Intimate Prayer In The Bible
There are prayers of startling intimacy throughout the Bible. Many of the significant prayers in the Bible were the personal, intimate cries of the heart, only audible to the God they were intended for.
We donât know what Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his barren wife, Rebekah. Throughout twenty-five years of pastoral ministry, my heart has broken for many couples who have agonized for a baby. The pain of barrenness is palpable. Rebekah knew that pain of barrenness, and Isaac shared it. He knew how much bearing a child meant to her. All we know is that he prayed. And we know the Lord answered his prayer. Rebekah became pregnant (Genesis 25:21). Iâm sure if we could hear that prayer, we would hear a simple and unadorned requestâone man asking the one God for one thing on behalf of the one woman he loved.
The Psalms are full of Davidâs heartfelt prayer-songs. Talk about intimate! He sings about his doubts, his fears, his sins, his confusion. David also sings about Godâs goodness and faithfulness. Itâs clear the Lord enjoyed their relationship. After all, God called David âa man after my own heart.â
Some of Davidâs prayer-songs were, especially when I was a new believer, a bit too intimate for me. How could such a mighty warrior say those things? Â I would ask myself. While reading a particularly intimate psalm, Iâd stop right in the middle and say, âNobody talks like that! Nobody says things like that!â I wasnât aware in those early days that psalms were songs, and while people may not talk like that, they do sing like that. I should know â it happened to me.
One night, dead tired after a particularly arduous work week, I had just pulled into the driveway when my son Tim came bounding out of the house. âDad,â he said, âOne of your friends is waiting for you at the airport.â
âWhat?â I growled back.
âYouâre supposed to be there already. Heâs been waiting an hour.â
âLord, no,â I prayed. I was thoroughly exhausted. Just the thought of fighting Friday night traffic through Los Angeles sent me over the cliff. I ranted and raved for a few minutes. Poor Tim. I threw my briefcase on the floor and headed out the door for the airport. Twenty minutes into the drive, the fog of frustration lifted. I knew I had to apologize to my son for my outburst. I pulled off the freeway and found a phone booth. I felt a little better after the call, but not much.
The Lord wasnât through with me. I felt sorry for myself and put out, and I told the Lord all about it. As I poured out my heart to him, I felt the Holy Spirit meeting my travel-worn spirit and soothing, comforting, and renewing me. Tears came to my eyes as I refocused on Godâs goodness and faithfulness to me.
Suddenly â with almost no effort â the words and the tune to âIsnât Heâ were there on my lips, and I sang it over and over on the rest of the trip to the airport. âIsnât He beautiful? Beautiful, isnât He? Son of God, Prince of Peace, Isnât He? Isnât He?â You could say it made the trip worthwhile!
So, in the beginning, I had great difficulty relating to David and to that level of intimacy. Reading David now challenges me to grow ever more willing to bare my heart wide open to God. If not for the Word of God, I would be unable to deal with those fears about being inadequate and insincere, those irrational fears about separation from God. And if it werenât for the written Word of God, I would have nothing to work with in helping me to deal with the substantial fact that God loves me in spite of my performance. He loves me in spite of the things that I am, and the things Iâve been.
As Iâve learned the Word of God, my concept of who God is and how he can change me has grown, and at the same time, my intimacy and relationship with him has grown. If it werenât for that love, for that power of Godâs grace on my heart and life, thereâd be no potential for me ever improving.
John Wimber, Prayer: Intimate Communication (Anaheim: Vineyard Ministries International, 1997), 10-11.
