Over the years I have written several articles on prayer. And recently a person very close to my heart sent me a Facebook Message asking,"How about sending me a good prayer I can think about." I wasn't sure exactly what she was asking, so I briefly put my thoughts together on prayer and sent that to her via Message.
That short dialogue started me to thinking about prayer and led me to examine some of my previous blogs on prayer that I have written in the last few years. This blog is sort of a compilation of the best of the others as I attempt to offer an overview of what I believe is an effective prayer life.
When I became a Christian believer in 1987, I was afraid to pray aloud in church, Sunday School, Bible study, etc. It seemed that everyone else was so good at praying and could pray such eloquent prayers - that my simple whispers were better done silently. For that reason, it took me seven years before I would pray in a group.
In our Sunday School Class in the late 1980s, when Pastor Sam Lacanienta would sometimes ask me to close in prayer, at first I would wince and wiggle to get out of it. After a while I was running out of excuses. Then Dory and I devised a scheme to save me. When Pastor Sam would ask me to close in prayer, we would all bow our heads - and Dory would say the prayer. I have long joked that for seven years folks thought this old Southern boy prayed with a Filipina accent.
I suppose several things contributed to solving my problem. First, I began to mature and grow in my knowledge of God's Word and in my confidence to share my faith. And, almost as important in my transformation was what Pastor Sam taught us about prayer. He taught that prayer should not be a sermon, but should be specific, avoiding broad generalizations. He also taught that prayer is a personal conversation between the believer and God - and should not sound like we are preaching a long drawn out sermon to God.
A few years ago, a Religion Forum Friend asked me, "How often do you pray, Bill? When you pray, do you ask forgiveness for your sins?"
That is really two great questions: (1) "How often should we pray?" And (2), "Should we pray and ask forgiveness for our sins?"
Looking at the first question: (1) "How often should we pray" And, I will add: "When?"
While I do pray at specific times - always before a meal, always when going to bed at night, when I feel that I have offended God, when I see someone in need of prayer, etc.- in actual practice my prayers happen all day long.
Frequently during my day, I will pause and ask God to protect, watch over, guide, and bless some particular loved one or friend. When my wife, daughter, friend, or other loved ones leave in a car - I always pray for them as they drive away; that our Lord will have His angels around them - protecting them from any accidents, problems, harm, or danger.
A funny incident happened when I was doing this about a year ago. Dory was driving out of our apartment complex gate and because of the slight curve in our driveway, to watch as she drove out, I had to stand between two cars. The owner of one car noticed me standing by his car and asked what I was doing. I explained that I always pray for my wife as she leaves in the car and he understood. A witnessing moment? Who knows? Maybe he went into his home and prayed for his wife.
So, I suppose you might say my praying is more like an ongoing conversation with my very best Friend, God. It is an ongoing process throughout the day. I relate this kind of prayer to what Pastor Sam taught us back in the late 1980s, Popcorn Prayer. What is Popcorn Prayer? It is short, specific prayers seeking God's intervention for a specific need - and it can be done at any time. When Dory (or another friend or loved one) drives away in a car - I ask God to protect her. Short and to the point. I must offer such prayers a hundred times a day, for that is my ongoing conversation with God.
Keep in mind that a prayer does not have to be long, drawn out pastoral declaration, spoken in a deep, reverent voice. Prayer is really just you speaking with your best Friend, God. That prayer might be, "Lord, please give her safe travel. Protect her from an accidents or harm."
It might be, "Lord, please heal my friend as she goes to see her doctor today. Guide her doctors and give them the wisdom and knowledge to heal her."
Or, it might be something like, "Lord, please bless my Friend today as he goes for his job interview. Give him the right words and answers in his interview."
There is a big difference between a short, sincere, specific prayer - and a longeloquent sermon prayer designed to get God's attention. I have heard it suggested that we too often view God as a Spiritual ATM. Yet, while I am not suggesting we should view God as a "Needs ATM" - He does tell us to bring all our needs and cares to Him:
So far I have been speaking of conversational prayers with God, which can and should happen throughout our day. Then there are our prayer times, the times when we set all things aside and spend time in His presence. But, here again, I do not believe God is looking for us to offer a sermon length prayer.
In the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 7-9, Jesus teaches us how to pray. In Matthew 6:5-8 Jesus warns His disciples about the self-righteous and hypocritical Pharisees who stand in public and make their prayers into a grand performance to show their piousness. In Matthew 6:6, He tells us to go into our own inner room, our place of serenity and peace, and there offer your prayers to Him.
He is not suggesting that we should hide in a closet to pray - as many who are opposed to public prayer will suggest . I believe He is referring to our "inner spiritual place" - I believe He is telling us to stop all distracting activities, close out the noise of our day - and find a time of inner peace, quiet, and solitude in communion with Him.
Was Jesus saying that we should not pray in public? No, absolutely not. Prayer is a major part of our worship services, Bible studies, Sunday School classes, Christian fellowship, and daily Christian life. He was telling us that, even in public, our prayers should be our way of communing with Him - and not a performance to impress men. And, to illustrate, He gave His disciples, and us, a simple prayer guideline - the Lord's Prayer:
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus tells us to, "Pray, then, in this way:"
That short dialogue started me to thinking about prayer and led me to examine some of my previous blogs on prayer that I have written in the last few years. This blog is sort of a compilation of the best of the others as I attempt to offer an overview of what I believe is an effective prayer life.
When I became a Christian believer in 1987, I was afraid to pray aloud in church, Sunday School, Bible study, etc. It seemed that everyone else was so good at praying and could pray such eloquent prayers - that my simple whispers were better done silently. For that reason, it took me seven years before I would pray in a group.
In our Sunday School Class in the late 1980s, when Pastor Sam Lacanienta would sometimes ask me to close in prayer, at first I would wince and wiggle to get out of it. After a while I was running out of excuses. Then Dory and I devised a scheme to save me. When Pastor Sam would ask me to close in prayer, we would all bow our heads - and Dory would say the prayer. I have long joked that for seven years folks thought this old Southern boy prayed with a Filipina accent.
I suppose several things contributed to solving my problem. First, I began to mature and grow in my knowledge of God's Word and in my confidence to share my faith. And, almost as important in my transformation was what Pastor Sam taught us about prayer. He taught that prayer should not be a sermon, but should be specific, avoiding broad generalizations. He also taught that prayer is a personal conversation between the believer and God - and should not sound like we are preaching a long drawn out sermon to God.
A few years ago, a Religion Forum Friend asked me, "How often do you pray, Bill? When you pray, do you ask forgiveness for your sins?"
That is really two great questions: (1) "How often should we pray?" And (2), "Should we pray and ask forgiveness for our sins?"
Looking at the first question: (1) "How often should we pray" And, I will add: "When?"
While I do pray at specific times - always before a meal, always when going to bed at night, when I feel that I have offended God, when I see someone in need of prayer, etc.- in actual practice my prayers happen all day long.
Frequently during my day, I will pause and ask God to protect, watch over, guide, and bless some particular loved one or friend. When my wife, daughter, friend, or other loved ones leave in a car - I always pray for them as they drive away; that our Lord will have His angels around them - protecting them from any accidents, problems, harm, or danger.
A funny incident happened when I was doing this about a year ago. Dory was driving out of our apartment complex gate and because of the slight curve in our driveway, to watch as she drove out, I had to stand between two cars. The owner of one car noticed me standing by his car and asked what I was doing. I explained that I always pray for my wife as she leaves in the car and he understood. A witnessing moment? Who knows? Maybe he went into his home and prayed for his wife.
So, I suppose you might say my praying is more like an ongoing conversation with my very best Friend, God. It is an ongoing process throughout the day. I relate this kind of prayer to what Pastor Sam taught us back in the late 1980s, Popcorn Prayer. What is Popcorn Prayer? It is short, specific prayers seeking God's intervention for a specific need - and it can be done at any time. When Dory (or another friend or loved one) drives away in a car - I ask God to protect her. Short and to the point. I must offer such prayers a hundred times a day, for that is my ongoing conversation with God.
Keep in mind that a prayer does not have to be long, drawn out pastoral declaration, spoken in a deep, reverent voice. Prayer is really just you speaking with your best Friend, God. That prayer might be, "Lord, please give her safe travel. Protect her from an accidents or harm."
It might be, "Lord, please heal my friend as she goes to see her doctor today. Guide her doctors and give them the wisdom and knowledge to heal her."
Or, it might be something like, "Lord, please bless my Friend today as he goes for his job interview. Give him the right words and answers in his interview."
There is a big difference between a short, sincere, specific prayer - and a longeloquent sermon prayer designed to get God's attention. I have heard it suggested that we too often view God as a Spiritual ATM. Yet, while I am not suggesting we should view God as a "Needs ATM" - He does tell us to bring all our needs and cares to Him:
Philippians 4:6-7, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:19, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
1 Peter 5:6-7, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."
So far I have been speaking of conversational prayers with God, which can and should happen throughout our day. Then there are our prayer times, the times when we set all things aside and spend time in His presence. But, here again, I do not believe God is looking for us to offer a sermon length prayer.
In the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 7-9, Jesus teaches us how to pray. In Matthew 6:5-8 Jesus warns His disciples about the self-righteous and hypocritical Pharisees who stand in public and make their prayers into a grand performance to show their piousness. In Matthew 6:6, He tells us to go into our own inner room, our place of serenity and peace, and there offer your prayers to Him.
He is not suggesting that we should hide in a closet to pray - as many who are opposed to public prayer will suggest . I believe He is referring to our "inner spiritual place" - I believe He is telling us to stop all distracting activities, close out the noise of our day - and find a time of inner peace, quiet, and solitude in communion with Him.
Was Jesus saying that we should not pray in public? No, absolutely not. Prayer is a major part of our worship services, Bible studies, Sunday School classes, Christian fellowship, and daily Christian life. He was telling us that, even in public, our prayers should be our way of communing with Him - and not a performance to impress men. And, to illustrate, He gave His disciples, and us, a simple prayer guideline - the Lord's Prayer:
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus tells us to, "Pray, then, in this way:"
Matthew 6:9, "Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name" ~ We are glorifying and honoring God.
Matthew 6:10, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven" ~ We are looking forward to His coming again to restore His kingdom on earth.
Matthew 6:11, "Give us this day our daily bread" ~ We go to Him for all our daily needs. Not necessarily all our wants, but most certainly all our daily needs.
Matthew 6:12, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" ~ Forgive us our sins of disobedience against You, Lord - as we are to forgive those who have wronged us.
Matthew 6:13, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil" ~ Or, as many read this, deliver us from the wiles of the evil one, Satan, and his continuous temptations.
Can there be a more eloquent prayer than this one given to us by Jesus Christ Himself?
Let me give you an example of what I believe to be the wrong way to go to God in prayer. For a while in the 1990s, we had a Caucasian man who pastored one of our Fil-Am churches. And, in my brief exposure to him, I had begun to believe his longest sermons were his prayers. He would start by telling God what He had written, i.e., "Lord, in Isaiah You tell us . . . and in Ezekiel You admonish us to. . . Lord, in Matthew You guide us to. . ." - and on, and on, and on.
I always had the unfulfilled urge to ask him, "Do you think God doesn't know that He has written in His Bible, so you have to remind him?"
One evening I witnessed this man reaching the pinnacle of his sermon praying. I stopped by a sister church which allowed me to use their copier to make copies of our Sunday bulletin. But this one evening when I got to the church, a group was having a meeting in the room where the copier was located. So, since there was a prayer meeting going on in the sanctuary, I decided to join them while waiting for the copier room to be available. In the sanctuary there was a group of about ten men, including our son, Duane, and Pastor Vince Arnaldo. I slipped in and sat in the back just as they were beginning.
As it turned out, my Sermon Praying friend was also there and had brought a friend with him. So, to get the prayers started, Mr. Sermon Prayer began and went on and on for a while. Then, as soon as he paused to catch his breath, his visitor friend began to pray - and he obviously was a prayer protégé of Mr. Sermon Prayer. He went on and on and on - and then paused. At his pause Mr. Sermon Prayer jumped in again.
It seemed that we had a "Dueling Prayer Competition" going on between the two of them. This went on for about 45 minutes, with Pastor Vince getting in a short prayer only once, when both of them stopped to breath at the same time. But, except for that quickie prayer from Pastor Vince - no one else in that group of men was quick enough to get in and pray between the Dueling Prayers. After 45 minutes, I could take no more and left.
I credit Pastor Sam Lacanienta,founding pastor of the Fil-Am Church of Irvine (CA), with teaching us the art of Popcorn Prayer, i.e., praying specifically. Let me explain what he meant by praying specifically. When we have a prayer need, or a friend has a prayer need - pray specifically for that need. Do not start praying in broad generalities just to fill the air with sound, "Oh, Lord, I pray for all my friends, and all their friends, that you will bless and protect them, heal all their illnesses, provide for all their needs, etc!" If you pray like that, how will you ever know when He has answered your prayer?
However, if you pray for a specific need - when He answers that prayer you will know it. And most importantly, you will be able to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for that answered prayer.
"Back up, Bill. What is Popcorn Prayer?" Glad you asked. Let me give you an example. In the early 1990s, before we began our worship service at our San Clemente church, a group of us would gather in a circle to pray for the upcoming service and other Spirit led needs. So that everyone would be allowed an opportunity to join in and pray - we would each keep our prayer short and specific. I might pray the God will empower and bless our pastor's message for that day. Another might pray for safe travel for all who were still on their way. Someone else might have a specific prayer need to be addressed, or know another who has a prayer need - and he/she would pray for that need.
Like popcorn pops up - we each would offer our short specific prayers as the Holy Spirit moved us, in no particular order. In other words, prayers would "pop up" around the circle as one of us was moved to pray. After praying once, if the Spirit moved one of us to add an additional prayer - that was fine. We would keep the short prayers going for 5, 10, 15 minutes, then one of us would offer a closing prayer. Popcorn Prayer allowed each of us to join in and participate in the prayers.
Back to specific prayers, let me give you real life examples of specific prayers answered and thanksgiving offered. In the mid-1980s, the company I had worked for filed for bankruptcy and I was unemployed for a long time. It was the last day of the month, rent was due the next day - and we had only $5. What could I do? I went into the bedroom at 3:00 PM, sat on the bed, and prayed, "Lord, please give us a way to pay our rent tomorrow." That was it! That was my complete prayer.
The next morning my mom called from Alabama. Let me preface this by adding that my mom did not know I was not working. Because of her health problems I did not want to worry her, so I never told her I had lost my job. She called me that morning and told me, "Yesterday I was taking a bath - and I just felt like I wanted to send you some money. I had your brother wire you $1000 today."
I asked, "Mom, what time were you taking a bath?" Her answer: 5:00 PM - which was 3:00 PM California time - the exact time I was in the bedroom praying.
Coincidence? Maybe ESP, as some of my secular and New Age Friends suggested? NO! There could only one answer. The Holy Spirit put on her heart to send me that badly needed money. And since my rent was $750 - by making it $1000, He also made provisions for food, utilities, etc., that were also needs. My Friends, you can be sure that Dory and I both gave great thanks to God for that answered prayer and blessing.
Another time during that period of extended unemployment I found myself in a situation where my electric bill of $96 was due, a notice said pay by Thursday or your service will be discontinued. What to do? I prayed about it, then went to the electric company Thursday afternoon and wrote a check to pay my bill. Then I came home and prayed again for God to provide a way for me to cover that check. A gamble? Yes, and no. I trusted God to provide a way. And, He did.
The next evening, a Friday just before Christmas, a Christian Friend, Rose Osman, rang our doorbell. When I opened the door, she gave me an envelope and told me, "God put on my heart to bring this to you." I asked her to come in but she said she was late meeting another friend and had to leave. After she left, I opened the envelope and inside was $100 - exactly enough to cover that $96 check. Thank you, Lord. Rose did not have a lot of extra money to give away - but she was faithful when God put this need on her heart.
In the year 2000, Dory and I were helping our pastor, Ed Dacio, lead a Wednesday morning Bible study at the Vintage Terrace seniors' apartment complex in Corona, California. Dory would take her keyboard and lead us in singing. And Pastor Ed and I would take turns leading the Bible study. One week we prayed for Frank, one of the senior men living at the Vintage Terrace. Frank had several large, black wart looking growths on his face and it had been diagnosed as cancer.
A few days later, I started noticing a black growth similar to Frank's in the sideburn area of my right temple. And, it was rather large, causing my comb to snag. Because of Frank's situation, Dory and I were concerned and agreed that I should see a doctor right away.
That evening, as I lay in bed, I held my finger on the growth and asked God to please remove it. Folks who believe in prayer will understand this, while others may just smile - but, after I prayed I felt a very comforting warmth come over me and I felt a peace within, giving me confidence that God had said, "Yes." I rolled over and slept a sleep of peace - knowing that God was doing a work in me.
The next day, the growth was a little smaller, the following day it was noticeably smaller - and by the forth day it was totally gone. Nothing was left but a small scar. When I wrote about this on the Religion Forum, atheists and other non-believers were scoffing. And, even some who claimed they were believers chose to shrug it off as my imagination working overtime. One fellow laughed that, "Bill has a magic finger! He just touched his growth, prayed, and poof, it was gone!" While another asked, "Bill, if God did that - why did it take Him four days?"
Good question. But, on the other hand, why did it take God six days to do the Creation? He could have done the Creation, or removed my growth, in a split second. Why six days for the Creation and four days for my healing? The six days of Creation I believe He did as an example for us - work six days and rest on the seventh. Why four days to heal my growth? Because that was how He wanted it - for His own reason. Faith, my Friends, is the answer. We don't question why or how God works - we just offer prayers of thanksgiving when He does.
The main thing to remember is that Prayer Works! God always answers the prayers of believers: Sometimes, "Yes." Sometimes, "No." And, at other times, "Wait a while, My child."
"Bill, are you implying that God will not answer the prayers of non-believers?" Another good question. But, first let me ask you, "If a person does not believe in God - why would he/she pray to God?" Will God not answer the prayers of a non-believer? I cannot say yea or nay - for God being omniscient knows that person's heart and He know the recipient of the person's prayers. If a non-believer is praying for another person to be healed or helped, I believe God will take that into consideration.
One more thought on prayer in action. About ten years ago I went for a late evening walk, about 11:00 PM, just to relax. As I was walking along Magnolia Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Riverside, California, a homeless man jumped from behind a sign and came toward me. His eyes were red, like he was on drugs, and he was cursing and screaming at me, even demanding that I give him money.
As he stalked toward me, I began to back across the four lanes of busy east-bound Magnolia Avenue traffic with him following me. The cars whizzed by with no one seeming to notice what was happening. But, the moment I stepped on the wide center island, I felt the peace of God come over me. I stopped and said to the man, "I don't have any money with me (which was true for I never took my wallet on these walks) - but can I pray for you?"
He stopped and quietly said, "Yes." I put my right hand on his left shoulder and prayed, asking God to watch over and protect this man - and to provide for his needs. After I prayed for him, I hugged him. This man, who just minutes before had been screaming and cursing as if on drugs, said in a small soft voice, "That was what I wanted." And he walked away. In all my walks since then, I have seen many other homeless people, but I have never seen that man again.
Let me now address question(2), "Should we pray and ask forgiveness for our sins?"
Pastor David Guzik of Calvary Chapel writes in his commentary on 1 John 1:
In other words, when we confess our sin, we are agreeing with Jesus Christ that we have sinned, that we have been disobedient. We are owning and acknowledging that we have sinned and asking Him to forgive us that sin and to give us the strength to avoid it in future times of weakness.
We all sin (Romans 3:23) - both believers and non-believers. The big difference is that we believers are "forgiven sinners." What does that mean?
It means that Jesus Christ came to earth as the perfect man, the perfect Lamb of God, and died on the cross of Calvary to offer forgiveness of sins - all sins: past, present, and future - to all who will believe and receive Him as Lord and Savior (John 1:12). He took all the sins of all mankind upon Himself when He hung on that cross - and that is why the sky went dark for three hours during midday as He hung on the cross.
What did Jesus mean when He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
God cannot look upon the filth of sin and unrighteousness. In Isaiah 64:6 we are told, "But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; . . ." All that filth, all the sins of all mankind - from the day of Creation until the day He takes us into eternity - were laid upon the shoulders of Jesus Christ that day on the cross of Calvary. God could not look upon Him in that condition.
Just imagine, if your can, God the Father turning His face away from His Son, Jesus Christ. That was the cruel death Jesus Christ took upon Himself so that He could offer full forgiveness to all of us who will believe and receive His "paid in full" gift of forgiveness.
We know that we all sin (Romans 3:23) and we know that Jesus Christ died to forgive our sins. So, why do we need to pray and ask forgiveness?
There are sins of Commission (sins we are aware of committing because of our weak flesh) - and there are sins of Omission (sins we may not be aware of committing, yet know they are wrong in God's eye).
Sin of Commission: When King David committed adultery with married Bathsheba, and then had her husband, Uriah, killed to cover it up. Both were sins of commission (2 Samuel 11). And, even though David repented, he still had a child with Bathsheba - and that child died (2 Samuel 12:13-23). Sin always has consequences.
Sin of Omission: In James 4:17 we read, "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." A sin of omission is a sin that is the result of not doing something God’s Word teaches that we should do. It may be a time when God has given you an opportunity to help someone, but you did not. Or it might be something you have done totally unaware, yet is unpleasing to God.
Compare that to what the apostle Paul tells us about himself in Romans 7:14-20. He tells of his tendency toward both types of sin, Commission and Omission. He does what he doesn’t want to do and knows is wrong - the sin of commission. And he doesn’t do what he knows he should do and really wants to do - the sin of omission. That is a picture of our new generated nature - in conflict with our old flesh in which it dwells.
So, yes, prayers confessing our sins, even if we are not aware of them, is necessary and should be a soothing balm when we own our mistakes and seek His strength to overcome them.
For the believer, we confess our sins and ask forgiveness. For the non-believer who is feeling the pull of God in your heart, first go to Him in a sincere prayer of forgiveness and salvation - and ask Him to come into your heart and be your personal Lord and Savior. He will. And at that time you will become God's adopted child - you can be sure your prayers will be answered and that your eternal heavenly home is waiting for you.
One thing you can take to the bank - His answer is always the best solution, always perfect - and He is never silent when we pray.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
Let me give you an example of what I believe to be the wrong way to go to God in prayer. For a while in the 1990s, we had a Caucasian man who pastored one of our Fil-Am churches. And, in my brief exposure to him, I had begun to believe his longest sermons were his prayers. He would start by telling God what He had written, i.e., "Lord, in Isaiah You tell us . . . and in Ezekiel You admonish us to. . . Lord, in Matthew You guide us to. . ." - and on, and on, and on.
I always had the unfulfilled urge to ask him, "Do you think God doesn't know that He has written in His Bible, so you have to remind him?"
One evening I witnessed this man reaching the pinnacle of his sermon praying. I stopped by a sister church which allowed me to use their copier to make copies of our Sunday bulletin. But this one evening when I got to the church, a group was having a meeting in the room where the copier was located. So, since there was a prayer meeting going on in the sanctuary, I decided to join them while waiting for the copier room to be available. In the sanctuary there was a group of about ten men, including our son, Duane, and Pastor Vince Arnaldo. I slipped in and sat in the back just as they were beginning.
As it turned out, my Sermon Praying friend was also there and had brought a friend with him. So, to get the prayers started, Mr. Sermon Prayer began and went on and on for a while. Then, as soon as he paused to catch his breath, his visitor friend began to pray - and he obviously was a prayer protégé of Mr. Sermon Prayer. He went on and on and on - and then paused. At his pause Mr. Sermon Prayer jumped in again.
It seemed that we had a "Dueling Prayer Competition" going on between the two of them. This went on for about 45 minutes, with Pastor Vince getting in a short prayer only once, when both of them stopped to breath at the same time. But, except for that quickie prayer from Pastor Vince - no one else in that group of men was quick enough to get in and pray between the Dueling Prayers. After 45 minutes, I could take no more and left.
I credit Pastor Sam Lacanienta,founding pastor of the Fil-Am Church of Irvine (CA), with teaching us the art of Popcorn Prayer, i.e., praying specifically. Let me explain what he meant by praying specifically. When we have a prayer need, or a friend has a prayer need - pray specifically for that need. Do not start praying in broad generalities just to fill the air with sound, "Oh, Lord, I pray for all my friends, and all their friends, that you will bless and protect them, heal all their illnesses, provide for all their needs, etc!" If you pray like that, how will you ever know when He has answered your prayer?
However, if you pray for a specific need - when He answers that prayer you will know it. And most importantly, you will be able to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for that answered prayer.
"Back up, Bill. What is Popcorn Prayer?" Glad you asked. Let me give you an example. In the early 1990s, before we began our worship service at our San Clemente church, a group of us would gather in a circle to pray for the upcoming service and other Spirit led needs. So that everyone would be allowed an opportunity to join in and pray - we would each keep our prayer short and specific. I might pray the God will empower and bless our pastor's message for that day. Another might pray for safe travel for all who were still on their way. Someone else might have a specific prayer need to be addressed, or know another who has a prayer need - and he/she would pray for that need.
Like popcorn pops up - we each would offer our short specific prayers as the Holy Spirit moved us, in no particular order. In other words, prayers would "pop up" around the circle as one of us was moved to pray. After praying once, if the Spirit moved one of us to add an additional prayer - that was fine. We would keep the short prayers going for 5, 10, 15 minutes, then one of us would offer a closing prayer. Popcorn Prayer allowed each of us to join in and participate in the prayers.
Back to specific prayers, let me give you real life examples of specific prayers answered and thanksgiving offered. In the mid-1980s, the company I had worked for filed for bankruptcy and I was unemployed for a long time. It was the last day of the month, rent was due the next day - and we had only $5. What could I do? I went into the bedroom at 3:00 PM, sat on the bed, and prayed, "Lord, please give us a way to pay our rent tomorrow." That was it! That was my complete prayer.
The next morning my mom called from Alabama. Let me preface this by adding that my mom did not know I was not working. Because of her health problems I did not want to worry her, so I never told her I had lost my job. She called me that morning and told me, "Yesterday I was taking a bath - and I just felt like I wanted to send you some money. I had your brother wire you $1000 today."
I asked, "Mom, what time were you taking a bath?" Her answer: 5:00 PM - which was 3:00 PM California time - the exact time I was in the bedroom praying.
Coincidence? Maybe ESP, as some of my secular and New Age Friends suggested? NO! There could only one answer. The Holy Spirit put on her heart to send me that badly needed money. And since my rent was $750 - by making it $1000, He also made provisions for food, utilities, etc., that were also needs. My Friends, you can be sure that Dory and I both gave great thanks to God for that answered prayer and blessing.
Another time during that period of extended unemployment I found myself in a situation where my electric bill of $96 was due, a notice said pay by Thursday or your service will be discontinued. What to do? I prayed about it, then went to the electric company Thursday afternoon and wrote a check to pay my bill. Then I came home and prayed again for God to provide a way for me to cover that check. A gamble? Yes, and no. I trusted God to provide a way. And, He did.
The next evening, a Friday just before Christmas, a Christian Friend, Rose Osman, rang our doorbell. When I opened the door, she gave me an envelope and told me, "God put on my heart to bring this to you." I asked her to come in but she said she was late meeting another friend and had to leave. After she left, I opened the envelope and inside was $100 - exactly enough to cover that $96 check. Thank you, Lord. Rose did not have a lot of extra money to give away - but she was faithful when God put this need on her heart.
In the year 2000, Dory and I were helping our pastor, Ed Dacio, lead a Wednesday morning Bible study at the Vintage Terrace seniors' apartment complex in Corona, California. Dory would take her keyboard and lead us in singing. And Pastor Ed and I would take turns leading the Bible study. One week we prayed for Frank, one of the senior men living at the Vintage Terrace. Frank had several large, black wart looking growths on his face and it had been diagnosed as cancer.
A few days later, I started noticing a black growth similar to Frank's in the sideburn area of my right temple. And, it was rather large, causing my comb to snag. Because of Frank's situation, Dory and I were concerned and agreed that I should see a doctor right away.
That evening, as I lay in bed, I held my finger on the growth and asked God to please remove it. Folks who believe in prayer will understand this, while others may just smile - but, after I prayed I felt a very comforting warmth come over me and I felt a peace within, giving me confidence that God had said, "Yes." I rolled over and slept a sleep of peace - knowing that God was doing a work in me.
The next day, the growth was a little smaller, the following day it was noticeably smaller - and by the forth day it was totally gone. Nothing was left but a small scar. When I wrote about this on the Religion Forum, atheists and other non-believers were scoffing. And, even some who claimed they were believers chose to shrug it off as my imagination working overtime. One fellow laughed that, "Bill has a magic finger! He just touched his growth, prayed, and poof, it was gone!" While another asked, "Bill, if God did that - why did it take Him four days?"
Good question. But, on the other hand, why did it take God six days to do the Creation? He could have done the Creation, or removed my growth, in a split second. Why six days for the Creation and four days for my healing? The six days of Creation I believe He did as an example for us - work six days and rest on the seventh. Why four days to heal my growth? Because that was how He wanted it - for His own reason. Faith, my Friends, is the answer. We don't question why or how God works - we just offer prayers of thanksgiving when He does.
The main thing to remember is that Prayer Works! God always answers the prayers of believers: Sometimes, "Yes." Sometimes, "No." And, at other times, "Wait a while, My child."
"Bill, are you implying that God will not answer the prayers of non-believers?" Another good question. But, first let me ask you, "If a person does not believe in God - why would he/she pray to God?" Will God not answer the prayers of a non-believer? I cannot say yea or nay - for God being omniscient knows that person's heart and He know the recipient of the person's prayers. If a non-believer is praying for another person to be healed or helped, I believe God will take that into consideration.
One more thought on prayer in action. About ten years ago I went for a late evening walk, about 11:00 PM, just to relax. As I was walking along Magnolia Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Riverside, California, a homeless man jumped from behind a sign and came toward me. His eyes were red, like he was on drugs, and he was cursing and screaming at me, even demanding that I give him money.
As he stalked toward me, I began to back across the four lanes of busy east-bound Magnolia Avenue traffic with him following me. The cars whizzed by with no one seeming to notice what was happening. But, the moment I stepped on the wide center island, I felt the peace of God come over me. I stopped and said to the man, "I don't have any money with me (which was true for I never took my wallet on these walks) - but can I pray for you?"
He stopped and quietly said, "Yes." I put my right hand on his left shoulder and prayed, asking God to watch over and protect this man - and to provide for his needs. After I prayed for him, I hugged him. This man, who just minutes before had been screaming and cursing as if on drugs, said in a small soft voice, "That was what I wanted." And he walked away. In all my walks since then, I have seen many other homeless people, but I have never seen that man again.
Let me now address question(2), "Should we pray and ask forgiveness for our sins?"
1 John 1:8-9, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Pastor David Guzik of Calvary Chapel writes in his commentary on 1 John 1:
i. To confess means, "to say the same as" (to agree with). When we confess our sin, we are willing to say (and believe) the same thing about our sin that God says about it. Note: Parenthetical emphasis is mine.
In other words, when we confess our sin, we are agreeing with Jesus Christ that we have sinned, that we have been disobedient. We are owning and acknowledging that we have sinned and asking Him to forgive us that sin and to give us the strength to avoid it in future times of weakness.
We all sin (Romans 3:23) - both believers and non-believers. The big difference is that we believers are "forgiven sinners." What does that mean?
It means that Jesus Christ came to earth as the perfect man, the perfect Lamb of God, and died on the cross of Calvary to offer forgiveness of sins - all sins: past, present, and future - to all who will believe and receive Him as Lord and Savior (John 1:12). He took all the sins of all mankind upon Himself when He hung on that cross - and that is why the sky went dark for three hours during midday as He hung on the cross.
Matthew 27:45-46, "Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' that is, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'"
What did Jesus mean when He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
God cannot look upon the filth of sin and unrighteousness. In Isaiah 64:6 we are told, "But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; . . ." All that filth, all the sins of all mankind - from the day of Creation until the day He takes us into eternity - were laid upon the shoulders of Jesus Christ that day on the cross of Calvary. God could not look upon Him in that condition.
Just imagine, if your can, God the Father turning His face away from His Son, Jesus Christ. That was the cruel death Jesus Christ took upon Himself so that He could offer full forgiveness to all of us who will believe and receive His "paid in full" gift of forgiveness.
We know that we all sin (Romans 3:23) and we know that Jesus Christ died to forgive our sins. So, why do we need to pray and ask forgiveness?
There are sins of Commission (sins we are aware of committing because of our weak flesh) - and there are sins of Omission (sins we may not be aware of committing, yet know they are wrong in God's eye).
Sin of Commission: When King David committed adultery with married Bathsheba, and then had her husband, Uriah, killed to cover it up. Both were sins of commission (2 Samuel 11). And, even though David repented, he still had a child with Bathsheba - and that child died (2 Samuel 12:13-23). Sin always has consequences.
Sin of Omission: In James 4:17 we read, "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." A sin of omission is a sin that is the result of not doing something God’s Word teaches that we should do. It may be a time when God has given you an opportunity to help someone, but you did not. Or it might be something you have done totally unaware, yet is unpleasing to God.
Compare that to what the apostle Paul tells us about himself in Romans 7:14-20. He tells of his tendency toward both types of sin, Commission and Omission. He does what he doesn’t want to do and knows is wrong - the sin of commission. And he doesn’t do what he knows he should do and really wants to do - the sin of omission. That is a picture of our new generated nature - in conflict with our old flesh in which it dwells.
So, yes, prayers confessing our sins, even if we are not aware of them, is necessary and should be a soothing balm when we own our mistakes and seek His strength to overcome them.
For the believer, we confess our sins and ask forgiveness. For the non-believer who is feeling the pull of God in your heart, first go to Him in a sincere prayer of forgiveness and salvation - and ask Him to come into your heart and be your personal Lord and Savior. He will. And at that time you will become God's adopted child - you can be sure your prayers will be answered and that your eternal heavenly home is waiting for you.
One thing you can take to the bank - His answer is always the best solution, always perfect - and He is never silent when we pray.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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