"A Praying LIfe" (chapter 3)

A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World By Paul E. Miller

 

Learning to Pray Like a Child: Part I: Chapters 3-8

“Become Like a Little Child”: Chapter 3

 

Become Like a Little Child

• Jesus often told his disciples to become like little children.

¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Mk. 10:14-15, NIV)

• One aspect of childlike behavior that is important in prayer is children say what is on their minds.
• There is usually very little pretense with children. They say what they are thinking, and they often speak before they think.
• This kind of genuineness and transparency should be part of our communication with our heavenly Father in prayer.
• Too often, we try to be “spiritual” when we just need to be genuine.

 

Come Messy

• The problem with coming as we are is that we are messy, and prayer makes it worse.
• We don’t know how bad we are until we try to be good. Nothing exposes our selfishness and spiritual powerlessness like prayer.
• Little children never get frozen by their selfishness. They come just as they are, totally self-absorbed.
• And we as parents welcome them.
• Our heavenly Father also welcomes us, imperfections and all.
• The gospel teaches us that the welcoming heart of God cheers us when we come to him with our wobbling, unsteady prayers.
• The criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness. Come overwhelmed with life. Come with your wandering mind. Come messy.
• Don’t try to get the prayer right; just tell God where you are and what’s on your mind—like children.
• We know that to become a Christian we shouldn’t try to fix ourselves up in order to be accepted by God.
• But when it comes to prayer, sometimes we forget that. We try to fix ourselves up or put on a front.
• Private, personal prayer is one of the last bastions of legalism.
• In order to pray like a child, you might need to unlearn the non-personal, nonreal praying you’ve been taught or seen modeled.

 

The Real you

• If you don’t come to God as you are, then you are artificial like the Pharisees.
• Unlike the disciples, who blurted out whatever they thought, the Pharisees were guarded and never told Jesus what they were thinking.
• And Jesus called them hypocrites.
• The only way to come to God is by taking off any spiritual mask. The real you has to meet the real God.
• It might be good to slow down and stop and think before we pray…then we might actually be open before God about what our hearts are troubled by.
• Our hearts and desires are probably askew, and that’s okay. You have to begin with what is real. Jesus didn’t come for the righteous. He came for sinners. All of us qualify.
• When you bring your real self to Jesus, you give him the opportunity to work on the real you.
• God would rather deal with the real thing.
• Jesus said he came for sinners, for messed-up people who keep messing up. Come dirty.
• The point of the gospel is that we are incapable of beginning with God and his kingdom.
• Many Christians pray for God’s kingdom, but all the while their lives are wrapped up in their own.
• You can’t add God’s kingdom as an overlay to your own.

 

Touching Our Father’s Heart

• The opening of the Lord’s prayer: “Our Father”: you are the center of your heavenly Father’s affection. That is where you find rest for your soul.
• If we remove prayer from the welcoming heart of God, then prayer becomes a legalistic chore. We do the duty but miss touching the heart of God.
• When we come “weary and heavy-laden” we discover God’s heart.

 

Questions

• In what ways does Jesus want us to become like little children?
• Describe the differences between coming to God messy and coming put together.
• Why is it important to come to God just as you are? Why is this hard for us?
• What kind of people did Jesus come for (Mark 2:13–17)? What kind of person must Jesus have been like—that “tax collectors and sinners” enjoyed him?
• How does the knowledge that you can come to Jesus weary, distracted, and messy (or cynical like Nathaniel) impact you? How is this like the gospel?
• What is the heart of prayer?