Prayer 101: 6.Grandeur & Simplicity

Our  God is a God of indescribable grandeur and magnificence. Look around and notice the immensity of the universe and the complexity of His Creation.

Yet at the same time as we live in and experience God's awesome grandeur,  there is a certain simplicity. We may be awestruck at the grandeur, but it's the simple things of life that cause us to smile and reflect on God's goodness.

As we pray, as we immerse ourselves in God's Word, we need, I need, to better notice the grandeur as well as the simplicity of what we are praying and how we are praying, but also how simply God wants us to be with Him.

The grand prayer of an eloquent orator or preacher or teacher using "thees" and "thous" does not impress the ears of God any more than the simple words of a child praying for their mom or dad, or a drunkard who's had enough of their lifestyle and wants liberation and freedom from their addiction. Our God works equally awesomely in the grand things as well as in the simple things. He is God over all.

In Daniel's prayer of chapter nine, the prophet speaks of the "great and awesome God" (verse 4), which is His nature, he later describes some of His Works to mankind "who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made a name for yourself that endures to this day" (verse 15), those are indeed grand aspects of God. 

Grandeur and simplicity. Let's look at those from two different aspects: Who God and His creation is and how we are to pray.

The grandeur and simplicity of God. Throughout this study, we have looked at knowing God and Who He is so that we can effectively pray. He has revealed Himself in and through nature and the natural order. He has revealed Himself through His Word and ultimately in the Person of Jesus.

We pray knowing that God is a "simple community" of three Persons: Father,  Son, and Holy Spirit. The members of the Trinity live in absolute and loving harmony, needing nothing or anyone else. They have no physical or spiritual needs. But in this simplicity of Trinity, He is God. He is  One. 

And  God is... everything. Without God, nothing exists or can exist. He is solely responsible for all that we see and experience. He is solely responsible for not only the air that I breathe but the fact that I can and do breathe. And in His grace and mercy and magnificence, God created you and me and our friends and family, and even our enemies, in His image.

A sample of God's grandeur and simplicity is Psalm 8. Not only is God's grandeur and simplicity demonstrated, but our true identity as His creation and His loved ones is brought forth. We simple, fragile humans are held in much esteem in God's eyes. He is the one who gave mankind dominion over His creation. That duty belongs to no other creature. He does love us. 

 "O LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

"You have set your glory above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

"When I consider your heavens,
   the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 

"You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
   and crowned him with glory and honor.

"You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
   you put everything under his feet:
all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
   the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

"O LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

In the Book of Job, we continually read of the grandeur of God's being and His creation. For example, 

"Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
   Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
   They are deeper than the depths of the grave—what can you know?
Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea." Job 11:7 - 9.

Later in the book God questions Job and his friends, 

"Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades?  Can you loose the cords of Orion?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?  

"Do you know the laws of the heavens?
   Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth? 

"Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?
Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
   Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind?" Job 38:31 - 36,

Isaiah brings these truths of God's glory and grandeur to us in the following familiar verses:

"Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
   Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers.
  He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in...

"'To whom will you compare me?
   Or who is my equal?' says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
   He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."
Isaiah, 40:21 - 22, 25 - 26.

That is beyond our comprehension. And yet He chooses to not only speak to us, He searches and seeks us in order to have fellowship with us.

In the New Testament, I believe we see more of the simplicity of God mainly because we witness Jesus. Jesus is a man and He is also fully  God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity. Jesus teaches using the simplicity of life. The farmer (the parable of the sower), the sparrow,  and even grass and flowers.

Jesus teaches us in Matthew chapter six, 

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" Matthew 6:25 - 31.

There is simplicity and tenderness in our Savior's words. He speaks to us so that we cannot only understand Him, but Jesus also cares for our every need. When Jesus encountered anyone in need, He would heal them or feed them. Jesus takes care of our physical needs oftentimes first, so that He can better attend to our spiritual needs.

We Christians serve an awesome and loving God who not only displays His grandeur but chooses to deal simply with men and women. One last thing before we move on to prayer, remember that there's even grandeur in the simple things in life; just take a close look (through a  magnifying glass or even microscope) at a flower or a butterfly wing.

The grandeur and simplicity of prayer and speaking with God are equally awesome. Just understanding that we have the opportunity to even speak with our Creator is mind-numbing. Why would He even want to speak with us or be with us? Why would God seek us in order to save us?

Should we be praying grand prayers? Of course! God is grand and mighty and awesome and powerful. Our prayers and praying should reflect those facts. There is nothing wrong in praying grand, sweeping prayers giving glory back to the One who created and maintains it all.

Think of all the wonderful things God has done. Not only throughout history  (His story), but more specifically, how about all of the magnificent things He has done in your life. Where has He brought you? How has He bought you? Praying back to God in thanksgiving the atoning work of Jesus death on the cross is an example of grandeur; it's a grandeur that should cause us to shudder in the abject horror of what our Savior and Lord had to endure so that we could live with Him for eternity.

Then there's the grandeur of how God directly speaks to us through the natural world. Are we praying back to Him in praise and thanksgiving for the return of spring or the cleansing blanket of winter snow? Summer yields a bountiful harvest of food to nourish us for the rest of the year and autumn clothes the hills and mountains in golden splendor for us to experience. Am I praising God for all these "simple" things of  life that I take for granted? How about a perfect sunset; and especially if it's spent with the love of our lives? I believe that God wants us to notice all of what He has provided us and that we should stand in awe of the least little thing. I can only imagine.

At the same time, God desires that I speak plainly to Him. I am to converse simply with my God. I am to express to Him in my own words my thanks, my praise, my adoration of my God. I am to confess my sins being honest and transparent - after all, to God, I am completely transparent, even down to my motives. The deceitfulness of my heart clouds only my mind, not God's.

When I have a need, He wants to hear it. Does God already know my needs? Of  course, we already read of that in the passage above. When I have a desire, my Father in Heaven also wants to hear of it. If I have made my desires God's desires, He will grant them in His time. God wants us to enjoy Him. He does want our happiness. When we are happy, we glorify God in our praise.

Jesus spoke of exactly how we are to pray. We are not to babble or make a big scene. We are to come simply, humbly, and honestly before our God. Here's what He said; again from Matthew chapter 6:

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your  Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This, then, is how you should pray:

"'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
   on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'" Matthew 6:5 - 13.

Grandeur versus simplicity. Grandeur and simplicity. Those are the ways of God. There is nothing more Grand in all the universe than the Person of God. All that He does is for His glory and honor and pleasure. And there is nothing more simple than His free gift of Jesus to take away our sins and bring us to eternal life. We only need to confess our sinfulness, receive His mercy, and accept Him as our Savior and God. There is nothing more simple than  His love for you and me.

My Father in Heaven who loves me so much, thank You for creating me to enjoy You and all that You have given me. Thank you for my family and my job and every opportunity to serve others in Your Name. Help me to better reflect Your grace and mercy. Help me to love my wife and children and friends better. Thank you for seeking me out and forgiving me of my sins against You. Use me as You see fit. I put my life in Your hands. Amen.