Pastor Nima Duncan
Yet they say to God, “Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know your ways.
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?”
Job 21:14-16 (NIV)
Job’s mockers unwittingly bring up an excellent point! Does prayer benefit us? Or, more poignantly, does prayer get us what we ask for? The answer to both of these questions is yes. Yet our problem, like Job’s peers, is that such questions miss the point of genuine prayer entirely. You see, both questions are posed as if we are the primary initiators in the event of prayer. How can prayer accomplish much of anything if our hopes are merely placed in exerting our inward energy to “reach” or “move” God Almighty?
Of course, the answer is that we have it backwards. We should not approach the throne of God as if we “ask, ask, ask” our way to blessing. Rather, prayer ought to fashion within us a spirit of receptivity, a heart eager to hear and receive. Our God knows our hearts already. But are we ready to listen to His?
{Abba Father, I ask to be reminded of your ancient wisdom. I open my ears to listen and shut my mouth that you might speak. I surrender my gift of speech that I might not faithlessly toil in repetition (Matthew 6:7-8). For such things only distract me from you. Lord, you know me inside and out! How can I presume to even know enough to ask for the right things? Therefore I lean on your wisdom and wait for your words.}
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