13] Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. [14] And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” [15] But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. [16] Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.”
Sometimes prayer is ugly, messy, unrefined. Imagine Hannah's distress that even as she prayed in her innermost closet (Matthew 6:6), it was apparent to an onlooker that she was wild with emotion. From Hannah we learn that God does not expect us to be beautiful, organized and polished in prayer. Our internal conflict, emotional condition and life situations are complicated. We are not making a presentation to God to inform Him of our life. He knows what is happening around us... prayer is our ever-present opportunity to express our reaction to it in the most honest way. With our Father we are safe lose our composure.
But from Hannah we learn something even more beneficial to our prayer posture: pre-dedication of the thing prayed for. Hannah wanted to be a mother more than she wanted anything else in the world. And yet, she promised that if she became a mother, she would dedicate her child to the Lord. She became a mother and nursed her baby and then she indeed dedicated Samuel to the Lord (he became one of the greatest prophets in the Bible).
The healthiest relationship we can have with God is one that is two-sided in love. When God fulfills a promise or a prayer, plan to dedicate that blessing back to His purposes. If we ever want something that is not mutually beneficial, it is not something we need. It is probably not even good for us. Before you ask, or even while you ask, consider how the request advances God's plans, not just your own. No matter how good of a case you are able to make, God will do what is best for you. But your appreciation for each other will grow so deep; your prayer posture, this position, will open wide the channel for blessing in your life. Because the harvest is plenty and the laborers are few. There are many positions open for those willing to labor for God's harvest with their blessings.
The Widow's Prayer, Luke 18
In Luke 18, Jesus told a parable about a persistent woman and an apathetic judge. Not only was the judge an unbeliever (which meant that he felt no responsibility to be just) but also he had no respect for humanity (thus he felt no motivation to be just). Yet this widow kept coming to him, asking for justice. He refused her several times but finally, in frustration and just to make her go away, he gave her case justice. Jesus then explained that if even a man such as that is convinced to act justly... how much more our righteous Father, the ultimate judge!
We learn persistent prayer posture from the widow. Faith is exercised by consistency. Jesus revealed to us that persistent prayers are swiftly answered by God. God answers the prayers of His chosen; He has heard them crying, praying, pleading out to Him day and night. In the process of persistent prayer, with God and within ourselves, we grow in character. We grow in preparedness for the journey and result of the answered prayer. Persistent prayer communicates to God that we are dedicated to this request and willing to endure until His arrangement of it.
Moreover, our commitment to a prayer for a just thing communicates to God that we know He is a just king. When our heart holds that amount of knowledge and trust in who He is, God can see that we have read verses such as (Matthew 7:10) where Jesus taught us to believe that we will never receive from God a serpent when we have prayed for a fish. Then not only is it apparent that we have been consistent in prayer but also in the word of God. We have built our lives around it and it has affected our prayer posture in every way.
The Pharisee's Prayer, Luke 18
Jesus then told a parable about a man that God chose not to justify. This unique bit of scripture teaches us about bad prayer posture. So how did this man pray? He approached God as a righteous man; arrogantly unaware of the plank in his own eye (Matthew 7:3). And finally, he was religiously regimented in fasting and tithing.
To adequately highlight what is wrong about this man's prayer posture, Jesus continued with an example of the prayer posture of a man who was justified by God.
The Tax Collector's Prayer, Luke 18
This man stood far off, too humble to deign to approach God. With wild emotion reminiscent of Hannah, he beat his chest and genuflected to God so much that he did not even feel worthy to lift his eyes to heaven. His request was for God to be merciful to him, a sinner. It is this man, Jesus stated, that went home justified.
So what is the difference and what do we learn? It is God's grace upon us that exalts the humble. It is crucial that we understand ourselves as we are: imperfect and infinitesimal compared to all that God is. We are small and we all fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). It is only our knowledge of that, our humility, that makes God deem us worthy to host His spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).
Sacrifices made to God out of ritual or tradition make void the word of God (Matthew 7:13). We can fast, we can tithe, but if we are not in close, communicative, humble relationship with God it does not count. It does not matter. It does not move God with compassion for us.
Genuflection before God is a gift not a right. That God deigns to welcome us into His presence, to give us His ear, is our blessed opportunity to praise and to repent... not to attempt to establish us as anything other than woefully imperfect and in grateful need of every promise He has generously made.
David's Prayer, (73/150 in the Book of Psalms; notably: Psalms 18;139)
Part of what is so beautiful about David's prayer posture is that they often tell of the journey of faith. They begin with David a place of sorrow or distress and then praise the process of God's rescue and restoration. They begin with David encircled by the enemy but end with David encamped by the Lord.
David's prayers are expressions stark vulnerability yet great love for God. From the womb to birth, from every step of life to God's glory in heaven, David covers it. David's prayer posture often held and taught or reminded us of the eternal perspective. That God has not only charted our individual journey, but gone before us and prepared the space.
David's prayers are filled with love and surrender, sorrow and joy, praise and repentance. David sees himself as a worm before God...but also, as wonderfully made by God. David sees God and His power and mercy as inestimable. Yet accessible, and even proffered. Abundantly. David explains God to be a fortress, a shield, a firm foundation, the ultimate protection against the enemy. God as armor and salvation.
There is no element within God's arsenal of goodness and capability that David neglects to explore. Nor does David neglect to remember or to highlight how all of God's specific goodness changed and saved and protected his life in specific moments. He connects God's arrival and steadfastness in the past as God's reliability in present and future concerns.
David is included here not only because of the quality and quantity and comprehensiveness of his prayers but because of how is described by God in 1 Samuel 13:14. A man after God's own heart. Imagine the glory that would respond to a person whose posture in prayer was a sprinter running with all it had toward one thing only: God's own heart. Arriving in prayer to praise and to ask only for what is in God's heart.
Solomon's Prayer, 1 Kings 3
Solomon's prayer is another unique bit of scripture because it tells us that it pleased God. Naturally, we want to know about the prayer that made our Father happy (because we love Him and we seek to please Him for all that He is to us).
The Lord appeared to Solomon, a brand new king, in a dream and said: Ask what I shall give you. Imagine that! Imagine God appearing in a dream to ask us what we want. It is doubtful many would not be ready with answers pertaining to their needs and desires. But Solomon answered the Lord with his mind on the needs of God's people.
Solomon was known as king, but he presented himself to the Lord as he truly was: God's servant. He was a servant of God in a position of power on the earth. Solomon's request was to meld those two truths together. First and foremost, we are servants of God. Hopefully, willing and joyful servants within His kingdom. But we also have responsibilities on earth. We hold positions as leaders and parents, teachers and friends, spouses and coworkers and so much more that require understanding and discernment if we are to carry those roles out as children of God.
Like Solomon then, we must learn to pray for the tools and resources we need to shepherd well what sheep we have. Our place in the kingdom corresponds with the work we do right here today in the earth (Luke 12:48). And it is God's pleasure to give us the Kingdom (Luke 12:32), to equip and encourage us within our part of it. Prayer posture with the intent to serve the kingdom of God, here on earth, is powerfully answered by God.
Jesus' Prayer, Luke 22
Jesus prayed to the Lord before His crucifixion. He withdrew and knelt and prayed. He began His request with "Father, if you are willing..." and ended his prayer with "Nevertheless, not My, will but Yours, be done." In agony, He prayed earnestly. And more earnestly, and even sweated.
Jesus' prayer posture can be described this way: He put everything into it and expected only what God wanted out of it. The prayer of His spirit was so serious, intentional, purposeful, and effortful that even His physical body was affected.
Prayer posture positioned in trust is something we strive evermore for in faith. To preface our deepest desire with the word if is a bold move in faith. To end it with relinquishment of our own will and subjection to God's is beautiful courage in faith. Such faith is a life built on the proper, solid foundation (Matthew 7:24-27). Such faith is striven for. It is evidence of endurance, of blood, sweat and tears poured out in relationship and communication with God.
It is a peak we arrive at when we have crawled through valleys and climbed the crags of the hardest and deepest and steepest of life's battles and journeys with God. Such prayer posture rests in security because it trusts in God's willingness and ability answer the prayer in the time and manner that is best... while in the midst of great desperation.
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus promises that if we keep our eyes and our efforts on the Kingdom of God, our Father will provide all that we need. But even when we know that truth deep in our bones, we must keep our communication with God open and active and healthy and consistent. Romans 8:27 tells us that we do not even know what to pray for (but God knows what we need (Matthew 6:8)) and His spirit intercedes for us. In that process of communication with Him, His spirit intercedes. We welcome His intercession from the posture of prayer. Thus prayer is an essential element. We cannot neglect to talk to Him because it is during prayer that we are blessed with His intercession. We are blessed that He corrects as we speak; overrides our choices with His own; exerts His will above our own and ultimately arranges life and more abundantly (John 10:10).