Let Us Pray

I've been listening to a certain song by my best friend Steven Curtis Chapman lately (ask Kelsey), and it's all about prayer! Basically I think it's a really great song about what prayer should be like. I'll just post it here so you all can read for yourself. It has quite a few words, so prepare!

I hear you say your heart is achin'
You've got trouble in the making
And you ask if I'd be praying for you please
And in keeping with convention
I say yes with good intentions
To pray lately making mention of your needs
Since we have this moment here at heaven's door
We should start knocking now so what are we waiting for

Let us pray, let us pray
Everywhere and every way
Every moment of the day
It is the right time
For the father above
He is listening with love
And he wants to answer us
So let us pray

So if you feel the spirit movin'
Prompting, prodding and behooving
There is no time to be losing let us pray
Let the Father hear us saying
What we need to be conveying
Even while this song is playing let us pray
And just because we say the words amen
It doesn't mean this conversation needs to end

Let us pray, let us pray
Everywhere and every way
Every moment of the day
It is the right time
Let us pray without end
And when we finish start again
Like breathing out and breathing in,
Let us pray

Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence
As our prayers draw us near to the one who knows our need
Before we even call his name

Ok, so I have a few favorite lines, the first one is when he says:
Since we have this moment here at heaven's door
We should start knocking now so what are we waiting for
In prayer we have an exciting connection to God Himself! That is amazing if you really stop and think about it. We, who are lowly and pretty much insignificant little specks in the vastness of all the universe, are loved by God so much that He gave us a way to petition Him at any time. Christians are literally keyholders to God's throne room, and I think Steven really hits it when he says "what are we waiting for?"

For the father above
He is listening with love
And he wants to answer us
So let us pray
There's no good reason for us not to want to talk to God! He is the most beautiful, loving, attractive, holy, and powerful being in the universe and He wants to talk to us. That's extremely exciting to me.

The next part that really stuck out to me was this section of the chorus:
Let us pray, let us pray
Everywhere and every way
Every moment of the day
It is the right time

The Bible contains many exhortations for us to pray "without ceasing" and it's so encouraging to me that this song does too! I'm really not sure what I can add to that, those lines pretty much say it all. However, if thats not extreme enough for you, read this next line:

Even while this song is playing let us pray

Wow! Now that is hardcore! Even while his own song his playing he encourages us to pray to God, to worship Him in that way. We have that privilege and that ability. That might seem difficult, even impossible, but if we strive for it, where will we fall short? If we are seriously seeking to fill every full moment with prayer, how much more will we be filling those unused moments of our day with it? This also seems to be a serious help in times of temptation. Then again, if we are constantly talking to God, what time is there to be tempted? There's just no room for it! This is indescribeably exciting to me! Our victory over sin is all about running towards God and wrapping our arms around Him, completely focused on His face...
Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence
As our prayers draw us near to the one who knows our need
Before we even call his name

We can come to God with assurance that He will answer, after all the Bible says that those who come without faith are double minded and should not expect anything from God anyways (James 1:6-8). This verse also asserts that praying to Him will draw us closer to Him. Now, it really isn't all that magical. The thing I love about Christianity is the fact that it's based on reality! Religion will not get anyone closer to God. It's like this: If you want to get to know someone, if you want to have a truly intimate relationship with them, you talk! You don't do a little dance and expect to know them. You don't go to war for someone and therefore know them any better! You talk to them! You get to know them, and then perhaps you'll do an amusing dance for them, or go fight for them. Prayer is talking to God. When we sing worship songs to God, we praise Him for what we know about Him. We don't know about his love because we praise Him, we praise Him because He has let us experience His love! At least I think that's the way it should be.

Let us pray without end
And when we finish start again
Like breathing out and breathing in,
Let us pray
This is the last part of the song that really stuck out to me. Again, the pray without ceasing theme. Our prayer's should be always happening, and if we ever do finish a prayer, no problem, just start praying again! It's like breathing, always starting and ending, always happening, without it we suffocate. I've experienced this before. I had neglected to pray for a certain amount of time and during that time my emotional state started going down hill. I couldn't really be happy with anything, and I couldn't figure out why! If anyone ever feels depressed I encourage you to ask yourself: Have I been talking to God and letting Him talk to me, devoting my whole heart to Him. I have never found a time where I was depressed and this answer was "Yes" at the same time. It is so obvious and convicting that it's annoying! The flesh so desperately wants to be able to be happy without God, but it just doesn't work that way, and I know it!

This song was based on a few verses which I will list here (NIV):

"Pray continually" ~ 1 Thess 5:17

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." ~ Col 4:2

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers an requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." ~ Eph 6:18

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." ~ Heb 4:16

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." ~ Rom 12:12

I hope this entry has encouraged you to pray always without end! And if you ever finish, start again!