Changing Our Approach
By Rev. Stephanie Butler Adams, Contributing Writer
All over the world, prayers are being lifted at all times, to all kinds of gods, for all kinds of things, and on behalf of all kinds of people. We hear short prayers, long prayers, loud prayers, and silent prayers. We speak prayers for justice, peace, financial provision, and favor. There are prayers in other tongues, prayers in languages we understand, and prayers in languages we don’t understand. With so much prayer going on, one would think that the world would be pretty close to perfect; yet, we still live in a world full of evil.
Have believers forgotten that God not only hears our prayers but He listens to them intently? At times, God may even be influenced or persuaded by our prayers. However, it’s worth reminding ourselves that a prayer is a request and not a guarantee; and, every prayer—great and small—is subject to the sovereign will of God.
Thankfully, God’s way of hearing and listening is far more superior to ours because He has the divine ability to cut through our faulty “petitions” that are steeped in agendas, wrong motives, greed, and selfishness. God’s inner ear can distinguish between a scheme and a cry of desperation. He discerns prayers rooted in bitterness, anger, revenge, and arrogance as opposed to pain, repentance, and humility. Poor planning, procrastination, panic, and anxiety do not cause the hand of God to move quicker on our behalf. Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” True worshippers gain God’s attention through authentic prayer married with faith-filled gratitude.
Hebrews 4:16 declares, “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The book of Hebrews was written to Jews—some of whom were considering and evaluating the teachings of Christ. Others had become Christians yet were still struggling with the principles of their new faith and their sinful ways.
As a sacred artist, what I like about the book of Hebrews is its ability to link God’s saving power with His creative power. In other words, the same power and creativity that brought the universe into being is the very same power that provides forgiveness, purification for our sins, and help in times of trouble.
The prayer and faith union are not without its challenges. First, many of us struggle to let go of our contemplative evaluation processes and analytical thinking when it comes to prayer. Sometimes, we doubt our worthiness to receive the things we seek. The next challenge to our psyche comes when our prayers appear to go unanswered or unaddressed. If these are regular occurrences in the life of the believer, it’s probably time to change your approach.
In prayer, our approach must be to intentionally engage every member of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We are praying to God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus! In other words, Jesus intercedes, God authorizes, and the Holy Spirit completes the assignment.
Allowing the Holy Spirit to shape our prayers will require spiritual recalibration and a personal lifestyle shift from mediocrity to manifestation. Spiritual recalibration includes tapping into our prophetic imagination so that as we pray, we visualize the desired outcome. We become the prayer we are praying!
When the worshipper changes his or her approach to prayer, no person, circumstance, tradition, or expectation can ever keep them bound! When we change our approach to letting faith and prayer shape our prophetic future, the artist in you meets the preacher in you and the preacher in you meets the poet in you; the poet meets the intercessor and the intercessor meets the missionary; the missionary meets the activist and the activist meets the entrepreneur; the entrepreneur meets the worshipper and the worshipper meets the healer; and then, the world is turned upside down. All of that happens just by being who God called you to be: nothing more and nothing less.
The Rev. Stephanie Butler Adams is the executive director of The Long Beach Unity Festival, a non-profit 501c3 organization, which she manages together with her husband, Steve Adams (president and CEO). She is also an ordained itinerant elder in the 5th Episcopal District of the AME Church. For nearly two decades, her ministry and mission work has been recognized worldwide spanning Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and extensively throughout the Caribbean for her in-depth teaching on choreography, dance theology, arts-evangelism, liturgical worship, cross-cultural outreach ministry, and the preached word. She has written and published three books.
