Christian, Don't Settle

(This article appeared in our Nov. 2011 church newsletter.)

“Christian, Don’t Settle”
by Pastor Stan Gale

May 25, 2012. I just found out that is the release date for my booklet, What is Prayer?, as part of P&R’s “Basics of the Faith” (BOF) series.

You’ve seen some of the BOF booklets in our narthex. They cover topics like justification by faith, hell, spiritual gifts and infant baptism. These booklets are intended to provide a clear, concise treatment from a Reformed perspective on a variety of topics. Most are only 32 pages.

I have long been prodding the editors at P&R to produce a booklet on the topic of prayer. It didn’t have to come from me. I just thought it should be represented among the offerings. Why?—because I believe that Reformed theology has much to contribute to an understanding and practice of prayer.

I’ve discovered that prayer can be an enigma among Reformed-minded people. They find it hard to see how prayer can play any sort of significant role when God has already planned all that comes to pass. Wouldn’t what happened have happened anyway since God had it on the books? (I might mention we have the same sort of thoughts when it comes to evangelism. After all, Jesus said He would not lose any the Father had given Him, right?)

Actually, God does speak to address this and all sorts of other questions we might have about prayer. In the booklet, I try to explore His answers. I look at things like: what prayer is, the relationship of prayer and faith, praying in the Spirit, how our time-based prayer fits into God’s eternal plan, where the power of prayer resides and other aspects that, I hope, bring a biblically-grounded perspective to bear.

I also develop the topic of corporate prayer and God’s design for that. Especially in view here is what it means for the church to be a “house of prayer” for the nations, something dear to our Lord’s heart.

I close with a section on the practice of prayer, laying out ways and means given us by God to enliven and engage us, His people, in prayer.

I am sure there are others far better qualified to write on the subject of prayer than I. But I stepped up because I didn’t see anyone else and I thought the subject needed to be included. I am of the opinion that a Reformed understanding of prayer makes prayer more substantive and more urgent than what is typically a broadly evangelical approach. I thank God for the opportunity and pray that the booklet will be of use to His church.

But here is the reason I am telling you all this. You know how when you prepare to teach something, you learn more than those you are teaching? I did learn more about prayer as I was forced to deal with a variety of issues. But what humbled me was the acute awareness of my own inadequacy in prayer.

The Spirit of God opened my eyes to what He accomplishes through my prayers and the prayers of His people. He showed me His wisdom in gathering with fellow believers for the work of prayer. He impressed upon me what could be, and how immature and ineffective individual believers and the church are without prayer.

Evidently, we are content to live spiritually impoverished lives, either oblivious or indifferent to what God has for us. That ill-placed contentment is directly correlated to the vitality of our prayer lives, personally and corporately.

So I guess I’m sharing this because God has deeply convicted me of settling for less than what He wants of me, as a person and a pastor. But it’s not just about me. It’s about each of us who bears the name of Jesus. It’s about never settling because we want to know Him more. It’s about never settling for the church just to make the budget or have programs for kids, when the power of the risen Christ is at work in and through the church for the sake of His kingdom.

May the Spirit of the risen Christ work in us a deep unsettledness that drives us to prayer.