Men and women are at their noblest and best when they are on their knees before God in prayer. To pray is not only to be truly godly; it is also to be truly human. For here are human beings, made by God like God and for God, spending time in fellowship with God. So prayer is an authentic activity in itself, irrespective of any benefits it may bring to us. Yet it is also one of the most effective of all the means of grace. I doubt if anybody has ever become at all Christlike who has not been diligent in prayer. There are at least five different kinds of prayers, all of which should find a place in our private devotions.
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The look up to God. This is worship. It is to seek to give to God the glory which is due his name (Ps.105:3). Worship is the best of all antidotes to our own self-centeredness, the most effective way to ‘disinfect us of egotism’ (W.E.Sangster). In true worship we turn the searchlight of our mind and heart upon God and temporarily forget about our troublesome and usually intrusive selves.
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The look in at ourselves. This leads to confession. It is a healthy discipline to review our day and call to mind our failures. Not to do so tends to make us slapdash about sin and encourages us to presume upon God’s mercy, whereas to make a habit of doing so humbles us and shames us and increases our longing for greater holiness.
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The look around at others. This is intercession. We (like Jesus and Paul) should include other people in our prayers; it may be the best service we can render them. The more specific and concrete we can be in our prayers, the better.
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The look back to the past. This should lead to thanksgiving (Ps.103:2). At the close of each day it seems right to look back over it in order to recall not only our sins but also God’s mercies.
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The look to the future. This is petition or supplication. But God knows our needs; we do not need to tell him. And in his love he wants to supply them; we do not need to bully or badger him. So why pray? What is the point? John Calvin gave a thorough answer to these questions. He wrote: “Believers do not pray with a view of informing God about things unknown to him, or of exciting him to do his duty, or of urging him as though he were reluctant. On the contrary, they pray in order that they may arouse themselves to seek him, that they may exercise their faith in meditating on his promises, that they may relieve themselves from their anxieties, by pouring them into his bosom; in a word, that they may declare that from him alone they hope and expect, both for themselves and for others, all good things.” The purpose of petitionary prayer, then, is neither to inform God as though he were ignorant, nor to persuade him as though he were reluctant. It is not to bend God’s will to ours, but rather to align our will to his.
(John Stott, Christian Basics, 118-123)
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