Notes of Faith February 19, 2025
The Complex Simple Prayer
Sometimes we simplify Biblical truth too far. Sometimes we make simple Bible truths too complicated. Recently I preached a message entitled, “The Complex Simplicity of Prayer,” from Matthew 21:18-27. I remember as a grade schooler pondering what kind of prayer it would take to cast a mountain into Lake Erie.
Answered prayer is complex. Sometimes faith is involved (Mark 5:34—the sick woman who touched His garment) and sometimes faith is not involved (John 11—the raising of Lazarus). Righteousness is involved (Psalm 66:18, James 5:16). Motives are involved (James 4:3). Our relationship with Christ is involved (John 15:7—abiding in Christ). Our relationships with our wives can be involved (I Peter 3:7). God’s will is certainly involved (I John 5:14-15). In light of all these truths, you might be thinking, “So, I’m told to pray and that my prayers will be answered, but that is only if I have enough faith, I am righteous enough, my motives are pure, I have a deep relationship with Christ, I am treating my wife the way I should, and I have to figure out what God’s will is in a given situation for my prayers to be answered. Forget it. I can’t possibly pull off all that.” That’s the complexity of prayer.
Yet we are told that we will receive whatever we ask for (John 15:7), that prayer is the key to emotional peace (Philippians 4:6), and that God answers prayer (James 5:17-18). That’s the simplicity of prayer
I take great comfort in James 5:17 (NASB): “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly …” Elijah was a flawed, sinful person, so sinless perfection is not a requirement. He had a nature like ours. He was prone to selfishness. He suffered from all the same issues we suffer from. Yet, he prayed, and God answered.
Bottom line … God has invited people who have been made righteous by the blood of Christ to approach His presence. God is a prayer-answering God!
Doug Courter
Associate Pastor of Church Ministries
Valley Grace Church, Hagerstown, Md.
Prayer is simple and complex…but God is at work in and through us doing His will. Prayer is our communication with God as well as the communion of the Holy Spirit living within us (the believing in Jesus us). God wants us to talk to Him, to always be in communion with Him. Let us pursue a life of training ourselves to be disciplined to pray without ceasing as the Apostle Paul told us, always listening to the leading of the Spirit to guide our choices and decisions.
Pastor Dale