3 THINGS WE OFTEN FORGET WHEN WE PRAY by Hywel R. Jones for Core Christianity
Prayer is a feature of all world religions and also those of a more homespun variety. This is because human beings are made in the image of God and have some awareness of being indebted and accountable to some higher being or power. Pagan petitions for aid and thanksgiving for help are recorded in the Old Testament; for example, the Philistines (Judg. 16:23-24), the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:25-26), and the sailors on Jonah’s ship (Jon. 1:5).
But this does not mean that our religiously pluralistic society is correct in regarding all prayer as being much the same. Christian prayer is unique, and Christians should make that clear by the manner in which they pray.
The Lord Jesus spoke about prayer in a discriminating and authoritative way. He discouraged followers from praying as the Jewish leaders and the Gentiles did (see Matt. 6:5-7) because God is neither deceived by masks nor pressured by mantras. Instead, he told them that prayer was “asking the Father in [his] name” and added that this was something they had not yet done (John 15:16; 16:23, 24).
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“Name” is equivalent to the Lord God being present and active to save. Jesus is the sent one of the Father, his Christ, because he came in his Father’s name and not his own (see John 5:43). So to pray to the Father in his name is to crown him as Prophet, Priest, and King, and to serve him by way of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.
Groaning in the Spirit
Christian prayer, then, is “draw[ing] from [Christ] an overflowing spring” and having our “spirit raised” by the Holy Spirit as we come to God as our heavenly Father. This is what marks out Christian prayer. It is the consequence of the distinct but complementary ministries of two advocates, one before the throne of God in heaven for the believer guaranteeing access to God as Father (see 1 John 2:1, 2), and the other in the believer assuring him that he is a child and heir of God (Rom. 8:15-28).
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