Difficulties With Prayer

Once upon a time, there was a man who had a broken pipe under his kitchen sink. The man was not mechanically inclined, nor did he own any tools to fix the pipe himself. The man called a plumber, and explained the situation. The plumber came, with his box of tools, and began to fix the pipe. Suddenly, the first man took the wrench from the plumber, asked him to move out of the way so that he could fix the pipe himself, and sent the plumber on his way.

After a short time, the man realized that he still didn’t know how to fix the pipe, so he called the plumber again. Again the plumber returned, and began to work on the pipe. Again, the first man pushed the plumber aside, believing himself capable of fixing his own pipes, and sent the plumber on his way. Again, after a short time, the man once more confessed he could not fix the pipe on his own, and called the plumber one more time.

As analogies go, this one falls short, as all of them do. However, this analogy is a rather accurate depiction of how we sometimes approach the Lord in prayer. We get into this habit of casting all our cares onto God, then taking them back, thinking for some strange reason, that we are capable of “fixing our own pipes”. If we could fix our own problems, and broken pipes, we would never need a plumber. If we could fix our own spiritual brokenness, we would never need God.

Prayer is such a crucial part of our lives as believers, but we all have a tendency to have an issue one place or another, with our prayer lives. We might not pray as much as we know we should, or we might let things distract us when we do pray, or we might do like the man with the broken pipe, and initially go to Him in prayer, but then take back the very burdens we bear, and try to mend them or solve them, on our own.

We often hear the advice given in 1Peter 5:7, to cast all our cares upon God – because He cares for us. This is wonderful advice, but there is something missing when only verse 7 is taught. The verse just prior to this tells us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God! The Greek word used there for “humble yourself” is tapeinoo, and it means to bring yourself to a lower place, to see yourself as below in rank.

If we see ourselves this way, recognizing that we cannot fix our own problems on our own, but that God in His sovereignty, not only controls all the circumstances, but brings us through all trials and testings, for His glory, it refocuses our goal. No longer is it a game of “give it to God/take it back” but it’s merely a declaration and confession to Him, that He is LORD, and we are trusting in Him to give us the grace, and wisdom, to handle whatever it is we are burdened by.

While writing this today I had someone ask me if I have a problem in this area. I confess, I am the man who calls the plumber. Maybe not as much as I used to, but I still catch myself doing this from time to time, and it never works. Someone once told me even a pig, going to the water trough and having a brick dropped on his head, learns fairly quickly to avoid the water trough. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s an interesting example of how an animal might be trained, but we as human beings have this tendency to forget what doesn’t work. And keep trying it, again, and again.

Dealing with a diffucult issue recently has brought this issue to the forefront of my thoughts. Over the last few days I had prayed, felt little peace, wallowed around in self pity for a time, repented, and was reminded again of His sovereign hand in my life. The irony of this is, I’m currently writing a book about this exact subject – the Sovereign hand of God on an average Joe, from birth, all through his life. The average Joe in this book, is myself.

I named my personal blog, Reflections of the Times, because this is what I do. I’m not sure where the habit came from, but for some reason I often look back – last week, last year, 5 years ago, etc., to see where I was then, where I am now, and how I got here. Reflection in thought – (to consider, meditate, contemplate), to bend back in thought, to times of great trials, hardships, confusion and pain, and see God working in my life to bring me through it, is a wonderful experience. And yet just like Peter, when I take my eyes off my Lord, and consider my surroundings, instead of considering his Majesty, I begin to sink. I sink in faith, I sink in joy, in hope, in assurance.

This is a difficult thing to deal with. I praise Him for His grace that it doesn’t happen as much as it used to – and I give Him all glory for that, in that it was Him that led me out from under false teaching about my faith, and His sovereignty. He placed me under sound teachers, expositors of the Word, that in turn steered my maturing in Christ to a more solid path. When I look at what He has done, the verses that come to mind are first Isaiah 55:11, then John 16:3, then Philippians 1:6. His word will accomplish exactly what He intends for it to accomplish, He will lead His people into all truth, and He will finish what He starts, in His people! This is one awesome truth, to meditate on.

When I turn into the man who called the plumber, and try to take back my own problems, it’s not long before I remember that I cannot fix things with my own skills or abilities – but that only God controls these things. When this thought fills my mind, my thoughts next turn to the amazing promises of Scripture, that are declared in those verses above. He causes me to reflect – to consider all He has already done, and this reassures me to a place of indescribable peace.

(1Sa 12:24 Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.)

It is truly a difficult, but I believe necessary, spiritual exercise.

Growing in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, requires us to beware of errors our own, and those we have been taught, or have allowed to become a habit in our walk.

I would encourage you, as I encourage myself, with the Word, to keep your hearts and minds fastly stayed upon our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is our peace, He is our Anchor. When trials come, and they will, He will sustain us, and He will give us the grace, the wisdom, and the courage, to face them, and to deal with them.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. (Isaiah 26:3) This is a truth as solid as you will ever find.

Remember when you pray, who He is. Only He is able to keep us in perfect peace, we cannot do it on our own.