DAY 31

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PRAYER

DAVID KRUEGER, PASTOR, TWC SCHOOL OF LEADERSHIP GRADUATE

Prayer is a gift and a privilege. If you really consider it for a moment, the fact that we’re given the opportunity to lift our voices to the God who created everything is just incredible. Whether it be fervent prayers for deliverance, joyous shouts of praise, or mere whispers in the privacy of your room, the Lord never fails to hear the voices of His people.

However, as much as prayer is both a gift and a privilege, I want to propose to you today something you may not have considered. To the believer, prayer is also a responsibility. The language of “privilege” can imply an advantage that does not necessarily need to be taken advantage of, and as far as “gifts” go, I’m sure we’ve all received gifts that we weren’t especially thrilled about. With the stress and busyness of life, it can be easy to let prayer slip back to the benches, only to be brought out again when we’ve run out of strength or options.

Through my personal time in scripture, I was recently struck by a passage near the end of the book of Job. By this point in the narrative, Job has lost nearly everything. The very friends who came to comfort him spend chapter after chapter trying to get him to admit to sins he had never committed. Due to their fear and grief over what has transpired, Job’s friends make some especially pessimistic claims concerning the Lord’s justice and fairness. Atlast, the Lord confronts Job, who quickly recognizes his arrogance and repents. The Lord moves on from Job to his friends, and the passage states:

After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. Job 42:7–9

What absolutely strikes me here is the subtle detail about prayer. Despite all the accusations that Job had suffered from his friends, the Lord requires that Job bear the responsibility to pray for his friends to be made right with God. The text excludes any details about Job’s reaction to this request, but I can only imagine the reluctance. At the lowest point in his life, his closest friends proved to be less than reliable. However, the Lord seemingly offers Job no way out of this obligation. Despite whatever he must have been feeling, he obeys and follows through all the same. As it happens, it’s only after Job prays for his friends that his well-being is restored.

My point here is that, while prayer is certainly an incredible gift, it is far from optional. In fact, the way Scripture speaks of prayer paints it as a practice that couldn’t be any less optional. James reminds us of the importance of confessing to one another and praying for forgiveness. The apostle Paul contends for us to pray at all times and without ceasing, modeling this through his ceaseless prayers for the churches to which he wrote. Through the parable of the persistent widow, Jesus encouraged his disciples to pray at all times and to never lose heart. The members of the early church, as seen in Acts, are recorded to have devoted themselves to prayer. In the Psalms, David requests that the Lord hear his voice as he seeks him in the early morning. All of these examples and more depict a commitment to the responsibility of prayer; the commitment to a life that says “when I pray” as opposed to “if I pray.”

This commitment to the responsibility of prayer that we’re called to is, if we’re honest, a daunting request. Like Job, there are going to be moments when we feel the Holy Spirit’s nudge to lift up a person or situation in prayer that we simply do not want to pray for. There will be moments when the winds and waves of life will take our eyes off God, and prayer simply won’t be the first thing on our minds. Here, if we’re not careful, shame can take our thoughts captive. It is in these moments that it is vital to remember that the Lord knows our hearts and all that we struggle with. When you find yourself struggling to pray, I contend for you to recall the wise words of the writer of Hebrews:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15–16

PRAYER: Lord, today I ask for renewed strength to accept the responsibility of prayer. In all circumstances, through the joys and sorrows, I ask that my voice be lifted toward You. Father, would You shape my heart so that my prayers would look like the prayers represented in Your Word. In the moments when I fall short and neglect this incredible gift, God, would You bring conviction that I might be drawn back to a posture of prayer. I ask this in Your mighty name, Lord, trusting in Your faithfulness and mercies that are new every day. Amen.