In our closing week of exploring the Benefits of Prayer, I’m focusing on the relationships we depend on; our relationship with God, with our self and with others. Undeniably, praying will bring us closer to God, but can it also give us better relationships with people?
In contrast to how the questions that spurred this series might sound, I believe all prayers are heard and answered.
It’s just that we probably aren’t praying for:
“No.”
“That’s not big picture enough.”
“I want to show you something first.”
or some version of this hardest to comprehend and most frustrating answer,
“I won’t be removing that thorn, but you will grow closer to me and bring others to me in spite of or even because of it. Trust my grace is sufficient for you. I will see you through.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)
Those are all answers. It’s just that we receive them with far less fanfare and celebration.
I recently worked with fellow blogger, Amy Hornbuckle of Take A Walk Ministries, to learn her Jesus Meet Me Bible study method. In one portion of the exercise, she looks up definitions to words that spark her interest. Whether or not she already knows the meaning, taking a closer look results in greater understanding.
One word I found interesting during that study was “receive”. Let’s look together.
Definition of Receive
- Be a holding place for God’s gifts, EVEN WHEN I wish there was a gift receipt and I could trade them out for something on my wish list of solutions.
- Welcome and greet his gifts, often by utilizing other gifts he’s already provided. (i.e. Use his joy to welcome an opportunity to grow in him.)
- More readily accept his gifts as authoritative ( or accurate) for me
- Receive his strength as I bear the weight of my weakness
- He leaves an everlasting impression on my heart.
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Letting God Guide Your Relationships
God’s love for us and his call for us to love him and others, is at the core of Christian guiding principles. Having a better relationship with God certainly benefits all of our other relationships, too! By putting others first and looking for ways to build them up we become a better spouse, employee, friend, parent, whatever our role may be for each relationship.
1) Better Relationship with God
“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’” Psalm 46:10
“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8
Approaching God in prayer, reminds us he is sovereign and we are in need of his grace. Meeting him this way, sharpens our focus and keeps us ever sensitive to anything putting distance between our heart and his. Our relationship with him is like our other loving relationships. The more time we spend together, the closer we become.
2) Healthy Relationship with Self
“In Christ, you have been brought to fullness.” Colossians 2:10
Nothing is missing. Feeling loved and confident in who God says we are, with or without the answer we desire is truly life changing. I use this verse to remind myself “I Am Complete” in a powerful, daily affirmation.
“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31
I also affirm this verse to myself by saying, “I Am Strong!”.
Praying brings us closer to our creator, the one by whom all scripture is inspired. The more time we spend with God, the more his message of completion and excellence begins to settle in our hearts. Loving ourselves consequently sets us up to love our neighbor, which happens to be next on the list.
3) Better Relationships with Others
Sometimes relationships are just how we hope. Nice and easy. Everyone’s on the same page.
Sometimes relationships are hard. Love is eclipsed with looming frustration, fear and bitterness.
Dealing with relationships can be tricky when we feel a big prayer of our own is going unanswered. It is hard to focus on others when we feel an unmet need. This disconnect multiplies if the unanswered prayer has to do with a problem person or relationship.
How to Be a Better Partner in a Relationship
Praying to receive God, rather than a desired outcome, seems to share many of the same benefits as does volunteering. Because volunteering takes the focus off oneself and places it on others with presumably greater needs, it is often recommended for combating depression.
Heightened focus on our relationship with God, rather than our need for a specific answer, likewise grows us in wisdom and maturity. Both volunteering and walking with God often take us out of our comfort zone but birth new skills.
Volunteering lends our life purpose, as does abandoning our perceived needs, and in turn giving ourselves over fully to God, living the life he planned for us.
God Confidence vs Self Confidence
When we feel complete in our faith and insecurities about ourselves are quieted, it strongly impacts our outward relationships. We stop the tendency to require more of ourselves and others than even our Father God does. Seeing righteousness as something granted based on belief, rather than something earned, makes everyone equal; an image bearer in need of grace.
“The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will.” Isaiah 50:4
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35
“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32
“One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:35-40
All tied up in a pretty little package, each post in this Benefits of Prayer series can be summarized as volunteering for:
More of him. Less of me. No matter what.
Prayer:
Father God, often in my rush to get to what’s next I’m tempted to rush you. I impatiently overlook your tender mercies and underestimate all that you’re doing in my life. Forgive me of this attitude. Help me to be present with you and as a result, be present with others.
I praise you and stand amazed that you ask me to come near to you. I ask you to sharpen my focus on you, keeping me from being unstable and double-minded in my impatience. Thank you for completing me in Christ Jesus and allowing me to soar with renewed energy.
Send your spirit to remind me, as often as necessary, to love you with all my heart, soul and mind and enable me to love my neighbor as myself. Thank you for not rushing to simply answer my requests, but instead lavishing your grace upon me so I more clearly reflect you.
Resources:
I love this “Be Still” Prayer Journal. Having a specific place for times I choose to write my prayers, or journal my thoughts on God and how he’s moving in my life, creates a personal treasure. Reading older entries helps me zero in on prayers I thought went unanswered, and lets me trace his hand in my life. This journal includes a different verse on every page, which I love. The spiral bound book means no wasted pages and there’s a hard surface included for writing anywhere, anytime!
Well done, I have really enjoyed this series. And I am printing out that prayer, it is just beautiful and full of His wisdom and truth.
Thank you for the encouragement! I feel the Holy Spirit has been with me through this series and has helped me understand so much more about prayer than I could on my own. That prayer is so powerful because I pulled all of it from verses within the article. His words are alive and speak so directly to our spirits. I just reread it and got teary eyed. It’s definitely of him and not me!❤️
I loved this prayer! I often pray to simply thank Him for not answering my previous prayers in the way I prayed for them. It is impossible to see what He has planned for us that will stem from a situation that we are currently trying to pray away!
So true! I’m trying to strike a balance between praying bold prayers and simply for his will. I suppose praying for his will, could however, be the boldest prayer of all!