Unleashed: As You Go – Pray

“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.” Psalm 108:5

Driving in Senoia the other day I noticed a local church signboard with the words “Prayer Moves God.” I am certain the person putting up the sign simply wanted passersby to know the power of prayer which I agree with wholeheartedly. It is a nice little pithy saying, but it started me thinking. Does God only move when we pray? This simple sentence makes prayer the subject and God the object. It makes God the inanimate object to be controlled by the pray-er.

If not careful, you can make “Prayer Moves God” seem almost as if we see God as the friendly mall Santa Claus at Christmas just waiting to hear the little girl’s request for a bike or the little boy asking for a new Lego set.  “We shall not rise in our practice of prayer above our perspective of prayer.”—Jack Taylor

You can make “Prayer Moves God” be more like parents of teenagers trying to wake them up, it takes repeated shouting to get them out of bed. However, you don’t have to wake God to get Him moving because He didn’t go to sleep on you. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 121, “I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.” God is moving even before we know we need to pray; morning, noon or night. Mary Crowley wrote, “Every evening I turn my worries over to God. He’s going to be up all night anyway.”

“Prayer Moves God” because God is intently listening to us. Parents of young children know the minute their child hits the floor the “Why?” questions begin. According to child psychologist Paul Harris, a child asks around 40.000 questions between the ages of two and five. If parents listen to their children’s “why” questions, you know God is so ready for our prayers.  “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24)

“Prayer Moves God” because He loves us completely. “See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children….” (I John 3:1) “But God proves his love for us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“Prayer Moves God” because God was already moving. “Remember the things I have done in the past…. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens.” (Isaiah 46:9-10) “Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely.” (Psalm 139:4) “True prayer moves in a circle. It begins in the heart of God, sweeps down into the human heart upon the earth, so intersecting the circle of the earth, which is the battlefield of prayer, and then it goes back again to its starting point, having accomplished its purpose on the downward swing.”—S. D. Gordon

“Prayer Moves God” because prayer moves us. The life of prayer is a critical part of our soul journey. Our prayers of intercession allow us to be in partnership with God in healing the world. Our prayers of intercession for Haiti, Afghanistan, and Louisiana have an impact because prayer moves us. Jack Taylor sums up well the lack of a life of prayer in our lives.  “We are in desperate need of a return to personal and prevailing prayer. We shall not be saved from our spiritual doldrums by more programs and better strategy. God’s chief method has always been people and prayer!”

During the time that Connie and I lived in Bophuthatswana we served in a small Batswana church that often prepared for a time of prayer by singing the words, “Be still and know that I am God; I am the Lord who saves and heals; In you, O Lord, I put my trust.” These simple lyrics became a calling for us to be still and know God:  a time of worship and prayer, a time to focus on God moving prayers. The voices singing together with one heart in this small African church with no electricity, no ceiling, dirt floors and brick walls knew the One who could truly make a difference.

Though the link to the song, “Be Still and Know” is not quite the same as how our church in Bophuthatswana sang, I invite you to take a couple of minutes to worship in prayer. (click here to listen)

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

“Prayer Moves” because our

God is great!

Pastor Lynn