Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.       - Psalm 139:23-24

THE VALUES of prayer are many.

Anyone who practices it enjoys the assurance of Divine relationship in all aspects of their lives. It gives them hope in their petitions, a path through the uncertainties of life, and a real sense of participation with God’s purposes in the world.  

Prayer also leads us to wisdom and self-knowledge.  It is the laboratory where the subtleties of the spiritual life are closely examined, and where we can hope to discern the mysterious forces which move us to think and act as we do.  

Prayer is also the place of new beginnings – where life gets birthed, fresh from the Word. In so many ways, prayer is a wellspring of spiritual growth. But one of the often unheralded benefits of prayer is that it also prevents certain things from growing; it is a place where bad growth is curtailed.

Growth happens imperceptibly, especially bad growth: the negative attitudes we cultivate, the prejudices we develop, the priorities we misplace, and the misinterpretations of God’s will which can cause us to gradually wander from the truth.  

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Without prayer, these harmful growths go unchecked.  Prayer is the place of pruning, where such things are nipped in the bud. It prevents them from ever taking root in us.  

In prayer, we ask God to examine all aspects of our lives – in order to avoid such errors. Like shining a flashlight in a dark basement, we look into this corner and that one –  holding all things up to God to see if there is anything which needs to be adjusted.  

“What do you think of this, Lord? What about my relationship with so and so? What about this choice or action I made today? What about this attitude I feel growing in me? Is that okay with you? Is everything alright?  Is there anything offensive in me?”

Prayer is the place where we get to re-examine and adjust the assumptions we are operating with. It is where we come to have our lives redirected, as needed.  

To ask God daily for verification is the simple ounce of prevention which will make unnecessary the pound of cure that any wrong tangent will eventually require.

Written by Rob Des Cotes, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Vancouver, and author of Fan the Flame.

Illustrator Friedrich Peter is a Vancouver visual artist,        calligrapher and designer.

September 2007