The Five Finger Prayer
Ephesians 3:20,21,
About 25 years ago, I was asked to speak at a public school, I think it was grades 4, 5, and 6, and they asked me to speak on prayer. So I tried to make it as simple, as simple could be. Luther said, “I preached that a 5-year-old might understand,” so I tried to make it as simple as I possibly could. And I came up with this graphic, this analogy, I call it the Five Finger approach to prayer. I think it was only about a 10 or 15 minute sermonette.
Here are the five W's. Every prayer point begins with a W.
1. Who
The first W is the Who, the who of prayer, that's the most important thing about prayer. Who are we praying to? If you don't get that right, you're not really praying. So who are we praying to? Christian praying is distinctive, right? It's a distinctive God that we talk to. We speak to a triune God. If you want a succinct description of him, you can go to one of the Confessions of Faith.
But here's what I have here, we pray to a wonderful, loving, caring God who wants us to know him as Father. “Our Father, which art in heaven,” those are the words of our Lord. He's a father in terms of his care and intimacy. In terms of His power and authority, he's a king. So we go to a father who reigns, he’s King of kings, he's absolutely sovereign. That means in everything that happens in your life, in my life, it's always according to his will and purpose, nothing happens outside of his will and that's one of the greatest comforts as Christians. I think it was R.C. Sproul who said, “The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which the child of God rests his head every night, giving perfect peace.” That's a beautiful quote by R.C. Sproul. And that's why we can pray confidently, boldly, knowing that God can do, and often will do, far above what we could ever ask or think.
2. What
Second W word, or finger of prayer is What. What should we pray? And the Bible lets us know that we can pray or bring anything to God; all our cares, all our worries, all our anxieties, all our burdens, cast all your care upon him. That's what Peter says, small care, big care. But if we're going to shape our prayers by our Bible, I think we do have to try to hone our conscience a little bit more and our prayers should be for the most part big prayers, kingdom prayers, spiritual growth prayers, church prayers, devil world sin fighting prayers.
Now, if you were to examine the prayers of the Apostle Paul, you often find they begin on a note of thanksgiving. That's a beautiful way to begin prayer, begin on a note of thanksgiving. But rarely, (and this is not only my perspective but you can listen to Alister Begg, I’ll quote him), rarely do they tie to material well-being or comfort. Rarely. We are to pray for our daily bread, that's material, I realize that. Listen to Alistair Begg, he said,
“Now, to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
About 25 years ago, I was asked to speak at a public school, I think it was grades 4, 5, and 6, and they asked me to speak on prayer. So I tried to make it as simple, as simple could be. Luther said, “I preached that a 5-year-old might understand,” so I tried to make it as simple as I possibly could. And I came up with this graphic, this analogy, I call it the Five Finger approach to prayer. I think it was only about a 10 or 15 minute sermonette.
Here are the five W's. Every prayer point begins with a W.
1. Who
The first W is the Who, the who of prayer, that's the most important thing about prayer. Who are we praying to? If you don't get that right, you're not really praying. So who are we praying to? Christian praying is distinctive, right? It's a distinctive God that we talk to. We speak to a triune God. If you want a succinct description of him, you can go to one of the Confessions of Faith.
But here's what I have here, we pray to a wonderful, loving, caring God who wants us to know him as Father. “Our Father, which art in heaven,” those are the words of our Lord. He's a father in terms of his care and intimacy. In terms of His power and authority, he's a king. So we go to a father who reigns, he’s King of kings, he's absolutely sovereign. That means in everything that happens in your life, in my life, it's always according to his will and purpose, nothing happens outside of his will and that's one of the greatest comforts as Christians. I think it was R.C. Sproul who said, “The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which the child of God rests his head every night, giving perfect peace.” That's a beautiful quote by R.C. Sproul. And that's why we can pray confidently, boldly, knowing that God can do, and often will do, far above what we could ever ask or think.
2. What
Second W word, or finger of prayer is What. What should we pray? And the Bible lets us know that we can pray or bring anything to God; all our cares, all our worries, all our anxieties, all our burdens, cast all your care upon him. That's what Peter says, small care, big care. But if we're going to shape our prayers by our Bible, I think we do have to try to hone our conscience a little bit more and our prayers should be for the most part big prayers, kingdom prayers, spiritual growth prayers, church prayers, devil world sin fighting prayers.
Now, if you were to examine the prayers of the Apostle Paul, you often find they begin on a note of thanksgiving. That's a beautiful way to begin prayer, begin on a note of thanksgiving. But rarely, (and this is not only my perspective but you can listen to Alister Begg, I’ll quote him), rarely do they tie to material well-being or comfort. Rarely. We are to pray for our daily bread, that's material, I realize that. Listen to Alistair Begg, he said,
"Praying about health, which is probably number one on the list for Christians in the west, is almost non-existent in the Bible."
Dr. D.A. Carson says something very similar. But what is emphasized in your Bible, in terms of prayer, big prayers, soul needs, kingdom needs, they matter more than everyday life needs or necessities. The prayers of the Apostle, if you read Ephesians 1, Ephesians 3, you go back to Ephesians 5, or Ephesians 6, they focus on spiritual growth, deeper knowledge of God, greater love for Christ, spiritual strength, renewal, growth in holiness, growth in love, discernment, good works, unity, maturity in the church, and in the spread of the gospel.
3. Where
The third W is Where. This is pretty simple. We can pray anywhere. We can pray anywhere. In closets, Jesus talks about praying in your closet, private prayer. We can pray in church, we can pray on mountaintops, in the wilderness. Jonah is found praying in the belly of a fish. Paul and Silas in Philippi are found praying and singing hymns in a jail cell.
4. When
Fourth W, When. Again, pretty simple, we can pray anytime. There's no set time or prescribed time for our prayers. Ephesians 6, “Praying at all times,” says Paul, “at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication.”
5. Why
Here's the last finger, the last W of prayer, Why pray? And here we could give a lot of reasons. You start off with obedience, we're commanded to pray. The biggest reason, I think Jesus captures it in that prayer of prayers, “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,” God's glory. That's the greatest reason for praying, God's glory. We also should pray in terms of developing grace. It teaches us humility, dependency, perseverance. It promotes thanksgiving, praise, joy, peace, hope, love. The holiest of men have always been men of prayer. You can't separate these two things, holiness and prayer. Robert Murray McShane, the 19th century Scottish pastor known for his holiness said this,
3. Where
The third W is Where. This is pretty simple. We can pray anywhere. We can pray anywhere. In closets, Jesus talks about praying in your closet, private prayer. We can pray in church, we can pray on mountaintops, in the wilderness. Jonah is found praying in the belly of a fish. Paul and Silas in Philippi are found praying and singing hymns in a jail cell.
4. When
Fourth W, When. Again, pretty simple, we can pray anytime. There's no set time or prescribed time for our prayers. Ephesians 6, “Praying at all times,” says Paul, “at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication.”
5. Why
Here's the last finger, the last W of prayer, Why pray? And here we could give a lot of reasons. You start off with obedience, we're commanded to pray. The biggest reason, I think Jesus captures it in that prayer of prayers, “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,” God's glory. That's the greatest reason for praying, God's glory. We also should pray in terms of developing grace. It teaches us humility, dependency, perseverance. It promotes thanksgiving, praise, joy, peace, hope, love. The holiest of men have always been men of prayer. You can't separate these two things, holiness and prayer. Robert Murray McShane, the 19th century Scottish pastor known for his holiness said this,
"When a man is on his knees before God, that he is, and nothing more."
It's one of the hardest disciplines, isn't it? Prayer. It is, if we're honest, but it's probably the most important. J.C. Ryle says,
"Prayer is the life breath of the soul and prayer is the best proof of our conversion."
Do you pray?
Posted in Pastor Devotional