“If you ask and receive not, it must be because there is something wanting in the prayer. Hold on; let the Word and the Spirit teach you to pray aright.” ~Andrew Murray
“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Matthew 21:22
This verse in Matthew, as well as the quote by Andrew Murray from his classic book, With Christ in the School of Prayer, present quite a challenge to me. Whatever I ask in prayer, I will receive? If I just “have faith”? I have seen many, many answers to prayer in my life, yet at the same time I have lifted up countless prayers to heaven that never seem to be answered. How can this verse be true, when there is so much evidence in my life that it is not?
A few weeks ago I finished With Christ in the School of Prayer and since then have been on a journey to discover what prayer really is, and how to do it well. I realized that my prayers have been lacking in faith, because I doubt that what I am pleading is God’s will. Not knowing if what I pray aligns with what God will do, I lift up half-hearted prayers that fall far short of shaking the heavens.
This month my teammates and I have been practicing Listening Prayer. Instead of coming to God with our laundry list of needs, we sit together in silence and wait for Him to speak. Like Andrew Murray says, we ask God to “teach us to pray aright.” Then, as He speaks to us, we are able to plead His will with Him instead of just to Him.
Shortly after beginning this journey of practicing listening prayer, I woke up one morning and began praying for my husband, that he would continue to develop relationships here. I pleaded hard before the throne--asking for men to be brought into his life today. What could be wrong with that prayer? God wants us to pray big, specific requests so that we know when He answers, right? This is true, but I had forgotten something.
First, listen.
I stopped pleading my request, and instead asked God to lead my prayers. He nudged my heart and told me to open my eyes:
Look at the work I am doing in him!
Jesus has been doing a new, amazing work in my husband’s life the last couple months. He has been diving into the Word more and more, growing in his understanding of the culture and language, and growing exponentially in his walk with God. It has been such a joy to see. As I reflected on this, I heard a soft whisper in my heart:
I am raising him up for big things, for My Glory. Plead this work--the work in his heart. I will bring the right people into his life, in the right time.
I was stunned. God had seen my desire to pray aright, and He taught me how.
My prayer life is being transformed. I now know how to pray in a way that shakes heaven, because I am praying in unity, in sympathy with Christ. When I don’t know how to pray right away and don’t hear God’s clear voice, I still lift up requests to God, trusting Him that if there is no answer, I simply need to shift my prayers. And He will show me how.