The Red Phone

In Cold War-era spy movies, the President had a “red phone” that was his direct line to launch the nukes in case the Russians did something crazy.  The mere presence of the phone was uncomfortable because of the awesome power attached to it.  If the President ever got on that phone, life as we knew it would never be the same.

That’s the picture of prayer I get when I read James 5:16

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working…

James goes on to reference Elijah, who prayed and God held back the rain for three and a half years.  Jesus prayed and lepers were healed, demons were overpowered and chased off, and the dead were raised.

In the years following Christ’s ascension, many early church leaders described prayer as a way to actually enter the presence of the Trinity and participate in the perfect, loving community that the Father, Son and Spirit had been sharing for eternity.  How could such an experience be anything but life-changing?  Remember when Moses spent some time in God’s presence?  He literally glowed, and he had to wear a veil because the people were scared of him (Exodus 34:29-34).

But this isn’t always how prayer goes for us, is it?  A lot of the time, I feel like I’m sitting alone in my room talking to myself, instead of experiencing the fullness of the presence of Almighty God.  I need God to hear… but the words just bounce off the ceiling.[pullquote]They saw the intimacy Jesus had with the Father and made the connection between His prayer and His power.[/pullquote]

I think this is what was in the disciples’ minds when they asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.”  As RC Sproul puts it, “They saw the intimacy Jesus had with the Father and made the connection between His prayer and His power.”  They knew how everyone else around them – Romans, Pharisees, pagan nomads – prayed, and they saw that those prayers lacked power.

The disciples wanted the red phone.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be studying Christ’s response to their request in Matthew 6:5-15.  If you’re like me and long for the kind of power in your prayers that Elijah had, that Jesus had – the kind of prayers that allow us into God’s presence, where He hears us and responds – then I hope you’ll join us tomorrow.

Things you can do now:

1. Pray.  Even if it feels like the words are empty and nobody’s listening, do it anyway.  Ask God to show us individually and as a church how to pray.  Our families and our community need to us to shine like Moses did, and we all need to see Him act.
2. Repent.  Every major movement of God in history was preceded by His people repenting and asking Him to act.  How have we wandered off?  If we know what God wants of us and we do something else, is it any wonder that we feel distant from God?
3. Invite someone.  Odds are good there is someone around you that wants to hear from God.  Maybe they’re going through something really tough, maybe they just feel very alone.  God has apparently offered us access to Him – to the red phone.  Who do you know that needs to know God is on the line, listening intently when His adopted children speak?