Culturally Influenced Prayers

I was thinking about how much different so many things would be, if literally ALL I knew was the Word of God, and knew nothing of the world around me. I tried to imagine a scenario, though an unrealistic scenario at that, but somewhat challenging to consider. Had I been born in a cave, and never once saw the world outside the cave. Born there, lived there. ate there, slept there. Never left. Never saw the outside world. And to top it off, what if the only thing I had in the cave were a Bible. And I studied that Bible thoroughly over and over, knowing that it was all that I had, and all that I could know. What would happen if I were in the cave until I were my age today. And at this very moment in time, I am released into the very same world that I am living in right now. How much different would my prayers that I am about to pray be? Would there be prayers that I would stop praying? Would there be prayers that I would pray, that I have never prayed? I am inclined to believe that my prayers would have little resemblence to the prayers I pray now.

I've been wondering how much influence the culture has on the things that I pray. A culture where even unbelievers use prayer as a tradition, in order to bless their meal. A culture that does not pray for things, unless it is something we have seen be answered in ours or others lives. A culture that occasionally uses prayer as an opportunity to demonstrate godliness for the sake of recognition. A culture where prayer is dominated by words, and matters of the heart are left unsaid.

As I've considered this, I began to think that if I had lived in that cave, and all I knew was the word of God, without knowing anything of the world around me, I would only pray ACCORDING TO GOD'S WORD. I have never in my life even considered praying for a dead man to be raised from the dead. I do not pray for blind people to be healed. Almost as if, because these are things I have never seen happen in our current culture, even though not admitting it, I am assuming that God doesn't do those things anymore. I am beginning to be convinced that we are not seeing these things happen, because we are not asking. I'll be honest, I get awkward even thinking about asking God to raise a man from the dead. Just doesn't feel right. But I'm kind of tired of letting how I think, or how I feel, or how it seems, dictate how I would pray, and even dictate the way I would live my life. Feelings and emotions are so much based on what the culture says you should feel like. I don't want to let that be the driving force of my prayers. I want to pray in line with who God says He is, what He says He does, and nothing short of that. I now have a choice; either to pray in line with who the culture says God is, or in line with who God says God is. Starts with The Word.

After considering all of this, there is one truth that allows me to breathe easy. Ultimately, makes me thankful that we have been given a Holy Spirit to rely on to intercede for us in our prayers. The Holy Spirit turns my weak prayers into powerful prayers, in order that lives may be changed according to the gospel of Jesus Christ.