Habukkuk 2:1
For as long as I can remember, in all of the denominations I have considered, in most of the people I have inquired of as to the meaning of prayer, the majority of those I consulted with have had the idea that prayer was talking to God out loud, begging for things, explaining things to God, complaining to God or some other thing that has to do with our talking.
When Jesus disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, the first thing He said to them was “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:6, NIV)
If we compare that verse with the definition in the list below, we see that the definition of what prayer is, is that we are to seek the Lord Himself—this seeking is prayer and doesn’t require words or explanations to the God who knows things we don’t know. Even “asking” is inquiring of the Lord, and has nothing to do with telling God what we want.
We simply don’t seem to realize how much higher God is than we are; how much wiser He is, how much more He knows than we know, even to knowing the condition of our hearts. We pray in order to find out what HE knows, not to tell him what WE know. Our view of what an answer is, is that since we have asked for something, an answer is getting what we asked for. If prayer and asking are inquiring of the Lord, or consulting with the Lord in order to ascertain what He knows, an answer is whatever revelation He chooses to give us.
The problem seems to be that we are so focused on our viewpoint, we don’t even know that our viewpoint might be faulty. Habukkuk spent the first part of his time seeking the Lord complaining about things in almost all of Chapter One. Some insight came to him, and so he changes his focus, and says “I will keep watch to see what He might say to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved.” Keeping watch is a term which describes seeking God until He is perceived, or sensed, or found.
Habukkuk was deliberately seeking God in order to get His viewpoint. He expected God to “reprove” (correct) him. It is fascinating that God told him to write what He was shown, which he did. He “SAW” (understood) what God was showing him. What follows is God giving Habukkuk His knowledge, viewpoint, and revelation until Habukkuk is so overjoyed, all he could do is sing about the “answer”—the revelation of what God knew. Even though judgment was coming and much suffering would result, God revealed His sufficiency, power, purpose and reason for things.
Oh, may we only follow this same pattern and go to the Lord for His opinion—which is what prayer really is! After studying the subject of prayer for many years, so many habits that I learned in Sunday School have dropped off. Instead of talking, I have learned to listen. In realizing that prayer is simply seeking the Lord until He is found, I no longer make prayer a matter of insisting on having things that I think are important. I know now that what I think I want doesn’t matter, it’s what God wants that is important. If our focus can be changed from looking at ourselves and our problems to looking at God and His solutions to things, our faith will grow and our view of prayer will become clear.
Tremendous faith is produced when God reveals what He wants to do, because we begin to know that if he says he wants to do something, then He will do it. Doubt disappears and faith comes. We are very earthbound and self-centered, which is why God tells us in James 4:3 that if we pray and don’t get an answer, it is because we prayed amiss. This doesn’t mean that we haven’t asked for the right thing. It means we haven’t asked what to ask!
May God give us the ability to yield to His will from the beginning.
Definition of Terms
PRAY: To ascertain by inquiry; motion toward God; to call near;
to invite.
ASK: To inquire of the Lord.
ANSWER: To heed, pay attention, to respond—to begin to speak. Receive a conclusion through revelation.1
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