Prayer is a battle, and the goal of this Minizine collection of three essays is to rejuvenate readers in our prayer lives. In the the first essay, Tony Payne lists the common "viruses" that make our prayer life a sickness instead of a joy, so that we can restore our prayer lives to health. The three-headed monster consists of our doubt in God's sovereignty, doubt in God's willingness to answer our prayers, and our misunderstanding of our relationships with God.
We might think that something as basic as the sovereignty of God is imprinted in the mind of all Christians, but I was reminded that a lot of Christians do not pray for small and mundane needs, and this reveals a doubt in the sovereignty of God in all things in our hearts. Doubt in "modern" times is reflected in the belief that God does not intervene with the mechanics of a naturalistic world: He is distant from His creation and its "scientific" laws set in stone, so there is no point in asking Him to change our course in life. Yet it is shown that clearly that the Bible is full of examples of just how God is active in the natural and the so called "supernatural", and in fact this distinction is not truthful in describing the Christian God who sustains, changes and directs His world.
Even more infectious within evangelical minds is the idea that the Biblical God is a sovereign whose will cannot be changed. So in fact we are limiting God's ability to change His own mind. This to me seems like a tougher doubt to defeat but Tony provides this answer from Bible - that the will of God includes the Christian prayer. A good example is Moses who prayed for God to show mercy to His rebellious people, and God did forgive His people. I was encouraged that we have a God who does listen and is earnest for us to pray to Him in repentance and with trust.
The Minizine has a very practical outline of Biblical prayer, based on Matthew's record of "The Lord's Prayer". I agree with Paul Grimmond in the usefulness of praying with the mindset and priorities of Jesus, who has the mind of God Himself. Personally, the most humbling effect in praying using Jesus' model is that I realise prayer, just like all other things in life, are about God Himself: what He wills and desires as He brings the whole world under His kingly rule.
Praying in line with God's will doesn't take away the joy of asking God for good things, rather it adds to the confidence I have in asking God, because He knows what is best for our wellbeing. Jesus spells out some of God' major concerns for us: the forgiveness of our sins, the provision of our daily needs, the help we require in daily battles with evil and so on. Paul urges us to pray with the Bible in mind because we will then live in right relationship with the one who made us and desires the best for us through prayer.
Lastly, Colin Marshall writes about the opportunities and privileges of praying in a small group. His desire is to point small groups into fervent prayer units. I often smiled when reading through this section because the stereotypical pitfalls were so true. Having been the leader of several small groups, I have experienced and contributed to the droughts and drabs of last minute prayers, repetitive prayers, the irreverent prayers that best described as self-absorbed and inward focused prayers. This segment brought new enthusiasm in me as I go back into my weekly small group to battle with biblical, God-focused and outward looking prayer, and to prioritise prayer in our meetings.
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