Praying like our life depends upon it...

"Don't pray hard.  Pray as if your life depends upon it."

Moses Chung, Director of CRC Home Missions

Today is our monthly day of prayer at First CRC of Seattle.  We began this emphasis on prayer four or five months ago, though it has been a continual theme of my ministry since I arrived.  Prayer is not important, it is vital.

Prayer is the life-blood of any gospel- and grace-centered ministry.  It empowers and drives every dimension of life and ministry.  It is the vehicle through which God moves.  An individual's and church's spirituality can be directly measured by the extent and passion for prayer.

So what?

I think most of us as individuals, and most churches as a reflection of the individuals within them, struggle with prayer.  When we hear the call to prayer, we try to be more faithful.  We use our will power, and we work hard to be more faithful in prayer.  The results are often mixed even in the short-term.  This is why Moses encourages folks not to "pray hard."

Why?

Because our will-power does not change our heart.  To pray hard means we do it.  We use prayer as a means of manipulating God to do what we want.  Of course that is not our stated goal!  Yet, it is the focus of our short-term prayer.

How do we pray as if our life depends upon it?

This is a spiritual question that gets to the heart of a gospel-centered life.  Because of our deep-seated unbelief that manifests in outward sins of the flesh and inward sins of the flesh such as self righteousness, we desperately need God's grace!  We cannot walk in faith without it.

Why is this not part of every church's teaching and life?

Answer: Because it is so God- and Christ-centered that it brings us to true
humility, which is not an American (or fallen human) virtue.

Yet, this is the gospel.

When we come to know it, we will live it.  How?  We will pray like our life depends upon it.