I have been thinking a lot here lately about what prayer is and how it works specifically in the way we normally see it in corporate worship. There is a dimension of prayer that we may never understand and for the secret things left for God (cf. Deut. 29:29) I cannot comprehend. However, there are some aspects of prayer I think have either been neglected or over-exaggerated. To be certain I would like to first mention, very briefly, different prayers mentioned in Scripture using the acrostic ACTS (from Stanley Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 494-95) .
- Adoration – the prayers in which we adore God for His wonderful attributes in who He is. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matt. 6:9).
- Confession – adoring God naturally moves one to realize his or her state before God (Rom. 3:23) which means we are nothing without Him. “Forgive us our debts” (Matt. 6:12) and “against You and You alone have I sinned” (Ps. 51:4) are examples of prayers of confession. It is interesting to note that often you will find prayers of adoration and confession in the same context (see Isaiah 6:1-6).
- Thanksgiving – These are prayers (not to be confused with adoration) thanking God for His work and providence in the church and the world. “Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:17-18).
- Supplication – These are prayers that are requested based on the spiritual/physical needs of the community (Phil. 4:6; 1 Thess. 5:25).
There is more to this but I just wanted to introduce it to you before I move on to what I have been struggling with. In church services/bulletins/announcements typically what we do is mention people who we need to pray for who are struggling with cancer, operations, or some other type of ailment. This is not only important for a church family but is mandated (James 5:16) as intercessory prayer is one of the vehicles that keeps a church growing spiritually and physically. But I often wonder if we, at corporate worship, pray too often with prayers of supplication to the neglect of prayers of thanksgiving, adoration and dare I say confession? I know this is not the case with every public prayer as there are many who pray continually for the forgiveness of sins and the gratitude that comes from that release. I struggle with the idea of getting everybody to pray for supplication when a particular brother or sister is going through something (intercession) as if to try to win over God’s favor for this particular situation. Sometimes it comes across as the more people you get to pray for this situation the more likely God will be on your side for what you are praying for. I know there is some Biblical merit to this as scores of stories in the Old Testament reveal that if the nation of Israel were to pray more than perhaps God would have (and He did sometimes) relented from His wrath.
Without bordering on deism, I would like to propose that it is a good thing to get as many people praying for you, for me, for the nation, for the church, for the sick, for the surgeries, for the spiritually lax, for all situations. But if God does not deem it fit to answer your prayer the way you want it does that change who God is? Most of us have prayed for something and it has not worked out for the best be it bad timing, bad intentions or some other plan altogether. I remember praying fervently for a brother who had cancer that God would rescue him from the cancer because he had a beautiful wife and two young daughters but he still lost his battle. Does that mean God was not listening? Of course not. I believe that God is concerned about us even when nobody is praying for us. He does know our hearts and intentions even when nobody else does (1 Samuel 16:7). Is it bad to get people to pray for your situation? In the words of Paul, “May it never be!” Don’t you think God wants to hear our yearnings, our issues, our struggles, our doubts, our fears and our desires? We are called to pray for the sick that they may be healed, we are called to thank God for all that he is done even in the darkest circumstances and we pray that God, no matter the situational outcome, will be with us and comfort us. We don’t need to pray God to win His favor on us as if we are trying to impress Him…if we are His children then He already loves us and favors us to begin with.
So please, keep praying and would you pray for me as I pray for you?
Robbie Mackenzie 
Amen.