– Originally published in the ANiC December 2016 First Friday Call to Prayer.
One of the most predominant themes that emerged from our recent diocesan synod in Vancouver concerned the desperate need for us all to grow in our experience of prayer. Bishop Charlie Masters, in his annual Charge to Synod, exhorted us specifically to be “praying for an open door for the Gospel (Colossians 4:2-4)” so that the Good News can be preached with power in our parishes, hometowns, and across our continent. He also reaffirmed his deep desire for us to be praying that his five ministry priorities, shared two synods ago, would more and more be a “transformational reality” in each of our parishes.
Missing Out
As ANiC’s national prayer coordinator since its inception in 2008, I was both moved and convicted by the bishop’s exhortation. I was moved with gratitude that our diocesan leaders are so committed to making prayer a priority because they recognize that, without prayer, nothing of significant lasting value for the Gospel will be accomplished. I was convicted by the realization that, despite my efforts through the years, we as a people of God (myself included) are still much better at talking about prayer than actually praying. We believe in the power of prayer; we believe in the vital importance of prayer. The fact that you are reading this article would suggest that you consider intercessory prayer to be of strategic importance to the growth of the Church and the spreading of the Gospel.
we as a people of God (myself included) are still much better at talking about prayer than actually praying.
But, as I have had opportunity to speak with many of you at various diocesan gatherings, the stories I hear are remarkably similar. Prayer is typically left to a small band of older Christians (whom we call in our parish “the usual suspects”) because they’re the “prayer warriors”, the really spiritually mature ones (whom apparently God pays more attention to). Serious prayer, like praying for revival in our city or that the bishop’s 5 priorities would become part of our church’s DNA, is best left to the “experts”. From my perspective, this is such a shame because many committed Christians in our congregations are missing out on the tremendous privilege of participating through corporate prayer in God’s phenomenal plan of redemption for this planet!
Uncomfortable in the Presence
A number of years ago, I led a weekend seminar in a number of ANiC churches entitled “Pursuing Intimacy with God” in which we sought to deepen our relationship with our heavenly Father. God’s desire is for each of His children to have as close and intimate relationship with Him as possible, and yet many of His kids are quite uncomfortable in His presence. We discovered the perhaps obvious principle that you can’t be intimate with someone that you don’t trust, and that you won’t trust someone that you do not really know. And so, we spent time exploring what the Father is really like so that we might know Him better in order to increase our trust level.
the fundamental reason many of us don’t pray much is because we are basically still uncomfortable in the presence of God.
My observation over many years of prayer ministry is that the fundamental reason many of us don’t pray much is because we are basically still uncomfortable in the presence of God. It’s one thing to pray along with the Sunday morning liturgy or to recite the Lord’s Prayer, but to choose to enter the “throne room of God” essentially on our own, complete with our muddy boots and runny noses, that’s another matter entirely. All of our shame and guilt, that’s lurking just below the surface, comes flooding back, aided by “the accuser of the brethren”, and we feel dreadfully inadequate, unworthy and disqualified from asking anything of the Lord.
Gospel Amnesia
Friends, we suffer from what someone has called “Gospel amnesia” – we have forgotten all that God has accomplished for us through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of our Saviour, Jesus. We all need to be reminded, over and over, time and time again of what the Book of Common Prayer calls “the remission of sins and all other benefits of His passion”. All that is necessary for our complete and total redemption has been accomplished for us by Jesus! That is why he exclaimed while dying on the cross, “It is finished!”
John Stott, the English Anglican cleric who was noted as a leader in the worldwide Evangelical movement and author of many excellent books including Basic Christianity and Why I Am a Christian, wrote the following in his book, The Message of Romans:
“We should constantly be reminding ourselves who we are. We need to learn to talk to ourselves, and ask ourselves questions:
‘Don’t you know? Don’t you know the meaning of your conversion and baptism? Don’t you know that you have been united to Christ in his death and resurrection?…
Don’t you know these things? Don’t you know who you are?’We must go on pressing ourselves with such questions, until we reply to ourselves: ‘Yes, I do know who I am, a new person in Christ, and by the grace of God I shall live accordingly.’”
According to God’s Word, sin and the inevitable guilt and shame that accompany it no longer have dominion over us. Even the burden of trying to keep the Law has been removed from us!
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Rom. 6:14 ESVTherefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 ESVAnd so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10: 19-22 NLT
A Joy, A Delight, An Adventure
As we daily remind ourselves of the Gospel, not just to have a tidy theology, but to apply all the truth of the Gospel to our everyday situations, we will discover a deepening love for Jesus, a gratitude for all He has accomplished, a growing trust of the Father and an ever-increasing comfort in His presence.
Then, prayer is no longer a mere duty or obligation, a rule that good Christians should obey. No, it can be a joy, a delight, an adventure beyond our wildest imagination! And we can make a significant difference to the spiritual climate in our neighbourhood, nation, and the world. Please, don’t let Gospel amnesia rob you of this great delight that is our privilege as sons and daughters of the Father. Amen!
