I used to think I knew quite a bit about history, but then I listened to a history professor lecture. It all pointed out the great chasm between what I thought I knew and actually didn't know. Of course there are many things I do, and I do well. But I have also watched people play the sports I've tried, or instruments I've played, and I have soon realized their understanding of it is many degrees higher than mine because their proficiency in it is way above mine.
Such is the way I have come to assess my own prayers. I have for some time in my life made prayer a regular rhythm. I cannot think of a day in which I did not in some capacity devote myself to this discipline. Further, I have grown in my understanding of it, such that there have not only been the devoted moments during the early morning hours when I am the only one awake, but too, in the more spontaneous moments. All that is good. I commend you as well if there are visible markers of dedication to pray, and increasing application of this ceaseless reality in which we can and should participate.
And yet, I was again awakened by the excellency of Christ. His approach to prayer, even in bringing it down into our terms, on our level, points out His expertise and my elementary approach to prayer.
We know well the prayer simply known as "The Lord's Prayer" (Matt. 6, Luke 11). Many of us could recite it. Many of us have turned it into our daily prayer in a rather "mantra" like fashion. But few understand the immense richness of this prayer. Little do we realize that while we are given space to ask for the things we need ("Give us this day, our daily bread"), for the most part we start and stop there with our prayers.
Not for a moment am I saying we shouldn't pray for what we need. Clearly we should. But it should move us to ask a deeper question, "What do we really need?" Unfortunately for most of us we look around at our "inventory", at all we have, and then we begin to make a list. And certainly things come up that create need for answers (bills, health, relationships...), but we concede to our own understanding of what we believe is most needful, which amounts mostly to what we WANT most. And what is it we WANT? We want comfort. It is as simple that that. We want to avoid what hurts, and embrace what brings joy and peace. Ultimately that isn't bad, but we misdirect our expectation then and impose it all on God in our prayers.
Jesus points us in this prayer to something as foremost. The order of requests in this prayer is critical to understanding how we need to pray. As it begins we find Jesus directs us to pray, "Father, hallowed be your name." My prayers rarely start here. For years I used this word "hallowed" with no understanding of it, at all. Simply put though it means "sanctify" or "set apart." It is a call for God to set apart His name for honor and glory.
Watch how Jesus prays this very way in John 12:27. It is shortly before the betrayal, arrest, mock trial and crucifixion of Jesus. There he is not only about to bear the weight of all the Jews, the crowds, and the Romans can throw at him physically, but more daunting is all the wrath His own Father is about to throw at Him. If indeed all our prayers are caught up in comforts, this would be the time to pray for easing of pain. Jesus there says, "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say, 'Father, save me from this hour?'..." I think we can all understand that this is no small troubling going on in Jesus. It reaches deep into his soul. Even from this far away we can understand why. Jesus inquires here, not for His sake, but for His disciples' sake, "what should I say," 'Father, save me from this hour?' "
It is a prayer he COULD ask ("Father, save me"). But if He were to ask that prayer, He would only be seeking His comfort. Comfort as we speak of it here and as so often ask has only to do with what is temporal, and tangible. But what good would it be if God granted Jesus all he COULD have asked for in that moment? If indeed God delivered Him from all coming suffering, what would it mean? Listen how all this concludes. He continues, "But for this purpose I have come to this hour." In other words, Jesus fully understood that this is why He was here. And all the suffering that He was about to endure was necessary to bring about the end result that would come from it. People would be forgiven, cleansed, and saved because of this suffering Jesus was going to embrace. And without embracing that, NOBODY WOULD BE SAVED. So while Jesus could theoretically be delivered from pain and given COMFORT, it would result in suffering for all those He came to save.
So Jesus continues, but this time not in a hypothetical, but in a real prayer. He says in John 12:28, "Father, glorify Your name." Now if all you had was this verse on its own you would miss the preceding, necessary context. But given what was already said, your realize this deep theological insight Jesus gives here, as to how comprehensive this prayer actually is. Jesus praying for the Father to GLORIFY His name is the same as "Hallowed be your name." And it is one suddenly forces Jesus away from the comfort he wants, into the discomfort he doesn't want. Why? Because it brings about WHAT IS MOST NEEDFUL. And the Glory that Jesus wanted the Father to receive was from His offering in that moment and all that would follow, from people, from you and me, those who He came to forgive and save.
So ponder for a moment...it was Jesus praying for the glory of God that got Him to the cross, and thereby winning so many souls. While I don't expect anything God would and could do in me will bring about the same result as that of Christ, still I trust the overarching principle here is that in praying for God to glorify Himself, He will bring about things so much more awesome and wonderful than I could imagine, of which only ETERNITY is SPAN long enough to reveal the depth of. Praying for a new job is good, praying for God to glorify Himself in, around you, at your new job is even better.
So let's shift our prayers. Away from just what we want for now. Away from what we have thought most needful. Keep praying for what we need that is temporary and tangible. But don't stop there. Go deeper. What is eternal, spiritual in nature? Pray for God to GLORIFY Himself in you, through you, and all around you. Know that it will be costly, but the impact of it all will also be far greater.
O God, glorify Yourself at my expense.
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