Thinking about prayer – Part 1

Don’t we all long to have a friend, or cherish that we do, who will sit with us, listen and help even when we are struggling to believe and our heart is unsteady?  One who says, I hear you my good friend, and I also know you well enough to know that you are struggling and what you are really want and need is _____? That is what I learn here in Gen 17 about our relationship and daily communication with our Papa and God.

Genesis 17:15-20
God said to Abraham, “As for [Sarah] your wife … I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her … and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael [Abraham’s first born] might live before You!” But God said, “No … [but] as for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.”

When he was quite old, God told Abraham he would have a son who would be great.  Abraham thought it was impossible at his and Sarah’s age. Besides, he already had a son, so he thought a compromise might work and offered a suggestion to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!”

God heard and answered Abraham’s request. “No, just as I told you before (and you are having trouble believing) Sarah will indeed have a son in your old age.  However, I have heard your request and I know your heart.  Not only are you having trouble believing Sarah is able to conceive at her age, but you also want good things for your first-born son, Ishmael.  So because I love you and Sarah, I will do both for you, my friend.”

I think I see here that God not only heard and cared about his friend Abraham’s words but also his heart (see Rom 8:26-27).  Don’t we love that and long to have a friend like that, or cherish that we do? When I am hurting and struggling and perhaps murmuring unwise words to myself and to God, it is SO comforting to know that He not only hears my words but more importantly, feels the longings of my heart as well.

Our God answers prayer. Our words and our hearts. And now that I think about it, I wonder if my overarching and deepest prayer and desire is not the words I mutter when asking Him for something in particular, but more so that He – the Creator of the universe – would hear my heart and hold me in his love and peace.

Some would say that we’re just a little bit crazy to we believe that, don’t you think?

The Outrageous Life! What if that is real, my friend?

(This is Part 1 of a short series on prayer. Go here, The Heavenly Father is Always Our Heavenly Father for Part 2.)