Gazing upon God in prayer (1)

The gift of prayer is an invitation to commune with Almighty God.

This free gift of intimacy with our maker is a grace bought by the blood of Jesus (Mat. 27:51);
we must not treat it merely as a means to getting our requests granted.

As the Lord's prayer begins with a focus on God himself (Mat. 6:9),
so our prayers should begin and be carried by the gazing of our souls upon the face of God.

Yes, before we address God as the giver of every good gift (Js. 1:17),
we should address him as our Father, for this is the order Jesus laid out for us (Lk. 11).

In fact, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord should be the one thing we ask for (Ps. 27:4).

We are to seek the presence of God continually (1 Chr. 16:11),
to search after him with all our heart and with all our soul (Deut. 4:29).

And we are to seek him earnestly, crying with David, "my flesh faints for you" (Ps. 63:1),
remembering we never cry out in vain, for all who seek God rejoice and are glad in him (Ps. 40:16).

As we come before God in prayer, he wants us to fix our eyes on Jesus,
the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2).

For it is as we gaze upon the face of Christ that we will persevere in the faith (Heb. 12:3),
and it is as we keep our eyes always on the Lord that we will not be shaken (Ps. 16:8).

The most basic practice of Christian prayer is the inclining of the soul towards God,
and so the first lesson in prayer we must learn is to be in his presence.

After all, those who dwell in God's house know him,
and those who know God have eternal life (Jn. 17:3).

Let us, then, strive above all else to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives (Ps. 27:4).

Here are five simple ways we might work towards this:

1. Begin each day, and each prayer, praising God for who he is
2. Take time out throughout each day to think about and delight in who God is
3. Pray through the biblical prayers of adoration, (e.g. 1 Sam. 2, Luke 1, Ps. 19, Ps. 145).

4. Read scripture (e.g. Ex. 33, Ps. 16, Ps. 23, Ps. 27, Ps. 130, Ps. 131) and meditate on God
5. Read relevant books, e.g. the pursuit of God - Tozer; desiring God - Piper


May God grant you abundant joy in his presence,
Jeff :)