It is not a secret that a consistent prayer life is hard. If you feel like you are the only one who struggles with prayer please be comforted to know that you are not. We all wrestle. Allow me to be open about my prayer life and maybe you’ll be able to relate. It’s hard for me to stay focused in prayer, it’s hard for me to stay awake sometimes, it’s hard for me to make time. Sometimes my prayer feels like I’m talking to a brick wall. Sometimes I don’t fully believe what I am praying for will be answered by God. Sometimes I feel God nudging my heart to speak up and pray for someone but I don’t because I’m socially uncomfortable. Many times I have said “I’ll pray for you” knowing full well that I wouldn’t.
But let us be uplifted, we, the weary pilgrims of prayer, by our incomparably generous savior! Jesus, the Savior of our souls, asks us to pray in his name. In the NAME of Jesus we should pray. Indeed, we often hastily conclude our prayers with the phrase “...in the name of Jesus, amen.” But what does that mean, what does that do? Is it prayer slang? Is it the key phrase to appear spiritual? No. It is the transformation of our prayers by faith into HIS prayers. JESUS IS ALSO THE SAVIOR OF OUR PRAYERS.
When we pray in His name, our prayer is marked with the Royal Seal of Jesus the King. They are repackaged to be sent directly from Him to God the Father. It is as if Jesus himself was praying. Our prayers never get lost, never go unheard, nor unanswered. Your prayer holds the same significance with the Father as one of Jesus’ own. We often believe that perhaps God is tired of our repetitive prayers, or too busy to deal with us. We can project our insecurities onto God assuming we hold less value to Him and subsequently our prayers matter little. This is, of course, incorrect. However, we never think that way of Jesus’ relationship with the Father. We know that the Father always listens with great interest and answers with great faithfulness the prayers of the Son. We, then, can be assured that when our prayer is declared with the royal word of The Risen King that they too will be received by God with the same interest and faithfulness. That is how Jesus saves our prayers.
So, yes, we still wrestle daily with prayer. Prone to wander, Lord, we all feel it. But let us truly pray in Jesus’ name, let him take that which is weak and wandering, give it priority and significance, let him save our prayers as well. That is my prayer for us all.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Derek North
Worship Pastor