Prayers and Presumptions

God has been showing me some things about prayer, and I wanted to share them with you.

In mapping Hebrews 5:7, I found that the word for prayers describes someone in extreme need—lacking even life's necessities, begging for everything. The word for pleas is used for a servant approaching with awe and adoration, asking for a favor. Jesus recognized that everything comes from God and, as a human, was completely dependent on Him. He also prayed with the heart of a servant—full of awe and adoration.

I don’t know about you, but I often feel pretty self-sufficient. I had to realize that every ability I have comes from God; He allows me to use them. In Jewish tradition, people pray the Modeh Ani upon waking: “I am thankful before You, living and eternal King, for You have mercifully restored my soul within me. Great is Your faithfulness.” I had never thought about thanking God just for waking up, yet every morning I do—only because He allows it.

And I don’t usually pray like a servant asking for a favor. I either come feeling worthless in repentance or questioning His ways with a “why me?” attitude. But Jesus approached God differently. If He came empty, begging, and full of awe and adoration, how much more should I?

Thinking about this brought me back to Mark 9:29—“This kind cannot come out except by prayer.” I never understood that. Isn’t casting out demons already prayer? Didn’t the disciples rely on God's power, not their own? Some translations add "and fasting," but that confused me even more. But what if Jesus meant that true authority in prayer comes from approaching God as He did—empty-handed, dependent, and with the heart of a servant? That makes sense to me. Maybe the disciples, like me, didn’t always have the right posture or attitude in prayer.

I still struggle with bringing my own presumptions into my prayers, and I forget to thank God for the simple gift of waking up. But I’m working on it—asking God to remind me daily of who He is and how much I need Him. And it’s making a difference. I hope it does for you, too.