Many years ago, one of my teachers presented a word study from which he concluded that “prayer is asking.” Certainly asking is an important part of prayer. Jesus taught, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Mt 7:7), and Paul exhorted, “let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6).

 

But at a deeper level, way beyond asking, prayer is a means of communing with God. In an astounding act of grace, God has created a need for our fellowship, and prayer is one of the ways we nurture intimacy with him. Jesus gives it away when he says, “Your Heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask him”—but ask him anyhow! (Mt 6:8-13). That is why theologian Helmut Thielicke said, “The one who would pray, really pray, must reach for the hand of God, not just the pennies in his hand.” 

 

And so the heart and soul of prayer is simply coming into the presence of God. Edward Schillebeeckx says it this way: “In a revealed religion, silence with God has value in itself and for its own sake, just because God is God. Failure to recognize the value of mere being with God, as the beloved, without doing anything, is to gouge the heart out of Christianity.” (Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning, page 57).

 

One of the vital spiritual disciplines that sustains the ministry of CAM International is the act of entering the presence of God on behalf of our missionaries and their families, staff and national church leaders. As we pray, we ‘hold the ropes’ for those who labor on the front lines where the spiritual bullets fly. Our need is expressed by the Apostle Paul: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” (Eph 6:18-20)

 

© 2009 Jonathan Edwards