A prayer checklist of questions

Dick Eastman has a useful checklist of questions for anyone praying for family, friends and others who have yet to give their lives to Jesus.

After returning from his first trip to mainland China, Eastman began praying daily for the Chinese to come to know Christ.  But he did not know how to pray for them - he did not know China and the Chinese well.

In his book Love on its Knees, Eastman says he remembered Paul writing in Romans 2:15 that the law of God is written in the hearts of "Gentiles" - non-Jews - even though they did not formally know it.  Their own consciences told them what was right and wrong.

This very basic feeling for right and wrong can be a good starting point for bringing people to Jesus.

Eastman, a global missionary and prayer leader, decided to use a series of questions to spur his prayers for these people he did not know.  I feel his checklist is good for us, even if we know the people we are praying for.

Here is a sample:

• Whom can I trust?   He prayed that these people would be prompted by God to ask whom they could trust to tell the truth.  This question is central to the journey many people have taken to faith.
• What is my reason for being? He asked God to plant this question in the hearts of unbelievers.  It is a question that helps turn people's minds toward eternity.
• When will I really be free? This question can apply to a variety of issues - freedom from oppression of various kinds, freedom from loneliness, freedom from an inner emptiness.  Many people feel empty and hopeless.  Such a question can help drive them to the only one who satisfies - God.
• Why do people reject God? Eastman saw this as a question that is particularly important in atheistic countries where God is rejected out of hand.  But it applies just as well in our society.  The prevailing intellectual climate in Canada is anti-God.  We can ask the Lord to stir this question in the minds of seekers.  Some people have started out trying to prove God doesn't exist and have wound up believers.
• How can I cope with my problems? This is a big question that applies to everyone - Christian and non-Christian.  When someone feels at the end of his rope, he starts looking for help.  Many people have come to the Lord in this way.
• Where will I go when I die?  It's a cliche that death can concentrate the mind.  But it is also true.  It is the ultimate question.  We need to pray that our unbelieving friends will ask that question and find the answer in Jesus.

Of course, these questions only lay the groundwork for people to find Christ.  We need to go beyond them to pray that the Spirit will arrange things so that our friends and loved ones will find their answers in the Lord - perhaps through us.

Eastman's list has got me thinking.  I am going to use it as I pray for friends and family.

Pulling prayers from your heart

Lynne Hammond talks about pulling out the prayers God has put inside her.

Hammond, author of The Master is Calling, uses this striking idea to describe how she prays in faith, led by the Holy Spirit.

She notes that the Holy Spirit lives within every believer and "his very nature is to pray".  The apostle Paul says in Romans 8:26 that the "Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed".

This picture of the Spirit continually praying within us and for us is a real delight for me.  Obviously, the Spirit is praying God's will for he is God.

In her book, Hammond outlines her early attempts at prayer after becoming a believer.  Gradually, as she meditated on God's word, she grew more in tune with the Spirit.

She says that "as I continued to meditate on the promises of God and increase in my faith to be led by the Spirit, my ability to pray increased".

"God wants the church to bring forth great things in prayer, and it requires faith for us to do this," she writes. "You see in prayer we always travel by faith.  . . . And the size of our faith determines whether we travel by Concorde or by pony express."

She builds her faith by constantly returning to chapters 14-16 in the gospel of John - chapters that describe the work of the Holy Spirit.  She soaks herself in Jesus' promises about the Spirit.

In John 14:17, Jesus tells his disciples that he is leaving with them the Holy Spirit and they will know him and recognize him because he lives within them.

"Of course, getting to know the Holy Spirit is just like getting to know anyone else - it takes time.  But the moment you release your faith and believe you have the capacity to know him, the process will begin."

Hammond goes on to say: "If by faith you expect the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to you and make him clear to you, then he'll be able to do that.  If you sit around in unbelief and say, 'I can't hear God's voice like other people do,' you'll cut short the Holy Spirit's work within you."

The Bible indicates that the Spirit declares, teaches, reveals and transmits things to us - sometimes dramatically but more often quietly and gently through thoughts and impressions.

To tap into the Spirit, we must be in constant communion with him through prayer.

Hammond says that when believers are in close communion with the Spirit, "he begins to put God's desires in their hearts so that, when they pray, they're not making silly, superficial requests based on their own selfish whims, but they're lifting up God's own desires".


That's how to pull God's prayers from our hearts.

That kind of praying can't fail.

Marys and Marthas

Martha often gets a bad rap in the story of her sister Mary listening to Jesus instead of helping with cooking and serving.

But James Banks says in his book The Lost Art of Praying Together that both Marys and Marthas are needed in any prayer group.

"Prayer is work," he says, "and no one knew that better than Jesus."

In Luke 10:38-42, Martha complains: "Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you, that my sister just sits here while I do all the work?  Tell her to come and help me."

Then, Jesus replies with words that exasperate many believers: "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset about all these details.  There is only one thing worth being concerned about.  Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her."

Clearly, the point Jesus was making was that Mary was listening to the Messiah who would not be around much longer.  What Jesus had to say was of eternal significance.

But many Christians take this to mean that Martha was somehow less a believer than Mary.

Not so, says James Banks.  We need both kinds of people in prayer gatherings - people who want to get things done and those who want to adore the Lord in prayer.

"Prayer and work are never meant to be separated," says Banks.

Rather than dismiss Marthas, prayer leaders need to help them see that "praying together is one of the most effective things we can do because it sets God's power in motion against the obstacles we face."

He illustrates his point by the story of Bruce, an elder in his church who had not prayed aloud.  Eventually, Bruce prayed aloud in a meeting of elders and "it took my breath away".

"His prayer was brief, but so obviously from the heart, I immediately sensed God's spirit at work."

In Banks' mind, that's the key to praying together.  "Prayer that matters to God is honest and from the heart."

Banks recommends "conversational prayer" - short prayers spoken directly to Jesus as if he were sitting right beside us.

His point reminds me, once again, that the body of Christ is made up of all kinds of people - each with different abilities and gifts and personalities.

It's vital to get everyone involved in the business of prayer because prayer changes things.

Praying God's dreams

Do you know what God's dreams are for you?  Pray and find out.

Like many Christians, I tend to focus on the everyday nuts-and-bolts of life.  They're important, but they can obscure the real reason I am here - to carry out God's assignment for me.

In her book Enjoying the Presence of God, Jan Johnson urges us to ask these questions of God:

"What next? What are Your dreams for me? What is it You're doing in this world that I need to align myself with?"

The big answers to what God wants me to do are obviously in the scriptures.  We are all called to go into the world to make disciples.  We are all called to love God and love others.

But there are particular reasons I am here as well.  What task has God in store for me to reach out to others?  How does he want me to deepen my relationship with him?

To discover what God is asking me to do, Jan Johnson says I must ask him.  That involves prayer - regular prayer, patient prayer.  I say "patient" because this may mean waiting for an answer.

"If you spend enough time with a person, you begin to sense that person's dreams.  In daily conversations with God, we begin to understand God's dreams for us."

"As our love for God grows," she writes, "His interests become our interests - evangelization of the world, peacemaking in relationships, ministering to the poor and oppressed."

We begin to filter our activities according to this godly grid - the great task or tasks he has given us.  Do these activities contribute to - or take away from - the dreams the Lord has for us?

One way I have found that helps me in determining whether I am on God's track is to write out my questions in a journal and asking the Lord questions.  It is something I picked up after reading Mark Virkler's book How to Hear God's Voice.

As I write, I imagine God responding to me.  His answers are always in line - and never contrary - to the scriptures.  Frequently, I am uncomfortable with his responses - although, I am never uncomfortable with the Lord.  I know he loves me - that is clear in the Bible. 

I often leave these exchanges with my mind changed.  I have come to understand better what Jesus would say to me if he were before me in flesh and blood.

For major decisions, of course, we need to test what we believe God is telling us not only against the Bible, but also with godly believers we trust.  As well, we must look at circumstances.  We should never take a decision without considering the needs and wishes of those we love and who depend on us.

But it is genuinely exciting to pray with God's dreams in mind.  What God wants will always be to our eternal benefit.