Parapet Wall #2: Prayer

PRAYER: GOD-MAN CONVERSATION

What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? Deuteronomy 4:7

Moses left this bold insight for us to muse upon, consider thoroughly, and then act, actually pray. Prayer is conversation . . . listening and speaking.

Prayer as heart-to-heart, mind-to-mind, Holy Spirit-to-human spirit, and will-to-will is learned as surely as a second language. The altar, both at home and in the church building, are sites where my life has been anchored.

• Prayer is learned. Mom and Dad prayed and I learned their language. I can still feel my pastor’s hand on my shoulder while I knelt at the church altar. Sunday School teachers were overheard praying. The altars of my life are places of Presence and power. I recently reread the account of Solomon’s dedication of the Temple. Have you considered who taught Solomon to pray? Listen! You may hear his father David in the background. "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.
  You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.
  "Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.’
  And now, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true." 2 Chronicles 6

Every parent has the privilege of being the dean of the school of prayer! Every disciple maker must accept the responsibility of teaching the language of prayer.

• Prayer is the place where the created are changed by the Creator. In prayer it is important to remember that God knows, has never learned anything, and is unchangeable. As we wait in His presence we ought to be transformed, have a change of heart and mind. Subsequently, we acquire different behavior. The Lord’s possibilities crowd out the worrisome time wasters of life, and confidence is imparted.

• Prayer is best when a meeting time and place, an appointment man keeps with the Lord. Calling out in desperation can be effective, but ought not be the only way we pray. When we keep an appointment with Him, He teaches us what to become, what and how to do, where to go, how to think, and define motives for actions.

• The conversations between God and Moses are instructive! At least eighteen times Moses said in Deuteronomy, The Lord said to me . . . One million or more souls were dependent on what Moses heard. Parents, the future of your children, grandchildren, and as many generations as follow, is dependent on how well you and I hear from the living God. Our disciples must learn how to hear the Lord’s voice.

Parents must know they have been with Jesus, are filled with the Spirit, are conversant with the pleasure of the Lord in their family context. All God-loving parents will hear, "Mom, can I go to . . . ?" "Dad, what’s wrong with . . . ?" "How can you be sure that all that stuff about Jesus is real?" "My friends and I want to go to . . . !" At those times God gives answers born in the place of prayer.

My brother Dennis tested the whole ethos of our family one Sunday morning. Dennis was at least 17 years-old and eager to test parental boundaries. On Sunday mornings our family ate breakfast together before attending church. We dressed for church before breakfast. The Sunday morning routine had been in place since before my brother and I were born. On the morning so memorable, my brother came to the breakfast table dressed in his pajamas! The exchange between Dad and Dennis was short and effective!


My father looked at Dennis and asked, "Why aren’t you dressed for church?"

The reply was straightforward and bold, "I don’t plan on attending church today!"

"What is your name?" Dad asked.

The reply, "Dennis."

"Dennis, what is your surname?"

"Wegner."

Dad’s Holy Spirit answer was as prophetic as Daniel before the king and Amos before a disorderly populace, and as powerful as John the Baptist in the wilderness. My father simply said, "Dennis, the Wegners go to church. Go get dressed and then come and eat your breakfast!"

Dennis and I have talked about the memory etched in each of us. He has said more than once, "If Dad had let me stay home that one Sunday, I may have never have attended again."

Because of their prayers and rock-solid examples, our parent’s prayer wall, the second parapet wall of protection, kept my siblings and me from being destroyed. Others are dependent on us. Many have never witnessed an example of "protective custody" akin to what I have known. It is our responsibility to build the parapets for those most vulnerable to harm.