I am re-reading Paul Miller’s book: A Praying Life for the 3rd time. Go here to order a copy! I don’t say that to impress you! It is not impressive! The reason I am reading it… again is because I am so dull, weak, and needy when it comes to prayer! Maybe that is why I love this book so much. It is for dull, weak, and needy people like me. Below are some of my favorite quotes from the book. Enjoy and be stirred to pray!
Here Goes:
You have true intimacy, based not on how good you are but on the goodness of Jesus. Not only that, Jesus is your brother. You are a fellow heir with him.
Oddly enough, many people struggle to learn how to pray because they are focusing on praying, not on God. Paul Miller A Praying Life
If God is sovereign, then he is in control of all the details of my life. If he is loving, then he is going to be shaping the details of my life for my good. If he is all-wise, then he’s not going to do everything I want because I don’t know what I need. If he is patient, then he is going to take time to do all this. When we put all these things together – God’s sovereignty, love, wisdom, and patience – we have a divine story.
Learning to pray doesn’t offer us a less busy life: it offers us a less busy heart.
Dependency is the heartbeat of prayer.
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28. The criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness. Come overwhelmed with life. Come with your wandering mind. Come messy.
Your heart could be, and often is, askew. That’s okay. You have to begin with what is real. Jesus didn’t come for the righteous, He came for sinners. All of us qualify. The very things we try to get rid of – our weariness, our distractedness, our messiness – are what get us in the front door! That’s how the gospel works. That’s how prayer works.
Don’t be embarrassed by how needy your heart is and how much it needs to cry out for grace. Just start to pray. Paul Miller A Praying Life
Ironically, many attempts to teach people to pray encourage the creation of a split personality. You’re taught to “do it right.” Instead of the real, messy your meeting God, you try to re-create yourself by becoming spiritual. No wonder prayer is so unsatisfying. So instead of being paralyzed by who you are, begin with who you are. That’s how the gospel works. God begins with you. It’s a little scary because you are messed up.
Many Christians pray mechanically for God’s kingdom (for missionaries, the church, and so on), but all the while their lives are wrapped up in their own kingdoms. You can’t add God’s kingdom as an overlay to your own.
When he (Jesus) prays, he is not performing a duty; he is getting close to his Father.
Want to read more about prayer? Check out these posts:
So good! So necessary! Why do we make it so complicated?