“And when you pray….But when you pray….And when you pray….” (Matthew 6:5, 6, 7).

Three verses in a row, Jesus tells his followers, “When you pray.”

Notice Jesus didn’t say “If” you pray. Prayer for disciples is assumed. If you are a disciple, you are one who prays.

These verses in Matthew introduce the Lord’s Prayer.

When we pray we typically pray by listing a laundry list of stuff we want God to do for us. That’s okay. God wants to know what is on our hearts. He invites us to pray always and to pray for all things.

However, where we get into trouble is that we confuse praying to God about all things with God answering all our prayers.

If God were to answer all our prayers in the way we wanted them to be answered, who is God? What is God? If praying meant that God has to answer our prayers in the way we want them answered, we are god. Our will rules. That’s absurd!

R. C. Sproul says, “The real prayer of faith is the prayer that trusts God no matter whether the answer is yes or no.”

When R. C. Sproul talks about prayer here, “prayer” has two reference points:

• It can mean one who prays, pray-er
• It can mean the words we utter in prayer

Either way, the prayer of faith trusts God wants to hear what is on hearts, and trusts that God’s will is best.

So, pray. Let God know what’s on your heart. Pray for all things. If you’re thinking about it, pray about it.

And, as you pray, trust God. Trust that God knows best and God wants what is best for you.

If you are a disciple, you pray!

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who wait in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:29-31).

Depleted….tired….weary….beaten down….spent….exhausted….

God’s word promises that “those who wait in the LORD renew their strength.”

In the NIV, our text reads, “those who hope in the LORD renew their strength.” I am not sure why the NIV translates the word “wait” with “hope”. The Hebrew is wait.

I don’t know about you but I could use some renewal. I long for God’s strength.

God tells us that the pathway to God’s renewal and strength is to wait in the LORD. So, what does it mean to wait in the LORD? What am I doing if I am waiting on the LORD?

Those who are waiting on the LORD are those who are intentional about seeking the LORD and his presence through prayer and his word. Waiting in the LORD doesn’t mean sitting idly. Those who wait in the LORD seek his presence. We enter into the presence of God through prayer and through God’s word.

• Where is strength and renewal to be found? In the LORD.
• How do we find strength and renewal in the LORD? By seeking his presence through prayer and his word.

When we seek the LORD and his presence through prayer and God’s word, it reorients our perspective from the problems in our world, to God. And, when we see God we are reminded of who God is so that we can remember who we are as God’s beloved. It is this reorientation, reminder, and remembrance that gives us his strength and renewal.

Tired? Weary? Depleted? Down and out?

Wait in the LORD. Seek him in prayer. Meditate on God’s word.

“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3).

Matt and I were attending the Leadership Summit conference at Willow Creek Church in Chicago. There were around 14,000 leaders who packed out the worship center at Willow Creek. At every break, there was a mad dash for the restrooms on campus.

As soon as the talk was done, Matt and I went to the restroom. There was already a line that was around fifty men deep. I got done with my business and waited for Matt outside the restroom. But he was taking much longer so I went back in to make sure he was okay. When I walked in the restroom, I realized why Matt was taking such a long time. He was wiping down the excess water on the sinks and picking up trash that was around the trash bin.

So, I asked him, “Matt, what are you doing?”

And, I’ll never forget what he told me. He said, “I want to make sure that every place I show up, it’s better because Jesus shows up everywhere I am.”

Matt is like that. What you need to know is that Matt is a business guy. And he was schooling this pastor guy in what it means to shine Christ’s light.

The life you and I live either demonstrates the glory of Christ or it muddies Christ’s glory. Paul tells the Corinthians that they are walking Bibles, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. Either they were demonstrating how amazing and awesome our God is through their lives, or they were making the reality of Christ terribly cloudy and muddied.

Friends, a non-Christian will never pick up a Bible on their own to seek Christ. But, they see you all the time. And either our lives will cause them to consider Christ or our lives will hamper their search for Christ.

Be like Matt. Matt makes me want to be a better Christ-follower. Make sure that every place you show up today is a better place because Jesus shows up wherever you are!