Word of Encouragement (11/23/2022)
“And you shall make response before the LORD your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. 9 And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me...’” (Deut. 26:5-10)
This is not a petition so we may not think of it as a prayer. But prayer is more than just petitions. Confession of sin is a form of prayer. Adoration/praise is a form of prayer. What we have in this passage is a prayer of thanksgiving.
For a healthy spiritual life, we should engage in all forms of prayer, not just petitions. Of course, when we are in a trying situation, petitions may make up all our prayers. This is understandable. Even so, it is important not to forget other forms of prayer; it is beneficial even. When we are desperate, we cry out to God for help. But in our desperation, we often get too busy crying out, even forgetting to whom we are praying. So, even after we pray, we come away still feeling anxious and fearful. How can that be? Our petitions can end up being a monologue because we were too busy talking about our problems and worrying about them that we are praying to an almighty God, who loves us. If only we can remember to whom we are directing our petitions, in whose presence we stand, and whose audience we have. If we engaged in a prayer of adoration, we would have remembered how great our God was and how small our problems were in comparison!
How about a prayer of confession? If we take the time to confess our sins to God before we launch into our petitions, we will be reminded of how unworthy we are to receive any blessing from God apart from the perfect sacrifice and righteousness of Christ. We will also remember that we have been already blessed beyond measure because we have God’s forgiveness and acceptance in Jesus Christ. Then, we will approach God in humility and gratitude, not with any entitlement mentality and a grumbling spirit.
This is true of a prayer of thanksgiving as well. To give thanks, we remember what the Lord has done for us in the past—how, for example, He has brought us “through many dangers, toils, and snares....” As we recollect God’s past deeds of faithfulness and deliverance, we can view our present difficulties with a different perspective—not through our myopic vision of fear and anxiety but through the vision of faith and trust in the Lord.
Some of you might have noticed that I have been talking about a well-known prayer acronym—A-C-T-S: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. I hope you can see the logic behind the order of this acronym—especially, the benefit of praying through adoration, confession, and thanksgiving before we offer up our supplications/petitions. Following this order will help us grow in our spiritual maturity. And as we grow in our spiritual walk, we will engage more and more in other forms of prayer and not just in petitions.
What is the makeup of your prayer these days? In what areas of prayer can you grow?