Supplication

Ephesians 6:18
"...praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints..."

One thing I've been convicted of recently is how very important prayer is and how very weak I am in it. And although in theory, I want very much to be a faithful, prayerful woman of God, the discipline it takes to get there is often quite distasteful to me. So I've begun praying that God would help me pray better. I'm not sure why it still surprises me that when I ask Him to do things, He does them.

Tonight I ran smack into a fresh insight for what my attitude in prayer should be. My Ephesians study book asked me to look up a definition of "supplication." Trusty helpfully supplied:

intransitive verb : to make a humble entreaty; especially : to pray to God

transitive verb
1 : to ask humbly and earnestly of
2 : to ask for earnestly and humbly

Although my trusty little pink study book on Ephesians didn't ask me to, I ran over to and clicked on Strong's G1162, here translated "supplication." The word is δέησις (deēsis), meaning

1) need, indigence, want, privation, penury

2) a seeking, asking, entreating, entreaty to God or to man

In combining these definitions (and looking up a few word in the definition that I didn't understand!), I came to understand supplication as much more than just things I ask of God. I am to come to God in such poverty that I am desperate for His help, not only on my own behalf, but for others also. Think of kind of hardship and deprivation that most of us North Americans hear about and see on TV, but really can't begin to imagine. That's the situation from which I am come in supplication. In supplication, I come to God pleading for His direct intervention because I am in such need that I will surely die. That's the kind of urgency wrapped up in that dusty old word "supplication."

Furthermore, the idea of coming to God from deepest poverty suggests the humility with which we are to make our supplication. In many different contexts of Scripture, we are told that "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4:5 gives us to understand the humility is a proviso of communion with Him. To be poor in the New Testament (see Matt. 5:3) is literally to be one who crouches (). Therefore, in a thorough understanding of my real nature, I cower before an awful, holy God as one who deserves only His wrath, starving and desperate for a handout. This is the stance that supplication suggests. I believe it is a necessary stance. But at the very same time, I can confidently climb into His lap as His beloved daughter (Eph. 3:12; John 1:12; Eph. 5:1), knowing that my requests are heard by my Father as I pray according to His will, and that if He hears, I have it (1 John 5:14-15).

It's hard to pray. It takes discipline and concentration. Sometimes it feels like drudgery. Most of the time, I don't really want to pray. But as God works in me teaching me to pray, I find that prayer is so beautiful. So much more than worth it.

I am excited by this little revelation and looking forward to learning more about prayer and supplication. I welcome your feedback!