Discipline 2, Part 1: The Proof Is In The Pudding...

Ever get uneasy when you read scriptures about prayer. It seems so simple. Seek...find. Ask...receive. Knock...door opening. Whatsoever you ask in prayer believing you shall receive. Seems very positive. Seems like it's saying that God answer's our prayers. Right? What is your actual experience? I find that there is a great chasm between my prayers and the answers to my prayers at times. How about you?

So the question really boils down to this. Are the scriptures faulty? Is there a lot more unanswered requests than the scriptures bare witness to? Is it just that the times were different then? Do we have to always give God a way out? Should we end our prayers with "if it be your will Father" so that just in case God doesn't answer so we can rest in our knowledge that it just wasn't God's will and not a problem with our praying?

Richard Foster suggests that the issue is really with us. The scripture is absolutely trustworthy. However, prayer like the other disciplines is something that we must learn.

He gives a wonderful example. Imagine you go to watch TV one night and you get no picture or sound. You go check the plug, adjust some of the knobs, maybe you give it a THUNK. But how are you really going to tell if your efforts have been successful? You will know if you get a picture and sound back! Duh...

Foster says that assessing the power of our prayers is the same. We learn from Christ Himself. He is our Teacher in the school of prayer. And we know when we have been successful when we receive the answers to the prayer that we sought out.

Sometimes it's helpful to make an asessment of where you are.

• Are you experiencing the biblical definition of successful prayer or something less?
• Do you see Prayer as a discipline that can be learned?
• How have you sought out the Teacher in this area?
• Are you in the process of learning?

Summary of the book: "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster