Prayer: Past, Present, and Future



Daniel 9:22

He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding."

Anyone who has followed this blog for awhile and consistently know of my struggles concerning prayer. I have a huge stoical streak running through me that sees fate (or Providence in Christian terminology), being the operative force in the universe, not my puny opinions--or anyone else's. God alone is capable of discerning what needs to happen and I often get trapped in the corner of "Does He really need my advice and counsel?" Like God needs a guidance counselor.

This is really a serious theological issue and one that most Christians don't really probe too deeply upon because its implications are troubling. For if God ordains what comes to pass, do our prayers have any impact on the progression?

I would rather ask hard questions rather than avoid them. Sweeping concerns under the rug, over time, create mounds of doubt that are easily tripped over, and are even more dangerous. Here is where I have come to in my reflection and searching of the Scriptures. Jesus Himself prayed routinely, and His most intense times of prayer were when He was facing particularly challenging times ahead. He was ministered to in prayer and given encouragement and energy for the task awaiting. I too need such an impartation when facing the perplexities of life. Not so that I can tell God what to do but for Him to tell me.

Prayer for me in the morning is a way to gird my mind for the challenges ahead, some of which are known and most of which are not. With going back to school as a guidance counselor first thing Monday morning after being off for over a month, I have both excitement and trepidation for what the year holds. I have been doing this work for 25 years. I still get challenged to the end of my wits intellectually, emotionally, and psychogicallly. Weak prayer can mean we don't take on big enough challenges. I will be praying Monday morning for sure.

There is a "present" in prayer which is presence. When I come into God's presence, He presents Himself to me. As a Heavenly Father He challenges, sometimes chastises, and consoles. Again, not because He needs anything, but I do.  The relational aspect of prayer of getting to know Him and His purposes is really not much different than getting to know a person. Only a difference in scale. I listen, I learn. I communicate. Not because I necessarily always want or need something. Instead, it is someone that I desire to be with. I thought about how I would feel if an individual approached me consistently and just wanted me to do stuff or give them stuff and really didn't seem to care much about me. Treating me as some kind of spiritual MAC (ATM) machine. Does God feel used? I wonder.

There is also a past to prayer. While Jesus obviously did not need to be forgiven for His transgressions, we do. We can't go back in time and change what we have thought and done that have caused harm to ourselves, others, and God (Jesus on the Cross and God's continous aunguish for a lost world). But, through prayer and confession, God can set things right and cleanse us from unrighteousness. A lack of prayer about our past can indicate that we don't think we sin much or not at all. On the theological level, most of us know that this is quite prideful. Yet practically speaking, how much time do we spend asking God to grant us specific forgiveness for specific sins? Like dirty laundry, each piece needs to be washed. Just having a washing machine does little. It is a start, but the process must be enacted.

Prayer is this amazing conduit to eternity and the One who inhabits it. In fact, it is only portal to the past, present, and future.  We know not the future, we cannot get the past back. Even the present eludes us in how we are to be. God holds all in His hand. In knowing Him, he holds us.