The Answerer

God loves you for being brave enough to ask this question,and it is about the most important question I have ever been asked. Why is that? Prayer is the ‘secret ingredient’ from God.

Back 400 years before Jesus came along a prophet called Habakkuk asked God a few ‘Whys’ as kids do today. eg: “Oh Lord, how long must I call for help before you will listen? I shout to you in vain;there is no answer. “Help! Murder!”I cry but no one comes to save.Must I forever see sin and sadness all around me?”(Habakkuk. Ch.1: verses 2-3) Many pray that prayer today!! God has His own plans – OK?

It is the most important question because most Christians never grasp just how important it is to pray – and not give up, but to trust God to answer your petition (request) in His own way and in His own time. PHEW! ‘In his own way and in His own time –why not now! I need an answer today!’ We can all feel like that sometimes.

Very little is written in the Bible about how and what to pray. There are examples of people praying for specific things.

Hannah was childless for years. She pleaded with God for years for a son. She finally got one, Samuel, who came to be one of the godliest men in the Bible and a ‘King of Israel’ (see 1 Samuel,Chapter 1:verses 1 to 28). Those two books: The First Book of Samuel (known as 1 Samuel) and Second book of Samuel (known as 2 Samuel) contain many dramatic encounters with God and the enemies of Israel defeating Israel – and Israel defeating her enemies.

In there, David becomes King of Israel after the death (by suicide) of King Saul – the king Israel pleaded for and, I suppose prayed for from God. Samuel told them: ’An earthly king will not work out for your good.’ But they refused to listen and demanded an earthly king. Be assured hundreds of books, maybe thousands, have been written on prayer. Prayer, An invitation to Meet with God, is the latest one I have bought (from Insight for Living, (IFL)) at 78 years old! Prayer is not easy. Insight for living is very good group and can be found on the www.

Jesus found prayer essential in his life. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed (Mark,Ch1: verse 35) and “After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.” (Mark,Ch. 9, verse 46). and “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke.Chapter 5,verse 16).Jesus needed prayer to get through the day’s work.

The scriptures never tell what or how Jesus prayed while he was alone with God. That is where Jesus got the strength to carry out God’s plans for him while he was here on the earth.

So you see prayer is not easy to learn or to describe. A quick prayer is easy- but sacrificial prayer- prayer that ‘costs’ you time by leaving other things not done just to commune, to be quiet and think a about God– without distractions is where we learn about God and his ways.

As a teacher I ought to ask you: “Did you pray for the right things?” like a new iPhone, Bluetooth, Blueray or a new bike. (I don’t know exactly what those ‘Gizmos’ really are). I prayed to win the lottery as a youth. It was a silly prayer.

You say: ‘He doesn’t talk back like people say He does’. Sorry, but God does not ‘talk back’ like on a telephone. If someone told you that He does – they were very wrong – or they did not fully explain what they meant. God only spoke like that with Moses – a very long time ago. Moses was a special man to God then, and God needed to make things plain to the people by telling them things they needed to know – through Moses. Moses was and still is, very much respected by Jews (Hebrews or Israelies) and Christians. Moses wrote, or dictated, much of the first books of the Bible.

May I suggest that you take time to read about the life of Jesus (John or Luke to begin with) and ask God to direct your thoughts to what He wants you to know. It works. May God continue to guide and bless you.

In closing I have always found two Bible bits very helpful. The obvious one is the Lord’s prayer. That is Jesus’ response to the disciples request : “Lord, teach us how to pray.” Jesus replied briefly, but almost perfectly, and referred to about every problem or trouble we may have: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.” And so on. Have a read of that prayer – it is short, concise and just about covers all of our needs – we all need to know it well. (See it in Matthew Ch.6 verses 5 to 15; and in Luke Ch.11 verses 1-4)

I also have a favourite verse from Saint Paul: “Always be joyful. Always keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (That’s in First Thessalonians ch.5 in verse 16-18 (The Living Bible)) It is sometimes just not possible to be joyful always because we are imperfect human beings and feel pain and hurt a lot. BUT, later, we can see that God was there; working something out, in us, and that mostly takes time and HE uses other people to help .

A few hints: Have a Bible (most churches will give you one if you cannot afford it) and a piece of card of your favourite colour. Write on the card things you want God to ‘attend to’. Like: ‘Help me to see the good things in my brother, sister, friend or whoever – instead of only seeing the wrongs they do. Help me to be kinder to others/may others be kinder to me.’ ‘Please heal my friend who is sick and bless the doctors helping her’ (use your own shorthand, not long sentences). Ask Him to forgive your sins too.

Thank God for the good things you have (home, warm bed, food and friends etc.). Ask God to help those who don’t have these things. In a column, or on the other side, write down the date when your prayers were answered. When you just run out of words or prayers just say “May Your will be done in my friend Jimmy Smith.” Prayer is not easy and it takes up time and effort, but God hears you and is very pleased that you care enough to ask for His help and your life will be better for it; and that is truth. Praying gets easier as you grow older.