Why do we Pray?

Why do we pray?

This week Father has been quietly leading me to reflect on something I don’t think many of us ever think about. From the pulpit we learn the familiar rhyme “read your Bible and pray every day and you will grow, grow, grow.” While prayer is a way to grow, Father wants me to share the following with you and while sharing it with you, I have had to think about it too.

The question is why do you pray? Think about it. Perhaps you pray because you were taught that if you don’t pray before you go out in the morning you will have a bad day. Maybe you pray because you don’t want to stop growing and you know prayer is like a watering can. Or maybe you are thinking well I am a believer in Messiah, that’s why I pray. 

But have you got lost in the words? Have you got lost in the amount of words you pray? Do you feel uncomfortable when the Holy Spirit ushers you in to silence? Do you feel guilty when you aren’t taking up your prayer time with words? Do you feel frustrated when there are no words falling from your mouth, or when Father seems to be silent in your prayer times? I am not talking about the silence we sometimes experience when God chooses to be silent; I am talking about silence in prayer. Don’t you ever sometimes sense the Holy Spirit leading you to a place of silence in your quiet times? So now I am asking you again why do you pray?

This evening I was wrestling this out with Father and I want to share with you what He told me to share with you. 

Song of Songs 2: 3 – 6

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
    is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
    and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
 Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
    and let his banner over me be love. Strengthen me with raisins,
    refresh me with apples,
    for I am faint with love. His left arm is under my head,
    and his right arm embraces me.

Song of Songs 5:1

I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
    I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
    I have drunk my wine and my milk.

Do we realise that Yeshua our King is also our Passionate Beloved who wants us to enjoy and delight Him. He wants to lead us in to an intimate embrace and sometimes He just wants us to be. Sometimes while our prayers are unselfish, our motive for praying may still be selfish. We may be running after the feelings we get in prayer, or we may be pushing aside the guilt feeling by praying because we feel guilty when we don’t pray. But just like a Lover or a Husband, Yeshua wants us to seek Him in prayer because we love Him.

He wants us to be as excited as the Shulamite woman was for her beloved. She just desired to be in His presence so much so that she could dote on Him and enjoy the presence of His being. Prayer is like a conversation or a romantic date with the King, and we need to learn to tell Him how much we enjoy Him and how much we truly delight in Him. Not insincerely but rather from a heart rocked by Love. Fathers heart yearns so much for His Bride to have an undivided heart of Love for Him, He is saddened when we use prayer like a genie in the bottle, rubbing it to get our way, not just in what we ask for but in how we feel too. While those sermons and rhymes about praying and growing may have expressed a valid point, prayer is passionate pursuit of the Prince of Peace. Prayer is the love dance that should be experienced in the arms of the King. Prayer is the place of intimacy, the place where your heart should be changed. It is the place where heaven touches earth and your little piece of earth becomes heavenly because of Love. It is not a place of selfish gain, rather we are inviting the King of Glory in! How much should we revere this place of communication and connection! Much indeed! I really need to express to you that this is not just some random post I sat around trying to conjure up rather tonight it is a message for you, and a message for me. We all need to be reminded to check the status and positions of our hearts. Our King is the Bridegroom searching for a willing bride who will forsake the pleasurable things of this world and of her flesh, for the slightest touch from His Hand. May we truly check our hearts and re-evaluate our intimate prayer times. There is a time for everything in life, a time for deep intercessory prayer and a time to delight in our Fathers embrace, let’s go to Him eager for both!
Father, we pray today that You will truly help us with our prayer times Father, please forgive us where we have prayed for selfish gain or with selfish motives. Please lead us to a higher place of intimate love for you and help us grow comfortable with the silences. May silent times in prayer become places of love and comfort and may we seek to worship You wholeheartedly especially in our sacred prayer times!

Jeremiah 2:2

This is what the Lord says
“‘I remember the devotion of your youth,
    how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the wilderness,
    through a land not sown.