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PrayerLeader OnLine interviews Bryan Chappell, the author of Praying Backwards
Q. Bryan, what did the Lord use to stir you to write a book on prayer?
I have wanted to encourage believers to believe in the power of prayer without making God into a genie or their prayers into magic formulas. Disappointment in our prayers or distrust in our God will always result from thinking that by snapping our fingers or praying "just right" God jump to do precisely what our human wisdom determines. The Creator of the Universe is not waiting for us to tell Him how to run the world, but He is telling us how to turn to Him and trust His wisdom to make this world and eternity better than we can imagine through our prayers
Q.
Your introduction begins with: "How would your prayer change if you
began where you normally end?" How/When did this question begin to
reform your own approach to prayer?
As
I listened to the prayers of my children, I began to recognize how
childlike my own prayers were. My kids prayed for ponies and new
bicycles and then ended with a rote “in Jesus’ name, amen.” Of course,
they were not really praying for Jesus’ name or purposes but for their
own desires. I easily discerned the self-orientation of my children’s
prayers, but it took me some time to recognize that my own prayers were
very similar. I prayed for success in ministry, the end of church
conflicts, and more money for building, but too often I wasn’t really
concerned for the spread of Christ’s glory; I just wanted a better life
for me. I recognized that if I did not use the name of Jesus as a
perfunctory end of my prayer, but rather as an intentional beginning,
then my prayers more readily considered Christ’s purposes rather than
my own. It’s hard really to pray, “Lord, in Jesus’ name, make me really
important.” Putting Jesus first in priority, if not in the actual words
of our prayers, keeps the One who is supposed to be Lord – Lord of our
prayer.
Q. How serious is our misunderstanding of "In Jesus' name, amen"?
Most
of us end our prayers “in Jesus’ name for one of two reasons: - We
have been instructed that Jesus tells us to pray in His name, so we
think we need this biblical, “Roger, wilco, over and out” to sign off
our prayer; or...
- We know that we should approach God through Christ’s
intercession rather than on the basis of our merit. Both of these
concepts have biblical foundations. However, if we do not remember that
praying in Jesus’ name means that we are petitioning God to answer our
prayers in a way that glorifies and honors His Son, then our prayers
will be more selfish than will ultimately satisfy Him or us. When we
truly learn how to pray in Jesus’ name, then we can have great
confidence that God will hear and answer because we know that He
delights to honor His Son.
Q. What can a pastor or prayer leader do to mature their members into this radical understanding and practice?
A
pastor or prayer leader’s most effective way to mature church members
in prayer is to pray biblically before them. When our people hear
prayer that is godly, biblical, humble and trusting in God, then they
will begin to pray similarly. They will also develop spiritual
instincts that help them discern prayers that are selfish, unbiblical
and trusting in human wisdom more than God’s. Of course, we need to
study biblical prayers, follow Christ’s own prayer patterns and read
the works of prayer warriors who have gone before us. Still, nothing so
matures our people’s prayers as hearing us regularly and truly pray in
Jesus’ name.
Q.
What wisdom can you share about prayer, both personal and corporate,
with pastors and prayer leaders who are seeking to lead their members
upward and forward in serious, scriptural, strategic praying?
Some
say that the most effective prayers are offered when we pray without
any doubt in what we want to happen. This is impossible. It is
something like telling someone not to think about a pink elephant. If
you tell me not to think about it, I cannot help but think about it.
Prayer is not a mental game. When we pray, our faith is not in the
object of our prayer (a new red bicycle or a new church sanctuary) but
in the character of our God. He is the Heavenly Father who knows the
end from the beginning, who loves us, who delights to hear from us, and
who will answer our prayers in ways more beautiful and eternal than we
can ask or imaging. My trust should not be in what my finite mind
believes God should do, but in what the Good Shepherd delights to make
heaven and earth the greatest blessing possible for His people. When we
pray without any doubt in the character of our God, then the outcomes
of our prayers may perplex us but they will not disappoint us.
Q. Bryan, please write a prayer that prayer leaders can pray in agreement with you.
Heavenly
Father, I pray to You today in Jesus’ name. Focus my heart on the
priorities of my Savior, whom You have provided out of Your great love.
Please do in me and through me whatever will bring most glory to Jesus.
As you listen to each petition I offer, please help me to offer it:
- Claiming Christ’s merit more than my own
- Seeking Christ’s purposes more than my own
- Loving Christ’s glory more than my own.
These are the petitions that I offer:
- (Place your petitions here)
By the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, transform my requests into instruments for accomplishing Your will to have Christ honored everywhere--especially in my heart.
Make my greatest desire, highest joy and deepest fulfillment Jesus’ glory.
I
can attempt all you require of my life, face all you design for my
path, rejoice in all You will for my eternity, when I know all is for
Jesus’ name.
Do
what You know is best for Him, for this most blesses me. Forgive my
readiness to forget and my tendency to doubt that what most glorifies
Him, most satisfies me. When my mind shrinks from these truths, enlarge
my heart for Christ’s purposes. For Christ’s sake and for mine, help me
always to pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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March 2006 
