Back to Home Page | Back to Index |

Principles of Prayer

【Prayer】For the Christian, praying should be like breathing. Just as breathing is the response of physical life to the presence of air, so prayer should be the response of spiritual life to the presence of God.

【Belief and Prayer】A tavern was being built in a town that until recently had been dry. A group of Christians in a certain church opposed this and began an all-night prayer meeting, asking God to intervene.

Lightening struck the tavern building, and it burned to the ground. The owner brought a lawsuit against the church, claiming they were responsible. The Christians hired a lawyer, claiming they were not responsible. The judge said, “No matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the Christians do not.”

【Belief and Prayer】The story is told of a time when a great Scotch preacher prayed in the morning service for rain. As he went to church in the afternoon his daughter, said, “Here is the umbrella, Papa.”

“What do we need it for?” he asked.

“You prayed for rain this morning. Don’t you expect God to send it?” his daughter replied.

They carried the umbrella, and while they came home they were glad to take shelter under it from the drenching storm. Such should be our faith when we pray, just like that little child’s—with no doubt, and expecting an answer.

【God’s Will and Prayer】When children first start to color, they have two problems. First, they might choose colors that are inappropriate. Secondly, once the colors are chosen, they have a difficult time keeping the colors within the boundary lines. As they mature and keep on coloring, they learn to keep within the guidelines and to choose the appropriate color, resulting in a satisfying picture.

As children of our Heavenly Father, our prayer life often resembles a child’s coloring. At first, we don’t know what to pray for nor do our prayers stay within the guidelines of His will. As we mature and continue praying, though, we pray for the right things and stay within His will, resulting in a satisfying prayer life.

【Prayer】The elders of a certain church once came to a young man to criticize some of the theology and vocabulary he used in the prayers he prayed publicly in the church service. After they had laid their load on him, he turned to them and said, “Are you gentlemen finished? I have just one thing to say: I wasn’t speaking to you.”

【Confident Access in Prayer】In Saudi Arabia, according to Arab custom, reinforced by a 1952 decree of King Abdul Aziz, every subject has the right of access to his ruler-whether the ruler is a tribal sheik, and governor, or the monarch himself-to present petitions of complaint or pleas for help. Even the poorest Saudi can approach his sovereign to plead a cause. Crown Prince Fahd, speaking about this custom said, “Anyone, anyone can come here. That gives them confidence in their government…They know they may look to us for help.”

Every Christian has the right to approach an even greater monarch, the King of kings.