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A Prayer for Trusting in Jesus’ Righteousness As We Pray

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16

Dear Lord Jesus, even as I come before you today with peace and joy, I also bring a bit of sadness, if not a twinge of anger. Martin Luther’s words come to mind, “Bad theology is the worst of all taskmasters.” My prayer life, like many other parts of my discipleship, has suffered the damaging effects of bad theology through the years. This verse in James, meant to ignite and encourage our praying, used to intimidate and actually discourage my praying.

First of all, I used to assume that the only “powerful and effective” prayer was one to which you responded with a rousing “Yes!”; and secondly, I thought the health of my prayer life was directly related to my maturity as a Christian. What a crippling Christ-less thought.

I thought the more righteous I was, the more inclined you’d be to answer my prayers affirmatively; and if I wasn’t getting my prayers answered, it was probably because of un-confessed sin in my life or because your were trying to teach me some lesson. What a horrible misunderstanding of prayer and a gospel-less approach to discipleship. No wonder it was easier for me to talk about you than to commune with you.

Thankfully, the gospel has been deconstructing and rebuilding my prayer life. Jesus, I now understand that you are the “righteous man” whose prayers are powerful and effective. You are our great prayer warrior—ever living to pray for us, and ever so graciously purifying our prayers as they rise to heaven. We don’t have any righteousness except the righteousness which we’ve freely received in you.

Jesus, because our lives are now hidden in you, because of our unbreakable union with you, because our permanent address is “in Christ,” we’ve been set free to pray with palms-up boldness.

You are the sovereign King who is reigning over all things, not a computer waiting to be programmed by us. You are our great bridegroom who enjoys communing and fellowshipping with us in prayer, long before we even ask anything of you. Oh, the joy of knowing your good answers to our prayers include “Yes,” “No, “Maybe,” “Not yet,” and “Not telling you.”

Because the gospel is true, we will dance before you when you choose to respond to our prayers the way we hoped you would. And we will seek, no less, to delight in you when you respond in ways which, initially, make no sense to us at all. Throughout eternity our testimony will be, Jesus, “You have done all things well.”

Why pray? Because you are God and we are not. Why pray? Because you command it, commend it, and commune with us through it. So very Amen, we pray in your high-priestly and most righteous name.

 


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