Prayer is a verbal expression of faith. Faith is not a vague sense of well-being, but is specific reliance on God to do something (which was described as acting faith), or to be something in our need (described as resting faith). Prayer is a means of defining our expectation of what God will do or be.

    By its very nature, living by faith will involve a well-developed prayer life.

The Most Holy Place of prayer

    Hebrews 10:19-22 paints an interesting picture of prayer:

    Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith. (Emphasis added.)

    Herod the Great built the Temple in Jerusalem that was in use during Jesus' lifetime. The single building which was the Temple proper consisted of an enclosed Porch, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place. A double curtain separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. (See Figure 6 on the next page.) The Holy Place contained the altar of incense, the table of showbread, and the lampstand. Only the officiating priests could enter this first room. They brought in the morning and evening incense, trimmed the lamps daily, and replaced the showbread every Sabbath. The second room, the Most Holy Place, had no furnishings. (Prior to the fall of Jerusalem, the Most Holy Place in Solomon's Temple contained the Ark of the Covenant.) It was here that the Glory of God resided. Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and that but once a year after offering sacrifice and making careful preparation. The Temple proper was not a public meeting place.

    The double curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place formed a labyrinth. The curtain was oriented north-to-south. The High Priest would enter at the south side of the curtain (entering from the Holy Place) and thread his way through the narrow passage between the two curtains, emerging into the Most Holy Place from the north end of the curtain. Scripture refers to this double curtain assemblage as a curtain or veil.

    The Temple in Jesus' time included not only the Temple proper, but a number of courtyards and dividing walls. There was a large courtyard surrounding the central Temple structure that Gentiles could enter. In the center of this Court of the Gentiles, a smaller walled courtyard called the Women's Court, was provided for both Jewish men and women. Only devout Jewish men could pass through the Women's Court and then enter the innermost Court of Israel. The Temple building itself stood in the center of the restricted Court of Israel. As shown in Figure 6, the Temple structure included an outdoor platform on which both the Altar for Burnt Offerings and the Temple proper were located. Entrance into the Temple Porch was through an outer curtain.

    Something amazing happened at the moment Jesus died. The double curtain that separated the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). At three o'clock on Friday afternoon, this room that no man could see on pain of death, was suddenly exposed. That it was directly connected to Jesus' death was undeniable.

    One can imagine what may have happened next. It may have been one of the most humorous incidents in all of Scripture. The Sabbath was to start in about three hours. After sundown, all work would be prohibited. How to clear the men's inner courtyard of all curious bystanders, how to get this curtain temporarily repaired so that the Sabbath sacrifices could resume, how to stop the priests who had been in the area from saying too much, and how to get it all done in three hours must have caused untold consternation. And all of this was taking place on the important Passover Sabbath when Jerusalem was filled with expatriate Jews! Can you imagine the almost comical spectacle of these weary Sanhedrin members who had been awake all Thursday night conducting Jesus' trials, trying to direct repairs to the damage without setting foot inside the sacred room?

    Do you revel in your "confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body" (Hebrews 10:19-20)? Can you imagine what it must have been like for an officiating priest standing in the Porch or Holy Place on that Friday afternoon to see the curtain torn in two and to then be exposed to the area where the Glory of God resided? He would have been gripped with overpowering fear, expecting to die immediately. Do we have any appreciation for what it means to be able to boldly enter into the Most Holy Place ourselves and directly petition Almighty God?

    In prayer, I often visualize myself in the Most Holy Place. In that Place, I have direct access to Almighty God. There is no time limit to meet. I can come as frequently as I want and stay as long as I like. "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22). But I want to use my privileged time well. I don't dare be frivolous. I want to ask Him for things that please Him, and I also want to ask Him to do things that only He can accomplish. I want to take full advantage of that privilege for His sake, for my sake, and for the sake of ministry.

    How do you spend your time in the Most Holy Place?

The Spirit's help in prayer

    As fallible human beings, we cannot possibly know what God wants to ultimately accomplish in each thing we might pray about. We have general guidelines in Scripture, but explicit instruction for praying about a specific need is usually lacking.

    God has provided a wonderful and practical solution to this problem. Romans 8:25-27 says,

    But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

    The Spirit does two things for us in prayer. First, He intercedes for us so that even though we might not know how best to state our request, the Spirit molds our request into a form that God can answer. At some time, most of us have prayed intently for something and then have seen our prayer answered in a more perfect way than we had imagined. It was clear that God had heard and answered our prayer, but it was also evident that He did it in His own way rather than according to our inadequate request. This, I believe, is the work of the Spirit in taking that request and molding it so that it becomes a viable and answerable petition.

    Secondly, the Spirit may actually reveal to us specific details regarding a request. He may show us what to pray for as well as setting other guidelines so that the form of the request is exactly what He intends to answer.^[1] I believe it is appropriate to select major topics that we want to pray about without knowing precisely what we will be requesting. In the initial stages, we may pray generally for the topic but spend considerably more time praying for specific direction as to what we should request. Subsequently, after He shows us His will, we can then ask God very specifically for what we believe He will do in response to our faith.

^[1] Read a biography of J.O. Fraser for an example of this type of prayer in his request for the salvation of the Lisu people in China. (Mountain Rain, by Eileen Fraser Crossman, or Behind the Ranges by Mrs. Howard Taylor.)

    There is a wonderful opportunity to grow in faith through this process of asking the Spirit to define precise areas of prayer. At the same time, we must avoid overconfidence and reliance on our own strength and wisdom. We must also avoid presuming on God and demanding that He reveal His will to us. In many cases, it is not His will that we should know how He intends to answer our prayer.

    Be sensitive to God's leading and use the opportunity for growth in faith. At the same time, be cautious and aware of your own fallibility before Almighty God.

    One of the capacities of the human mind is its ability to gain insight concerning an unsolved problem through the process of discussion. This same capacity of the mind can be used in prayer.

    Often, the process of praying about something will give further insight into how to proceed in prayer for that need. Allow the Spirit to use this human faculty to direct you in prayer. In the early stages of praying for a new topic, bring the need to God while acknowledging that you are uncertain what you should request. Then allow Him to remold your request into that which He actually wants to accomplish. Do not be afraid to see your request change significantly from what you first prayed for.

Our approach in prayer

    We need to briefly evaluate prayer formats. Generally, when you read biographies of men or women who have spent much time in prayer, you will see that they used some form of a notebook with lists of items and individuals needing prayer. Typically, you will also read of them making notations of answered prayer.

    Personally, much as I can understand the "efficiency" of prayer notebooks, I have tried this method numerous times and have always abandoned it as being too mechanical.^[2] (Presently, I am trying to keep a list that I occasionally use, but I spend most of my time in less structured prayer.)

^[2] To be honest, my problem may simply be that it takes more energy! There is nothing objectionable about reading prayers whether they are from the Psalms or other Scripture, meaningful liturgical prayers, or ones we ourselves have written which express the depth of our supplication.

    If you are just beginning to spend concentrated time in prayer, let me make the following suggestions. First, don't adopt a format that will make prayer drudgery for you, irrespective of its presumed efficiency. Secondly, place the emphasis on time spent with Jesus rather than on requests for ministry or people.

    Have you ever attempted to pray without an agenda? You will need both privacy and ample unstructured time. (My formal^[3] prayer time while kneeling is done in the evening because this fits my schedule best. I generally use this prayer format on evenings when I will not be working the following day. At least once a week I like to spend two to four hours or more in a single prayer time.)

^[3] I am defining formal prayer as planned prayer time, which—for me—is done while kneeling. (A number of years ago, to spare my knees, I began using a single pillow my young daughter made for me as a gift. Then I needed two thick pillows. Now I use a slanted board placed between the floor and the chair with a large pillow that I can lay on. My knees have had enough!) In contrast, spontaneous prayer may occur anytime during the day or while lying awake at night.

    To pray without an agenda, you go before God, saying in effect, "I will be here for the next two hours. I want to enjoy being with You, but I don't have many things I plan to ask You for. I will let You be responsible for what happens; if You want, you can bring specific thoughts and requests to my mind."

    There can be a great advantage in allowing longer blocks of time for prayer. If I have a sense of restlessness and futility in prayer, it is almost always in the first part of the prayer time. After I have been praying for 45 minutes, it is likely that I will enjoyably continue praying for another hour or two. And yes, there are times when I quit early simply because the time is not producing satisfactory results.

    There are times when prayer without an agenda becomes intense, and I leave my prayer time feeling exhilarated. On the other hand, last night was an example of the extreme opposite. I "prayed" for almost four hours, but this morning as I am writing, I can remember little that took place. Nor can I even relate to having had a sense of awe from being in the Presence of God. When I finally left my study, I was groggy and most certainly had slept during my prayer time.

    I tell you this because unrealistic expectations will certainly hinder your prayer life. My prayer time is always worthwhile, but to say the least, it is not always intense.

    I more frequently pray by "waiting on God" for a certain request. As an outgrowth of my prayer for faith, God has given me a specific ministry that has an element of absolute impossibility from a human perspective. Even though I have spent many hours laboring in this ministry, I am acutely aware that my effort will have no effect unless God does the work.

    As a result, I have spent many extended times praying while "waiting on God" regarding this area of ministry. Even though there are many requests I can—and do—make, I will often acknowledge to Jesus that I am coming to Him as an advocate for the group of people I am praying for. During that "waiting" time, many petitions certainly come to mind. Equally important, however, is the sense that I have entered the Most Holy Place in behalf of those people because of their need. The issue is not the number of requests I bring to God, but the act of holding the need of these people before Him for that period of time.

    There is no esoteric power in the prayer format I have just described. Nonetheless, I believe that the Spirit can use this "waiting" time to bring requests to mind, as well as developing in me the commitment to take the enormity of the task seriously, acknowledging the need for God Himself to act.

Time and prayer

    The person who spends little time in prayer typically finds prayer difficult and laborious. This individual will rarely pray spontaneously. In contrast, when your prayer life and love for Jesus grow, you will find an increasing enjoyment and desire to pray. As your formal prayer life grows, you will find an increasing delight and frequency in spontaneous prayer as well. I have discovered recreational prayer; I pray because I enjoy it.

    We must start our life by faith with a desire to love Jesus. Unless this is something you have already spent considerable time pursuing, make your love for Jesus your first area of concentrated prayer. What will you need to do if you want to pursue loving Him? Logically, the emphasis will be on spending time with Jesus, rather than merely reciting a long list of requests.

    Use this subject as the foundation for extended prayer. Try "waiting on God" regarding your love for Jesus.

    As your faith grows, your prayer life will also grow. Prayer is an important vehicle for responding in faith. However, this does not imply that faith precedes prayer. Just as we may learn more about prayer through the process of growing in faith, so we may learn more about faith by practicing prayer. Each will have a positive influence on the other.

    If you want to learn to live by faith, you will also need to make provision for a more effective prayer life. You will need to set aside specific time for prayer. Your prayer life will need to become a high priority for you.

A footnote regarding prayer

    In the Overview as I wrote it five years ago, I expressed uncertainty regarding the mental and emotional outcome of an extremely low blood sugar level while I was initially writing this book. That diabetic insulin reaction has since proven to have been quite destructive. (When the paramedics arrived, my blood sugar level was 15. [Around 65 is the low end of normal. Unconsciousness usually occurs between 40 and 50.] However, the paramedics came 45 minutes after my wife had given me six sugar cubes. That amount of sugar would normally raise my blood sugar 30 or more points in twenty minutes. We will never know how low my blood sugar level actually was. It was certainly below 15, and, as I now know, appreciable mental as well as physical damage was done.)

    Among other things, I have progressively struggled with memory loss, emotional well-being, and increasing difficulty with verbal communication and social relationships. Nonetheless, in addition to the ministry mentioned in this book's first edition, God has given me an entirely new ministry since that low blood sugar episode. This new ministry has a worldwide evangelistic outreach as a website ministry and is growing rapidly.

    It is abundantly clear to me that this is a work which God alone has done. In my own inability to make it successful, prayer has been my recourse.

    Yet, in spite of my own weakness, God has "done much more than I can even ask or think according to the power [of the indwelling Jesus and Spirit] that works within me." (paraphrased from Ephesians 3:20).

    I am encountering a terrifying reality. God can make me weak so that He can accomplish infinitely more through me than I could accomplish by my own greatest strength. Am I willing to let Him continue to work though me in this way?