So Let It Be: A look at Prayer over my three months at Biola

Three months ago today I moved into Emerson and started this new journey at Biola. It’s not so much a new journey as it is a continuation of the journey to know God. I am in new surroundings, with new people, new challenges, new schedules, new activities, but I am still worshiping the same God, coming to know the same One who died to save me. But Biola is far different than home. I have always lived in the same area, went to the same church, went to the same school. Life at home was constant and unchanging, although not stagnant. Now, however, everything is different. I go to a new church, with a new preaching style, I work with a youth group whose dynamic is completely different from the one I grew up in and worked in. I’ve made new friends who are different from the ones at home. I go to a class that teaches in a completely different way than the classes I’ve had before. I have new people above me, I have new people below me, I have new people beside me, behind me, in front of me. There are some familiar faces, but they get lost in the sea of newness. So who else can be my constant other than God?
About a month ago Biola put on an event called the Torrey Bible Conference, named after R.A. Torrey. Everyone gets the three days off and goes to several sessions a day. The theme this year was suffering. A few months earlier the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team did a seminar at Biola, and Soul Care Ministry was formed after that. The purpose of Soul Care was (it’s reforming now) to help care and pray for people going through crisis. In light of this, Torrey Conference for me became more about prayer. Not only was I on prayer teams at the end of sessions, but I also signed up for blocks of time in the prayer room so someone would always be there. During this week God began to show me how to pray in a new way. He began to walk me through the Lord’s prayer in a much deeper way.

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory for ever. Amen.

The part that stuck out to me the most during Torrey conference was the first part.
“Our Father who are in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.”
What a bold claim. We are claiming to be adopted sons and daughters of the LORD most high who sits in heaven. In our daily prayers we often say, “Dear God”, or “Dear Father”, or “Dear Father God” (when people say the third one they repeat it several times in their prayer. It becomes a form of “umm” and I feel looses its meaning when used that way. No one, when speaking with a friend or someone in authority goes, “Hey Bob Smith, what’s up Bob Smith. Oh Bob Smith, I’ve had a hard day Bob Smith. I was walking, Bob Smith, down the street, Bob Smith.” Now, I know there are alot of people who pray like this, and I am not trying to offend you, however, stop and think if you are saying it because you are stumbling over your words, OR if you are declaring it because you truly love calling upon the name of your Lord and Father because His name is full of Love, Mercy, Justice, and Power). But we should call upon our Father and realize that He is in heaven.
The big part that I’ve been drawn to focus on is “hallowed be Thy name.” When we pray we often say something like, “Dear God/ Father/ Father God thank you for this day. Please bless Bob Smith and help us see…” or we ask for forgiveness. How often do we recognize that God is God and give Him is due in prayer? Should we not start off with, “God our Father, who is in heaven, You alone are Holy. You alone are worthy of all praise, glory, honor, and worship. You are the creator, life-giver, life sustainer, blesser, healer, redeemer, Messiah, Christ, and all-powerful One. You are omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and most glorious in power and might”? How different would we pray if we were to go about this way!
And when we enter into prayer in a worshipful manner we must remember to pray by the power of the Holy Spirit for:

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.- Romans 8:26

We must pray in the power of the Holy Spirit that He may give us the words.
Since Torrey Conference God has begun to move me to other parts.
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.We must learn how to pray God’s will to come and not our own. We often pray what we want to happen, and that doesn’t always line up with God’s plan. We need to pray that we would seek Hid will and His Kingdom in the way He wants it to be brought out, not how we want it to be. This is the section that I am currently trying to grasp.
“Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”. I haven’t been led to fully grapple and wrestle with this part yet, but God has given me some insight. One question that comes up is, “Where do we give thanks?” Paul helps us with this dilemma.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.- Philippians 4:6-7

Our thanksgiving come when we ask for our daily bread.

And lastly, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory for ever. Amen.” We need to ask for deliverance from evil and realize that we are tempted. We also need to realize that this kingdom, that we are inheritors of, is indeed the Lord’s, along with all power and glory. With the final AMEN we are saying that we agree and “let it be”.
So let it be. As you continue in your prayer life begin to think about these things. How does Jesus want us to pray? Do we give enough reverence in prayer? What should prayer look like? How can I pray in a Spirit filled manner?*

Aside from great revelations from the Lord, school can be tough. Bible sessions in Torrey are unique. I’ve gotten to finally connect with my mentor.
Another thing that I have been wrestling with lately is the place of the Holy Spirit in heaven and in the Trinity. Believing in the Trinitarian God, I must say that He is equal in all the Lord’s attributes. However, if Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, who is seated on the throne, where is the holy Spirit? Praise is given to the Father by the Son and the Spirit. The Father glorifies the Son, as does the Spirit. But who glorifies the Spirit? I feel that this is a question that needs to be answered and has led me to grow much closer to the Spirit in my searching. I will soon be having a meeting with a Torrey tutor to discuss this very topic. Along with that which parts of the Trinity do we pray to, or to whom do we pray? Do we pray to the Trinitarian God Himself, or to different parts of the trinity?
God is so good that He wants us to know Him more by asking questions such as these. But we are not to stop, but to find the answer AND to grow closer to God. To not search for the truth makes one a lazy, uneducated, Christian who seems to not want to know God more (note, this is if the Spirit is laying these questions upon you and you brush them aside). On the other hand, to only learn the answer and not grow closer defeats the purpose all together! How the Lord wants us to know Him and who we are because of Him! May all glory and honor and power be to the one who is enthroned forever and ever, Amen!

*Note: I am not saying that quick prayers are wrong. When you talk to a friend you may not have tons of time to speak to them. The same is with god. However, we need to be conversing with Him on a regular basis, and this is where these principles apply.
Also this is not a comprehensive look at all there is about these parts nor of what I’ve learned. I didn’t even talk about spirit led prayer where the Spirit takes you to prayer in other areas in you life or for others. It is important to be conscience of the Spirit if He leads you to pray something. Pray through all things!