A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World
By Paul E. Miller
“Learning to Be Helpless” - Chapter 6
Learning to Be Helpless
- Children naturally tend to be more dependent and open to their own helplessness.
- As we get older we desire independence and we become allergic to helplessness.
- When we are confident in ourselves and think we already know the solution, we won’t pray.
Prayer = Helplessness
- God wants us to come to him empty-handed, weary, and heavy-laden.
- Prayer is bringing our helplessness to Jesus.
- Prayer is an expression of who we are…we are a living incompleteness.
- We were saved as helpless sinners; why should prayer be any different?
- Prayer mirrors the gospel: helplessness leads to grace.
A Wrong View of Maturity
- Mature Christians pray more, but it is not because they are better at performing a duty.
- Mature Christians have learned how weak and sinful they are, which leads to a larger view of grace.
- Weakness is the channel that allows them to access grace.
- More maturity=more dependence.
When You Open the Door
- Themes of good prayer:
-Helplessness
-Relationship
-Repentance
-Asking
-Story
-Hope
- When you open a door to God, you find some amazing treasures inside.
“Crying ‘Abba’ - Continuously” - Chapter 7
Seeking God
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1)
Our hearts are restless and will be restless until we find rest in God.
Our nagging personal faults can drive us into a continuous praying life.
Poverty of Spirit, Not Discipline
- It is poverty of spirit that will lead us into a deeper and more continuous prayer life, not more personal self-discipline.
- The Holy Spirit prays with us and for us in our dependence on the Father.
- Abba – childlike, dependent
- Poverty of spirit makes room for His Spirit.
Paul’s Example & Teaching
- “Unceasing prayer” is Paul’s description of how he prayed and how he wanted the church to pray.
- Paul frequently used words like:
-Continuously
-Without ceasing
-Night and Day
-Always
-At all times
The Jesus Prayer
- Early model of a short prayer:
-“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
- A praying life isn’t simply about a morning prayer time; it is about slipping into prayer at odd hours of the day:
-Not because we are disciplined
-Because we are aware of our poverty of spirit.
“Bending Your Heart to your Father” - Chapter 8
An Anxious Heart
- Anxiety in our hearts can become a springboard to bending our hearts to God in prayer.
- Instead of letting our anxiety churn over and over in our hearts, bring it to God.
- Our anxiety can become a momentary prayer.
Brief History of Anxiety and Prayer
- Continuous prayer was normal in Eden before the Fall.
- Broken communication with God because of sin and guilt also brought with it anxiety.
- Anxiety is unable to relax in the face of chaos; continuous prayer clings to the Father in the face of chaos.
- Dependence frees us from anxiety.
- We become anxious when we take a godlike stance, trying to control everything, and occupying ourselves with things too great for us.
- We return to sanity by becoming like little children, dependent, and resting in our Father.
Invitations for Prayer
- When you pray continuously, moments when you are prone to anxiety can become invitations to drift into prayer.
- Anxiety transformed into prayer brings us from worrying to watching—watching what God will do in his unfolding drama.