God has been speaking to me about prayer over the last 6 months.  It's interesting that he would begin stirring something within me months before he would take my family and me down a new path.

God first began speaking to me about prayer through Hebrews 5:7, which says, "While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death.  And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God." (NLT)

Any time I read something that explains the way Jesus lived his life, I try to pay attention.  The part that really caught my eye was that Jesus prayed with pleading, a loud cry, and tears.  Often times we turn to the Lord's Prayer to learn how to pray.  While it's true that the Lord's Prayer correctly teaches us what to pray for, Hebrews 5:7 offers great instruction about the manner in which we should pray.  It reminds me of James 5:16 where the Bible says, "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."(NLT)

I don't think we typically pray like Jesus & James teach us.  At this point I should say that there are obviously different types of prayer and not all issues need to go to the deepest levels of prayer.  For example, there is usually no need to go into deep intercession over the meal you are about to eat; a simple, honest "thank you" is good.  Having said that, I've been in too many meetings at church and through too many situations where we really never got past the outer courtyard of prayer to truly seek the Lord's help for deep issues.  It's almost as if we are saying, "We should pray here because we are Christians and that's the way we start a meeting, but let's make it quick so we can move things along."

We need to learn how to earnestly pray for a situation that is troubling.  We need to know and believe, down deep, that God is the source of all help and blessing.  Is your marriage on the rocks, are your finances in the tank, are you struggling with a sin, are you addicted to something, do you need an answer…pray earnestly!  The Bible says that kind of prayer, from a righteous person, has great power.  (I might add that you are righteous if you have made Jesus your Lord…but that is a topic for another day).  I want to learn to pray like Jesus…with pleadings, loud cries (desperation), tears, and a deep reverence for God.

The second thing concerning prayer that God has been reminding me of is found in both Numbers 3 & Ezra 3.  Although it is a little subtle, both of these verses deal with setting a foundation of prayer.  Numbers 3: a year after Moses came down Mt. Sinai, to the sounds of pagan celebration and the "golden calf", he went back up the mountain and God gave Moses a plan.  Moses knew he needed to get alone to seek God for direction and a plan.  In his commentary on this book Jon Courson says, "Although the temptation is to reverse the order, we need to agonize in prayer before we organize a plan."  I love that quote!

Likewise, in Ezra 3 the exiled Israelites that returned with Zerubbabel didn't lift a hand towards rebuilding the temple until they rebuilt the altar and offered many sacrifices and celebrated the Festival of Shelters.  Before we lay a foundation for the building (whatever that building is), we need to lay a foundation of prayer.

Again, I have been around too many people (I, too, can be like this if I'm not careful) who have wanted to get a committee together, organize a plan, and set a course for a solution without one bit of earnest prayer.  They never built a foundation of prayer and so the foundation of the building is not set properly.  This could lead to great disappointment and devastation.

At this point you may be asking yourself, "Ok, but what does earnest prayer look like."  Maybe you think that I'm one that has to be shouting, jumping, barking or whatever else is the latest trend.  The answer is, it may look like that or it may look just the opposite.  Earnestness is not found in the volume of your voice, but your desperation for God.  When we are truly desperate and believe God is the only answer, we tend to pray with a little more fervency. 

When I pray I love to walk (or pace) and feel a burden for what I'm interceding for.  I can pray with a loud voice and cry out to God as much as the next person.  However, I have prayed for the last 5 years with a man who is in his 80's.  He is a bit frail, as you can imagine an 80 year old man would be.  He is soft spoken, but when he prays, he prays with earnestness.  His volume stays the same, but the intensity and heart in his prayer is sincere and obvious to all.  I believe that is the earnest prayer James was speaking of and Jesus epitomized.

My point in saying this is for us to remember to turn to God in prayer first; and when we pray, to pray earnestly.  Before we start planning, preparing, and organizing let's lay a deep foundation of prayer and intercession.  Let's turn to God with pleading and tears and believe that God is our only option.