- The best prayers are prayers to God as a friend, in which we and God are on the same level.
- We need to learn to linger in God’s presence, to allow Him to finish what He wants to speak.
- We need to learn to inquire and intercede, letting God speak within us so that we can express what is on God’s heart in our prayers.
PRAYING TO GOD AS A FRIEND
God Humbling Himself to Befriend Man
The Bible says that Abraham was the friend of God. In Genesis 18 the God of heaven came to earth in order to befriend Abraham. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament say that Abraham was a friend of God (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23). Very few people have a thorough and accurate concept regarding prayer. Very few know that we can pray to God just as we speak with other human beings.
In Genesis 18 God wanted Abraham to pray to Him, so He came to be Abraham’s friend. God did not lift Abraham up to the heavenly sanctuary of glory; instead, He humbled Himself and went to the lowly tent in which Abraham dwelt. God did not flaunt His prestige, majesty, or power. Abraham served cakes, a calf, curds, and milk, and God ate (vv. 1-8). God came to Abraham as an ordinary visitor.
God Telling Man the Things on His Heart in Fellowship
After God finished speaking, He rose up to leave, and Abraham walked with Him to send Him away (v. 16). Suppose a brother visits me in my home, and after our conversation he rises to leave, and I rise in order to walk with him. Although he walks out of the door, I do not want to leave him, so I walk farther with him until we reach the main street. This is how Abraham was with God. We should not think that God has nothing to do or that He has nothing to say. God has many things to do and to say, but He needs us to walk with Him, to send Him off, so that He can tell us what He wants to do.
Many of us have had such an experience. Suppose Brother A is troubled in his heart concerning a matter and goes to seek help from Brother B. Even though Brother B receives him, Brother A may not be able to speak about what is on his heart, because it is not easy to talk about matters that trouble the heart. After talking for a while, Brother A may rise to leave even though he still has something on his heart. If Brother B bids Brother A farewell, then Brother A will keep the matter that is on his heart. If Brother B is very close to Brother A and sees that Brother A is still troubled about something, he will walk with Brother A, not wanting to leave him. Brother A may say, “Please do not trouble yourself to walk any farther,” but Brother B will say, “I will walk just a few more steps.” It is at this time that Brother A will feel comfortable to bring up what is on his heart. We often cannot immediately disclose the matters on our heart. It is not until we rise to leave and our friend sends us off that we can disclose the things on our heart.
God wanted Abraham to do something, but in order to see if Abraham was willing, He did not bring it up quickly. If I want to ask a brother to help me, I would first talk with him to see how his heart is toward me. Only if he cares for me would I feel comfortable asking him to help me. This was the case when God spoke with Abraham. It was when Abraham walked with God to send God off and lingered in God’s presence that God said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (v. 17).
God’s purpose was for Abraham to pray for Lot, but instead of being like a master commanding a servant, He was like a person needing a friend’s help. He said, “The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah, how great it is; and their sin, how very heavy it is! I shall go down and see whether they have done altogether according to its outcry” (18:20-21). Abraham immediately understood that God wanted him to pray for Lot, who dwelt in Sodom. God seemed to be speaking in a riddle; it was as if He had said something yet said nothing. Abraham was very wise and did not say, “God, Lot is still there; will You destroy him also?” Neither God nor Abraham mentioned Lot’s name, but Lot was their goal.
Prayer Being to Express God’s Heart
Let us look at how Abraham prayed that day. He asked God, “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed destroy…it?” (v. 24). God said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake” (v. 26). Abraham immediately subtracted five, saying, “Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five?” and God said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there” (v. 28). Then Abraham knew that there were not even forty-five righteous in the city. He therefore said, “Suppose forty are found there?” and God said, “I will not do it, because of the forty” (v. 29). Abraham was even clearer that there were not forty and subtracted another ten, saying, “Suppose thirty are found there?” and God said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there” (v. 30). Abraham knew again that there were not even thirty and said, “Suppose twenty are found there?” and God said, “I will not destroy it, because of the twenty” (v. 31). Then Abraham knew that there must not have been twenty and immediately said, “Suppose ten are found there?” and God said, “I will not destroy it, because of the ten” (v. 32). Then Abraham knew that the righteous ones whom God would not destroy must have been the family of his nephew Lot. Hence, he spoke no more. This is what makes prayer marvelous. God speaks the things on His heart, and we pray for them as His friends, but neither God nor we explicitly state the object of our concern. Both God and Abraham were concerned about Lot, yet neither mentioned Lot. This was the sweetness of that conversation between intimate friends.
The best prayers are prayers to God as a friend. Such prayers are not uttered by men who are far below a very high God. Such prayers are spoken by men to a God who is on their level. This is not man uplifting himself but God humbling Himself. It is not our going to God’s palace but God coming to our tent. Every real prayer is God condescending Himself in order to draw near to us, humbling Himself to come to us, and placing Himself on the same level that we are on so that we may be at ease to speak with Him.
PRAYER BEING TO BREATHE IN GOD
Appearing before God
In order to breathe in God through prayer, we must appear before God. The psalmist says, “When will I come and appear / Before God?” (Psa. 42:2). Do we appear before God when we pray? When we pray, we close our eyes not only to concentrate but also to stop our outward being. Our outward being often wanders with our eyes. By closing our eyes when we pray, we close the gate of our eyes, shut the door to the outside world, and turn the direction of our being to our spirit. After we stop our entire being and close the door to the outside world, we will be able to turn to the deepest part of our being and exercise our spirit. When we turn to exercise our spirit, we immediately touch God and appear before Him in our spirit.
Being Silent
After touching God in our spirit, we must learn the lesson of not opening our mouth quickly. We do not need to shout and cry when we touch God. We should be silent and calm. The more silent and calm we are, the better. The more intimate we are with a person, the more silent we can be when we are with him. Simply by looking at each other, our sentiments are conveyed without speaking. The same can be said concerning one who is experienced in touching God. When he touches God, he is silent. As we touch God in our spirit, the best thing to do is to be silent before Him.
Inquiring
When we open our mouth, we do not need to ask or beg, but we can inquire. Many brothers and sisters have never inquired of the Lord. They only ask and beg. They say, “God, my son is sick. I have this need and that lack.” Their asking turns into begging: “Heal my son. Take care of me. Give me what I need.” What is this? This is begging. These are not good prayers. The best prayer is inquiring prayer. As we touch God, wait in silence, behold His loveliness, and converse with Him, we can ask Him, “Would You like me to mention a certain matter now?” This is the sweetest kind of prayer.
When Abraham stood before Jehovah (Gen. 18), he did not open his mouth quickly. He waited before God, inquired of Him, and looked at Him. There are times when we do things according to the index of a person’s eyes; we speak according to the expression on their face. This is how we should pray. The psalmist expressed his desire: “To dwell in the house of Jehovah / All the days of my life, / To behold the beauty of Jehovah, / And to inquire in His temple” (Psa. 27:4). We must turn to our spirit, behold Him, and then inquire of Him.
We must learn to be an inquiring person in our prayer. We should ask the Lord, “Can I bring up this subject at this time?” We should look at His eyes. If He is not happy, we should not continue. If He has an expression of approval, we can proceed by asking how we should pray. This is what it means to inquire. The best prayer is inquiring prayer, but inquiring can only happen when a person is calm. If we have never touched God and have never been calm before Him or never beheld His loveliness, we do not know the meaning of inquiring.
Interceding
We also should learn to participate in intercessory work. If time permits and we are able to spend more time before God, He will surely tell us things that concern Him. As soon as we know these things, we need to do the work of intercession. Abraham stood before God. As he remained in His presence, God seemingly said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? I have to let him know that I will destroy Sodom. But there is a child of mine in Sodom. On the one hand, I will destroy Sodom; on the other hand, I want to save Lot. This is My desire.” Once Abraham heard this, he immediately began his intercessory work before God. Abraham’s intercession was absolutely in the form of inquiring; he did not ask or beg. Abraham kept inquiring all the way to the end. This is the best kind of intercession. As we remain in God, muse upon Him, worship Him, and praise Him, He reveals His desire to us, and we intercede by inquiring.
Allowing God to Finish His Speaking
We also need to allow God to finish what He is speaking. This was what Abraham did. He prayed, but God spoke. The Scripture says, “Jehovah went away as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham” (v. 33). In his prayer Abraham did not finish speaking and then walk away. Rather, Jehovah finished speaking and then left. Many times as soon as we finish our speaking, we say Amen. We have finished, but God has not finished. This is a pitiful condition. We have never learned to absorb God, to receive God, and to breathe in God. We pray in a wild and reckless way. We have never been trained in the matter of prayer. We have never surrendered in this matter. We have never allowed God to speak. Consequently, we do not gain much God at the end of our prayers. We have not absorbed Him or received very much of Him.
In summary, when we come to God to breathe Him in, we must first turn to our spirit to touch Him. We should be calm, behold Him, inquire of Him, and learn to wait on Him. We should also muse upon Him, worship Him, praise Him, and learn to intercede before Him. Later, we should allow Him to finish His speaking. Then we can let Him know that we are satisfied. This is the best kind of prayer. It is a prayer that receives and absorbs God. If we always pray in this way, we will surely receive and appropriate much more of God, and He will surely be our real enjoyment. This is what it means to enjoy God through our prayer. May the Lord graciously enable us to live in this reality!
Fellowship Questions
- Why do you think the Bible calls Abraham the friend of God? What does it mean to pray to God as a friend?
- Why is it important that we linger in God’s presence when we spend time with Him?
- How can we be an inquiring person in our prayer?
- What does it mean to do the work of intercession in our prayer?
- How can we practice allowing God to finish His speaking in our fellowship with Him?
Excerpts taken from The Meaning and Purpose of Prayer, ch. 2; How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God, ch. 5