Great things happen when you pour your heart and soul into prayer before God.
SHAUNA: Hi, this is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Well, Joni, I know you have a wonderful quote from John Bunyan to share with us.
JONI:Well, you know I love the puritans, don’t you Shauna?
SHAUNA: I know it!
JONI: Well,John Bunyan once wrote, “In prayer, it is better to have heart without words, than to have words without heart.” I’m sure you listening friend, understand the meaning behind this quote by Bunyan. We have all found ourselves in a time of prayer when it feels like our soul is made out of wood. Like we are repeating words without meaning, not believing anything we are saying. Or in prayer we default to a well-worn phrase that has made a rut in our brains. For me, I can tell I am praying “words without heart;” when I’m not praying in faith. So, when do I employ faith in prayer? Well, my prayer feels lively. I’m aware that I’m doing something spiritual. I sense that I am actually being heard by the God of the universe. Of course, a faith-filled prayer can also be a battle when you feel absolutely nothing; yet because of the battle, you know that you are reaching God’s heart. But mainly praying words without heart is praying with your soul totally disengaged.
For example, just this morning I was praying with my get-up girl, a Christian. Whoever is getting me up in my wheelchair, we always pray together before bed, bath, a range of motion exercises. Anyway, I was praying, and right in the middle, I had to stop midsentence. It was no sense going on with my prayer until I had a serious “talk with my heart.” I chided my heart. I said, “Joni? C’mon, how dare you enter the Throne room of God Almighty with a ho-hum mindset! Don’t you know who you’re talking to? Oh, Holy Spirit, forgive this poor wretch for not pouring more oil on her prayer. Forgive this woman for being so distant and distracted. Please strike a match inside her heart and help her stir the fires of the Spirit within her.”
I opened my eyes and my get up girl was looking at me a little strange. But [I don’t know] I just simply had to wake myself up. I had to give myself an ice-cold splash of truth to get my heart in line. My heart [and probably at times your heart, too] is as the old hymn goes, “prone to wander, oh, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love [that’s right, you can even leave God hanging when you pray without heart]. So, here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it God, seal it for your courts above.” And this morning once my heart was awake? I felt the help of God, of his Spirit. I felt an infusion of faith in praying. It was Thomas Watson, another puritan like John Bunyan, who said, “The prayer that’s most likely to pierce heaven, is one that first pierces your heart.”
Then Thomas Watson goes on to say, “[For] believers to pray in faith, let them remember the bountifulness of God. He often exceeds the prayers of his people: Hannah asked for a son, and God gave her not only a son, but a prophet. Solomon asked for wisdom, and God gave him not only wisdom, but riches and honor. The woman of Canaan asked but the life of her child, but Christ not only gave her that, but the life of her own soul as well!” Great things happen when we put heart into our prayers. Better to pray that way than to use words before the Throne of Almighty God that have no heart, no life, no soul or fervency, no faith. And if you would like to have these quotes by John Bunyan and Thomas Watson, then visit joniradio.org where you can easily download them. It’s there for you at joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends