The 220 Prayer Life

If any of you are like me, our prayer life can start out of the best intentions, but quickly become selfish. We pray for what WE want, when WE feel like it…and because WE have a need. Sometimes without even realizing, we have a one-sided view of prayer…seeing it only as a defense against the troubles of this world, and forgetting that prayer is also a weapon that God has given us to ADVANCE his kingdom. When we forget this, we get discouraged because we don’t feel like our prayers are making a difference.

 Many of you could probably recite the Lord’s prayer (”Our father, who art in heaven…”) frontwards and backwards. But I want to focus on the way Jesus STARTS this prayer, because if you look closely, you will see a trend starting to form in the prayer life of Jesus. When teaching the people how to pray, Jesus began with “Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This is how Jesus taught the disciples and the people how to pray: In the light of God’s matchless name, the basis of prayer is God’s glory, and God’s will. And Jesus is the shiz when it comes to practicing what he preached. He didn’t tell his followers to pray God’s will, and then go off and pray for his own will or his own glory. “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” was the basis of his prayer life.

 In John 12, Jesus prays, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Jesus can empathize with us. His soul was troubled. But his trust in the Father allowed him to say, “Glorify your name.” Faith is trusting in God’s character enough to say, “Not thy will, but yours be done.” because you believe that God is true when he says that his plans are for good.

 Matthew, Mark and Luke all document Jesus the night he was betrayed praying in the garden. And each of those gospels describe the prayer the same way: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus knew what it was going to take. Jesus knew what needed to happen. Take a second to think about that: Jesus knew that this “cup” would not pass unless he drank of it. So why did he pray that before saying “Thy will be done”? I honestly believe God can use this to show us that even when life has us in a vice, and the easiest thing would be to ask for a way out, we can TRUST God enough to say “Not my will but yours be done.” The easiest way is not always the best way. Jesus could’ve stopped there, and prayed simply for the cup to pass from him. End of story. No forgiveness of our sins. That would’ve been easiest. But the easiest prayer is not always the best prayer.

The verse our ministry represents is about being crucified with Christ and dying to ourselves. The 220 life is about choosing the same cup Jesus chose: death to ourselves. Living that life is going to take some radical prayers. And for each of us, when seeing the cup and counting the cost, it takes trusting God enough to say “Not my will, but yours be done”. Do you trust God’s will enough to pray for it instead of what you will? Even with the knowledge that God’s will is for us to be crucified with Christ? That takes faith.

This is the difference between getting by in our prayer life and our prayers making a difference in this world. Jesus made an important choice in his life, which framed the way he prayed: Save me from my troubles, or save the world from theirs. That’s the life we are called to. And that’s the PRAYER life we are called to. Prayer is powerful and can change the world around us. Do you want to make prayer a part of your life, but don’t know where to start? Start where Jesus did: “Father, your name is matchless. Let YOUR kingdom come and reign here. Even though my soul is troubled, I pray not for my own will, but that you let YOUR will be done.”