Session 3 - Petition (The Prayer Course)

  The Prayer Course

See my introduction to The Prayer Course here and my notes on Session 1 here, and Session 2 here.

The Prayer Course

Session 3: Petition

Key verse 

“Give us this day our daily bread” – Matthew 6:11 

 

Bible passages

Matthew 7:7-11, Matthew 18:19

 

Summary points

The Father loves to give good gifts.

Traffic lights: Yes, Wait, No.

Sometimes we need to “stack dominoes” and persevere in prayer

 What did you find most helpful or most challenging in the video? 

I’ve always been taught the power of the name of Jesus. I’ve mentioned in previous posts about ending prayer requests as a child with, “In Jesus’ mighty name”, but this was the first time I’d heard it likened to the “top dog” like asking for a manager when the sales assistant isn’t quite able to meet your need.

 To pray in the name of Jesus means to pray in line with His character – the power of going to the top. We do not need an intercessor or middle-man; we can go straight to God with our requests and petitions. What an honour! How many CEOs or Presidents of companies (or leaders of countries) do you know who will stand up and say, “don’t bother with my secretary, just come right into my office. In fact, here’s my home address and direct telephone number; I’m available to you whenever, come freely!” I’d venture that even amongst church leaders, there aren’t many who invite such open-door policies.

 I also found it interesting to note that when we pray for our daily bread, we don’t necessarily get it with all the bells and whistles. Sometimes it’s literally just enough to sustain us. As Pete said, it’s daily bread we’re asking for, we can’t expect Nutella on it every time! Of course, He is our father and He gives us good things, as stated in Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” but He doesn't spoil us or give us more than we are can handle at the time (look at the manna given to the Israelites in Exodus - He gave them just enough for each family's need; no more and no less, and they had to eat it that same day - it wouldn't keep. Literally giving them their daily bread).

The suggestion to pray incrementally was an eye-opener for me. Rather than praying all at once for the big things, break it down into actual, practical, steps. Being specific in our requests. It’s all well and good asking God to save my husband but how do I expect Him to do it?  Pray for a specific next step, rather than jumping to the top of the staircase. Instead of just praying the same old prayer of something along the lines of “Lord, let him come to know you”, I can pray specifically and incrementally. Today I might pray that a curiosity enters his mind and causes him to ponder for a moment. Increasing gradually until I can pray, “Lord, soften his heart so that he can accept all that he’s learned about You!” Baby steps! 

“Although God knows our need, he does still want us to articulate it to him”

  

Poppy pointed out that it’s often easier to believe God can change things in our hearts rather than believing in things can see in the world. Do you agree?

To an extent, yes, I agree. We are taught from a very early age that there are laws of nature and of science and that nothing can change them. We are taught to trust in these scientific and medical theories as hard facts, even above and beyond God’s capabilities. With this in mind, it’s hard for us to accept that God is able to make physical, tangible, changes in our world, almost as if we are placing restrictions on the God we otherwise proclaim to be “almighty”! Jesus Himself said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

Changes within ourselves and our own hearts are perhaps more acceptable to our human minds. If we are praying that God will bless us with a particular skill or quality (patience, for example), there is always an element of us being able to work on this in our own strength, and therefore we are more willing to believe that if we can do it, God can too. We are always more willing to believe that something is possible if we have seen, witnessed, or experienced it before. I’ve seen some very patient and loving people in my life, but I’ve never witnessed a severed limb re-grow itself.  Jeremiah 32:27 tells us that there is nothing that is above God’s capabilities, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” – No, not even laws of science can restrict God!

  

How often do you ask God for what you want as well as what you need?

A lot! It’s easy to mix them up or merge them, sometimes. My children often say to me, “Mummy, I NEED this toy” or “I really really NEED a biscuit” – actually, son, you don’t need it; you want it! Obviously, they’re still very small children so it’s understandable that they don’t yet have a grasp of the urgency of “need” as opposed to the desires of “want”. Similarly, if they have a fever and I try to administer medicine to them, they’ll often say, “No, I don’t want it” – sorry, kid. You might not want it but you need it! In that same way, we can often be confused as to what we actually need, versus what we want. Sometimes our desires are so strong that we have an ache for them and they can masquerade as needs. I’m grateful for a God who knows my needs even when I don’t, as described in Matthew 6:8, “[…] for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” and that, thanks to the grace He freely gives to us, I can come to Him as a beloved daughter and ask for those "extra" things that I may not need but I want, and He loves me so much that He wants to give these great gifts!

  

Pete uses the traffic light analogy to describe different ways God responds to our prayers:
Green: Yes
Amber: Wait / Persevere
Red: No

Are you experiencing a “green”, “amber” or “red” response to any specific prayers at the moment?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? Let me share a recent situation as an anecdote:

A couple of weeks ago, we went, with our three children, and my parents, to Chester Zoo. Our car had had some issues with the battery going flat but we thought that a good two-hour journey each way would give it a bit of a charge after being sat on the driveway, hardly used, during lockdown. As I was driving, I noticed that it seemed to be struggling up the inclines (anyone who has driven over the Snake Pass towards Manchester will know how nerve-wracking it can be, even in a healthy car!) I satisfied myself that it was probably just the weight of a full 7-seater, but after our track record of car issues over this last 12 months, I prayed before our journey and all the way there, that we would be safe in our car and it would survive the trip!

 We arrived and had a lovely day. In the car park, I mentioned to my husband that the back offside tyre was looking a bit bald and we’d need to replace it soon. We set off and pretty soon, Noah needed to use the bathroom so we pulled into the services at Chester, Noah went to the toilet and we stopped for a McDonalds since we wouldn’t be home in time for tea. Approaching the car with arms full of fast food, I noticed that the same back tyre could do with some air but we were keen to get home as close to our bedtime routine as possible, so we said, “It’s probably OK, we’ll fill it in the morning.”

 No sooner had we re-joined the motorway, than we heard a strange sound and pulled up on the hard shoulder. We saw that that same offside back tyre was completely flat. We had no spare. To cut a very long story a little bit shorter, our roadside assistance company were able to taxi us and tow our car back to the services where a tyre company was waiting to fit a new tyre for us. When he showed us the old tyre, he told us that we were very lucky as there was a massive hole on the inside wall and being on the motorway, it could have blown and had absolutely devastating consequences.

 

I suppose that my reason for sharing this story, other than just to have written it out somewhere, is to illustrate that sometimes, God answers our prayers in a very different way than we expect. When we were sitting on the hard shoulder waiting in fear, I remember thinking to myself, “what kind of protection is this, Lord? I asked You to have Your hand over us and protect us on this journey and now we’ve broken down on the busiest and most dangerous part of one of the biggest motorways in the country!” What I didn’t realise, though, was that only a couple of hundred yards down the road, there was no hard shoulder due to road works, and had we broken down there, we’d have been in a much more dangerous position. If we hadn’t come to a safe stop and realised that the tyre was flat, it might have blown at 70mph in the middle of a fast flow of traffic containing huge lorries and trucks.

 God did answer my prayer, and He did have His hand on us that day. I just couldn’t see it at that moment, with my blinders of fear and stress obstructing the view.

 

 It is so important to pray the promises of God: Is there a specific promise that relates to the situation? 

This is where an intimate knowledge of God’s word comes in useful! If you’re in a season of waiting or unanswered prayer, to hold on to God’s love and promises. Don’t doubt it. Persevere in prayer! It’s no secret that I’ve been in an “amber” season in waiting for my husband’s salvation. I’ve prayed so hard and for so long that it would be so easy to just give up and assume that God has given me a red light. This is not the case. I know that Riki’s salvation is in line with God’s will because as it tells us in 1 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” – The Lord will fulfil this prayer in His own timing and not before. In the meantime, I’ll persevere in petition and try to hand it over into His capable hands, because, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” (1 John 5:14)

 

Pete gave me such hope when he shared the story of Queen Bertha of Kent from the 6^th century, who prayed every single day for SEVENTEEN years, for her husband, Ethelbert’s, salvation. I’m only on eleven years, so there’s time yet! Ethelbert’s salvation meant that the gospel spread across England and it later officially became a Christian country. What an amazing testimony, and it was imperative that it came into fruition in the right timing; frustrating as it must have been for old Bertha. I feel you, Bertha!