- "Knowing how to pray to God directly can transform our prayer lives into one that delivers our needs and desires all the time..."
The longer I live, the more I realize there is a growing mountain of prayer needs that would benefit from God's intervention.
Like many of us, I want to learn more about how to pray to God.
In experiencing and studying the practice of prayer, however, I have realized there is a core prayer that absolutely must be routinely added to my quiet time with God. It all hinges on the fact that I am imperfect, sinful person who frankly, is easily blinded from a much bigger picture.
How Much We Know
If you asked me how "all-knowing" I believe myself to be on a scale of 1 to 10, I would humbly reply about a 2 or 3.
Intellectually, I realize there is only a fraction of a sliver of God's big picture to which I am witness and privileged to understand.
But do I pray this way?
Not really! Much of my prayer time is spent asking THIS to be a certain way or THAT to become THIS. The actual requests are immaterial to the core issue which is this - I often pray as if I know enough of the big picture to know what is best.
How Much We See
When I transition to ask myself how much I really see of God's plan, I again feel very humbled.
Lately, as I have delved deeper into the Word in pursuit of what God really wants of me during my time on earth, I have a growing fear.
As much as I see, I am increasingly worried about what I am completely missing!
My concern is both for what I am missing in my own life that I should be adamantly correcting, as well as for what I am missing in what I should be doing for others.
In which areas of my life am I completely missing the point? How deeply have the societal norms brainwashed me into believing I am living righteously?
Where has God placed others in the middle of my path, and I have chosen to walk right by? Where is He asking me to be His own hands and feet in service to others?
How significantly is my own schedule packed with selfishness to the detriment of building His kingdom each and every day?
How to Pray - Do This Often!
My lack of true knowledge, even if I were the wisest Christian on earth, paired with my lack of perfect insight into my own motivations and behaviors, has led me back to a core need during prayer time.
Specifically, I believe we need to pray that God will REVEAL His will to us. Just as all things are under control, so is His ability to bring us knowledge... to allow us to see!
I have written previously about the role of God in controlling man's ability to see clearly (e.g., hardening Pharoah's heart). Jesus also highlighted that God has a role in revealing Himself to us based on His will when he prays to His Father, "I have revealed You to those whom You gave me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to me and they have obeyed Your word (John 17:6).
Conclusion
Today, we have realized that no matter how much we know, we will still only grasp a sliver of God's huge and perfect plan. We have acknowledged that our ability to see all things is significantly limited.
As such, I encourage us all to routinely ask God directly to open our eyes to what we are missing... to open our eyes to what He wants from us... so that we can more perfectly live the righteous life He intends for us.
Please share your own experiences of how God answers this prayer in your life in the comments section below.
