Prayer can be powerful. However, the one you are praying to—the object of your prayer—is what gives prayer its power. You can pray often and fervently to the “Almighty Blender” in your kitchen and your earnest prayers will be useless. I know, that may seem like a silly example. However, I’ve talked to many non-Christians that justify themselves and appease their consciences by saying that they pray to “God” all the time. Praying to a vague god that has no authority in your life, no impact on your daily decisions and no power to do the impossible is no more effective than praying to a deified kitchen appliance. It is the one on the other end, listening to your prayer, that gives prayer its value.
What about those of us that are Christians though? Does the One we are speaking to impact our prayer? Said another way, how does the One receiving our prayer effect the way we pray? If you’re like me, far too much of your prayer time consists of worrying and complaining to God. Yet, if we realize who it is we are praying to—the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God of the universe—shouldn’t worry and complaints melt away in His presence? If God knows exactly what I’m going through, has the power to do whatever He wants in any situation and loves me so much that He is guaranteed to do the best thing for me—what place is there for those kind of things? The mistake I have often made is dumping out all of my emotional baggage before God without first remembering who it is I’m even talking to. Granted, it’s not a bad thing to unload all of our cares before the Lord (1 Pet. 5:7). However, maybe our prayer time would be much more effective if we did so after first acknowledging the amazing God we are addressing. Doing this changes the entire outlook and tone of our prayers.
This is a lesson that God has had on my heart for months now. Since He pointed it out to me, I keep seeing it over and over again throughout the Bible. Hezekiah prefaced his plea for deliverance from the army of Assyria with an acknowledgement of God’s character (2 Kings 19:15-19). The great prayers of repentance given by Nehemiah and Daniel—two of the best examples of godly leadership in the Bible—begin with the same thought process (Nehemiah 9 & Daniel 9). Many of David’s Psalms start with worship and praise of God first, before then moving on to supplications for the problems he was facing. Finally, Jesus revealed this pattern of prayer as He taught His disciples how to pray in what many call the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-10). It is an unmistakable lesson highlighted all throughout Scripture. Focusing our attention first on the awe-inspiring greatness of the One we are praying to changes everything. Applying this lesson to our lives will be sure to have an enormous impact, not only on our prayer time but also on the way we view life’s problems. Worry and complaints will be replaced by confident rest in the God who holds it all together. Next time you bow your head to pray, remember that the One you’re talking with makes all the difference in the world.