PRAYER | Miranda Harry

I used to think that prayer had to be done in a certain way, to a God that only cared about me doing and saying the right thing. I believed that what I did for God defined who I was. I had it all backwards. Luke 10 ends with the story of Mary and Martha, a popular story which I’d encourage you to read and think about. This story demonstrates the true heart of God; a loving Friend who wants to be with you more than He wants you to be busy doing things for Him. Prayer is an invitation, not an obligation. It is an invitation to ask for impossible things, and to spend time with Him.

The story jumps straight from Mary and Martha into Jesus’ teaching on prayer. We can’t help but acknowledge the connection between the two passages. We sometimes read the Bible chapter by chapter but if we take the time to read Luke as one whole book, we see this principle of relational prayer rather than ‘religious’ or ‘have to’ prayer.

From the first two words of the prayer in Luke 11, ‘Our Father’, our identity is clarified. 

We are children of God (John 1:12)  and this identity gives us an understanding of how to pray. Imagine you were a child asking your dad for lunch because you were hungry. How would you imagine your dad to respond? Maybe he would prepare the meal, maybe he might tell you to wait a little longer because it wasn’t time to eat yet, or maybe he would invite you to help him make the lunch. A kind, attentive father would give the child what they needed. God is a kind Father (Luke 15). The outcome of our prayer may not be what we expect, but the point is to ask and to trust in His nature. Luke 11 is all about asking, God wants us to ask for things. He delights in giving good gifts to us. Knowing who you are and what you have access to as a child of God causes you to see prayer differently. There are people and breakthroughs on the other side of asking.

Prayer looks different every time we pray. Sometimes I believe for something specific and I feel the need to fight in prayer (Ephesians 6), sometimes I just sit in silence. I have learnt to be ok with just being with Him, even if neither of us have anything to say. Our hearts’ posture should be, ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.’ Be quick to forgive and quick to repent (ask for forgiveness from sin). God just wants your honest self.