The Language of Prayer (part 2)

Parable of Prayer

Once there was a young and earnest beggar who found a huge rock of “fool’s gold” in the riverbed. He thought it was real gold and valuable beyond calculation. He confidently strode into town showing his new fortune – the solution to all his wants. He took the rock to the kind and generous merchant jeweler who dealt in all precious commodities. The jeweler immediately knew the rock was fool’s gold and was worthless. Yet, the jeweler saw that it would

crush the spirit of the boy to expose his monumental mistake.

Instead, the jeweler convinced the boy to allow him to store the rock in his own safe. Then the jeweler convinced the beggar to come to work with him for a few months so that he could learn how best to value and handle the riches his rock would surely bring when it was sold. The beggar worked for the wise jeweler and grew steadily in wisdom and knowledge. The boy began to realize for himself that the rock in the safe was fool’s gold because of

his daily exposure to the “true” gold the jeweler dealt in.

The boy realized and appreciated the merchant’s tender mercy in trying to help him learn the truth in an environment of love, nurture and freedom. The boy stayed working with the jeweler in absolute obedience and trust

for the rest of his days. He became his son. He became his heir.

Beloved, I know that the Lord teaches us the same way. Many of us have never prayed in the imperative mood because we thought ourselves beggars before God. We have adopted methods of begging or wishing prayer that we thought were precious gold. The Lord took all our previous prayers without chastising or breaking our spirits and locked them in His safe. Meanwhile, He has gradually developed our senses to discern the true gold of imperative prayer. Like the beggar, we all will realize for ourselves what true gold is. This means we will come to understand why our fool’s gold never brought us success. But, hallelujah, in this process we have discovered the love and goodness of the Father who patiently endures our errors and leads us to the true riches found only in His Son Jesus Christ.

The “You” Adjustment

Let me show you an adjustment which will help stop verbal prayers from being little more than begging, wishing or complaining sessions. My two favorite Psalms are 51 and 91. Psalm 51 is the best prayer of repentance ever written. Psalm 91 is the best imperative prayer of deliverance and protection ever written.

Psalm 91 does not need an adjustment.

It perfectly reveals authoritative and imperative commands of safety, preservation, healing, deliverance, angelic protection and complete victory. On the other hand, Psalm 51 needs a slight New Testament adjustment.

For instance, instead of verbally asking the Lord to blot out our transgressions or begging Him to create in us a new heart or wishing that He would renew a steadfast spirit within us; what if instead, after our hearts had already interacted with the Holy Spirit over these issues, we then ordered ourselves to receive God’s benefits of forgiveness in the form of a command. “Lord, You create in me a clean heart! You renew a steadfast spirit in me! Lord, You blot out my transgressions!” See the difference?  Under the imperative reading, there is no room for doubt, failure, wishing or begging. Our mood of command comes from being already convinced in our hearts by the Holy Spirit’s witness that God’s nature is to forgive our all sins. Inserting “You” at the front end of prayers sets the imperative mood.

Jesus did not say “Please hear me Father.” Jesus said, “I thank You father that You always hear me.”

(John 11:41-42 paraphrase).

Jesus did not pray at His time of greatest need, “Father, please don’t leave my soul in hell and please don’t let me see corruption.” Jesus prayed, You will not leave my soul in hell or allow me to see corruption.” (Acts 2:27, 31 paraphrase). If a home intruder were attacking my children, they wouldn’t yell, “Dad, please help us.” They would yell “Dad help!” This is because they know my nature must help them. They are in effect ordering my help because of their confidence in my character and love. How can we do any less with God, our Father?

As long as I verbally ask in any mood other than the imperative, then I remain unconvinced and have handcuffed the power of God from being released through my confession. Praying in the imperative keeps the focus on God and not me. Sure, we need to repent on a daily basis, but repentance is a work of the heart and the Holy Ghost. It is not a work of asking God and waiting on an answer that He may or may not forgive us --someday, somehow, maybe yes, maybe no. Beloved, God is greater than our hearts – always greater, more available, more accessible than any of us realize.

Once the Holy Spirit reveals God’s goodness to you, you can never beg Him again. It’s His good pleasure to give you His kingdom of forgiveness, healing and salvation. Always His good pleasure. The imperative mood is the key to perfect speech, perfect praise, perfect thanksgiving, perfect patience and perfect faith. Perfection comes by imperative speaking. Imperative speaking comes by faith. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing comes by the word of God. The word comes by meditation/confession. This is the way God’s word is performed in this realm.

The Scriptures are promises of God we “perform” into being. To perform a Scripture is to believe it, belove it and bespeak it. The English word for “belief” is from the German “glauben,” which traces back to the Indo-European “lubh,” which is the same root as our English word “love.” Faith works by love. (Gal.5:6). To believe something is to love it by “leaning” on it with our whole being. The King James Version does not say to believe in Christ, but to believe on Christ. Believing just in Him is merely “informative.” Believing on Him is “performative.” To pray in the imperative is to “perform” God’s word into actual existence on this earth. I know that when I speak in the imperative, I feel the words come up burring from my belly through my heart and then out of my mouth. This is the Spirit enriching and empowering my words to speak salvation into situations – salvation which reconciles reality to the will of God.

The word “perform” means “to carry out or execute an action or process.” To perform Scripture is the word becoming flesh in us. Just as great actors internalize their characters’ true natures based on the playwrite’s script, so we internalize Jesus’ divine nature in us by meditating on the Scriptures. The Scriptures “inform” us of the true nature of God, but the Holy Spirit in us “performs” this truth unto manifestation until we become “doers” (actors) of the word (James 1:22-26). Just as actors rehearse their roles until they become one with the character,

so do we rehearse righteousness until the word becomes flesh in us.

We do not memorize, confess and rehearse Scriptures so that we can give “mechanical” recitations. No, we memorize, confess and rehearse Scripture so that the nature of God will percolate and brew within us – the very nature and power and goodness of our God. This is the mood that then allows us to rejoice evermore and in everything give thanks. True worship and thanksgiving flow fervently and automatically when we see God’s promises are

“always already” fulfilled and completed in Christ.

Jesus has left nothing undone, no enemy undefeated and no promise unfulfilled. When we stop neglecting this truth, we will start truly believing it. Stopping the neglect of God’s so great a salvation is what Scripture confession is all about.

So, lift up your jawbone!