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Release the power of God in prayer
People have many thoughts about God and many are not necessarily true. If Tozer's statement is correct and our thinking about God is wrong, then the most important thing about us is just as wrong. Basic reasoning about God can lead us to live in fear and guilt, tempting others to think about God in the same way.
What we think about prayer says a lot about what we think about God. When we think that the prayer egg is the tool to get something from God, our view of God is reduced to a heavenly wish-box. When we try to do business with God, God becomes our profiteer who is open to negotiation and who does not keep agreements and promises. If we look to prayer for some kind of appeasement and reconciliation, then God is petty and arbitrary and must be satisfied with our offer before He does anything for us. All of these views bring God down to our level and reduce him to someone who has to think and act as we do - a God made in our likeness. Another belief about prayer is when we (correctly) praying we would unleash God's power in our lives and in the world. Apparently, when we do not pray properly or when sin stands in our way, we are holding back God and even blocking him from acting. This thought not only paints a strange picture of a god in fetters who is held in check by more powerful forces, but it is also a great burden on our shoulders. We are responsible if the person we prayed for is not healed and it is our fault if someone has a car accident. We feel responsible when the things we want and long for do not occur. The focus is no longer on God, but on the person praying, and turns prayer into a selfish endeavor.
The Bible speaks of disabled prayer in the context of marriage (1. Petrus 3,7), but not to God, but to us, because we often find it difficult to pray because of our feelings. God does not wait for us to say the right prayers so that he can act. He is not the kind of father who withholds good things from his children until they say the "magic word," like a father waiting for his child to say "please" and "thank you." God loves to hear our prayers. He hears and acts with each one of us, whether or not we get the response we want.
As we grow in our knowledge of God's grace, so does our view of Him. As we learn more about him, we need to be careful not to interpret everything we hear about him as the ultimate truth, but to test statements about God, the truth of the Bible. It is important to be aware that false assumptions about God predominate in popular and Christian culture and disguise themselves as alleged truths.
In summary:
God loves to hear our prayers. He does not care if we use the right words. He gave us the gift of prayer so that we could come into contact with him, through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit.
by Tammy Tkach
