I have a confession to make: sometimes I get stuck praying the same safe prayers over and over and over again.
Lord, thank you for this meal, bless it. Amen.
Or, Lord, bless my marriage; provide for our family; show up in our day today. Amen.
And do you know why I get stuck praying prayers like this?
I think it’s because those safe prayers have worked. I pray safe prayers like the ones above and God shows up.
And do you know why I call these types of prayer safe?
Because they don’t require much from me. Or, much faith at all. If God doesn’t “bless my marriage,” will it fall apart? I don’t know, it hasn’t yet…
They’re safe because there’s minimal chance of disappointment if God doesn’t answer the way I think He should.
Safe prayers.
Don’t get me wrong. We should pray for those everyday needs. But, what I’m getting at is this: what if instead of praying a prayer like, “Lord, bless my marriage, provide for our family, show up in our day,” we prayed similar words that came from a place of deep desperation?
What if our prayer life had some shape? A backbone? What if we approached the heart of God, the throne room of God, with confidence and authority? Would we still pray the safe prayers? Or would we be more specific? Would we lay our hearts out if Jesus were sitting in the room with us today?
Because He is. Whether you open your mouth and utter words to Him or not, He’s with you. He’s with you wherever you go.
“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah 23:23-24 NIV
God is not just living in some mysterious space, waiting on us to get things right. He is not just the “God in heaven;” He is the God in our “everyday lives.” He is present. He is near. He is attentive to our needs. See 1 Peter 3:12.
Okay, so let’s break this down. If Jesus were in your living room; if the God of the universe were in the room with you right now, what would you say? What would you ask Him for?
When was the last time you poured out your heart to the Lord? And I mean like, prayed a prayer where you laid out your soul?
Nothing hidden and everything exposed—just you and Jesus.
No more safe prayers.
Lay it all out. Pray it all out. Pray from the deepest part of your gut.
Here’s what I believe, how we approach God matters. When we pray, the way in which we pray, the posture of our heart, matters.
In this post, I want to begin to address some questions you may have as you start to Pray Like You Mean It.
1. How do we approach God?
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:16 NIV
When we approach the King, our God and our creator, our Lord, we don’t walk into His presence unsure of why we’re there. We come into His presence, into the Holy of Holies, because we have an invitation by the Living God.
We’ve been invited into the throne room through our bloodline (Romans 8:17).
Where Jesus goes, we go. What Jesus does, we do. What Jesus has victory over, we have victory over. See John 14:12-14.
Paul says, “Let us approach God’s throne…” To be clear, that’s an invitation to everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. You and I can approach God’s throne.
More than that, Paul tells us HOW we should approach God. Paul says, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence…” Some translations say boldness. Either way, the posture of our heart, not only the words, matters to Jesus. When we approach God with any posture other than confidence, we’re doing it wrong.
Two very different people can pray the same words and have two very different outcomes. Why? Because it’s not only about the words that we say. It’s about the heart behind our words. It’s about our posture.
This word “confidence” could be swapped out for unreservedness, outspokenness, frankness, bluntness, or assurance.
Let’s try to swap it out…
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with UNRESERVEDNESS, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Let’s try a different word…
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with FRANKNESS, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Ok, last one…
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with BLUNTNESS, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Let me try to balance this out before we move on. When we approach God’s throne, when we pray, we aren’t coming to God in arrogance! We’re not coming with a bad attitude or a cocky prayer.
We’re coming to His throne because we belong through the blood of Christ. We can approach the throne of God with confidence, not because of who we are, but because of who Jesus is.
I heard someone teach recently that every time Jesus prays, He starts by addressing God as “Father.” Through this model, Jesus, as our example, teaches us that every time we approach the Living God, we should approach Him as our father.
Check this verse out:
So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
Matthew 7:11 NLT
This can be a tough perspective to take for those of us with poor images of our dads (not ME of course!) or those with dad issues because oftentimes we filter the way we see our Heavenly Father through the way we see our earthly father.
This might even be evident in the way that we approach God in the first place. Do we enter His gates with thanksgiving? Or, do we approach God like we’re waiting on a beating?
In other words, are we coming to the throne room believing that God is good and He cares for us and has good gifts for us? Or are we approaching Him in fear? Or feeling like we’re wasting His time?
The way we approach God matters.
I’m going to break here to give time to process because this is a little heavy. So check back soon for the next part. But, before we go, I want to say one last thing as we close:
In case no one has told you lately you are so incredibly loved by the God of the universe. And I am not saying that in a cliche or cheap way. It’s the truth and I pray that the love of God would envelop you immensely right now as you read this. There hasn’t been a day in your life that God hasn’t been rooting for you. There hasn’t been a single day for as long as you’ve been on this planet that God hasn’t cared so deeply for you, and about what you are going through. He has been there through it all. All the good and the bad and the ugly, and even the things you wish He hadn’t seen!
So, safe prayers gotta go! We can no longer show up to God’s throne with a meek voice, a shallow vision, and safe prayers. We must take our rightful place as sons and daughters of the Most High, who believe that God wants us to come into His presence AND that He has good thoughts about us and good gifts for us.
So, listen I have to tell you: There’s hope for you. There’s hope for you to find your place in God’s throne room. You belong.
There’s hope for you today.