The Christian life is not what we do, but what He does in us, as us, and through us. Everything in the Christian life is Jesus Christ in action, which is what Grace is ... “God at work.” We derive all that we are, and all that we do, from our union in Christ. Jesus said in John 15:5, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”
What about our prayer life? Who’s doing the praying?
C.S. Lewis writes, "Our act, when we pray, must not, any more than all our other acts, be separated from the continuous act of God Himself, in which alone all finite causes operate." Lewis, C.S., "The Efficacy of Prayer"Some would say that pray is “our part” and the answer to pray is “God’s part.” Not so. Pray is depending on the Spirit of God and expressing the life of Christ. He is our ability regardless of the activity. "The Spirit helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom. 8:26,27).
So when you pray, listen to what He is doing in you and agree, which is to confess or “say the same as.” When you open your mouth your prayers or confessions are then verbalized and prayer is made. The indwelling presence of Jesus Christ who is our life is the Pray-er (the prayer-prompter). You cannot pray apart from Him praying through you nor can Jesus pray though you apart from you agreeing with Him. Jesus is both the beginning and the end of Christian prayer. Christian prayer is not activated by human effort, but is prompted by the One who is our Life. We pray in response to what He is doing in us. As we abide, confessing what He is initiating us to participate with Him in, we experience His grace and our lives become His prayer!
In all of your praying, simply remember who you are in Christ. When you pray for wisdom; when you pray for discernment; when you pray for patience, gentleness, kindness or love, you are praying for what you already have in Christ. Whatever you are led by the Spirit of God to pray for, has already been provided and promised in Jesus Christ (Phil. 4:19).
So, why don’t you gladly express in prayer today what He is initiating in you?
Great words on prayer Don! Having read your comments, I would edit CS Lewis's words to:"Our act, AS we pray, IS not, any more than all our other acts, separated from the continuous act of God Himself, in which alone all finite causes operate". If the Spirit of God in us is interceding with unutterable words, then we are, without any cessation, always praying. We cannot NOT pray, and we do so without concern for how often we pray. That whatever God would require (if we see it as requirement at all), that He Himself provides.
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