When we meet with misfortune, well-meaning Christian friends tell us to ‘pray until something happens’ (PUSH). Good advice, you might say. Or is it?

I suppose the best way to answer this question is to consider the primary purpose of prayer. What is prayer, and why should we pray?

The Dictionary of Bible Themes makes mention of various reasons, as seen in Scripture, as to why we ought to pray.

The first, on which ‘PUSH’ hints, is prayer as a petition, or asking. Here, God’s people turn to Him in supplication in times of need or crisis to bring requests to Him ‘as Father’ (Phil 4:6).

The second is prayer as confession, responding to God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness (1 John 1:5-9, Ps 51:1-2). Such admission is as inevitable for those who encounter God as plastic inescapably melts in the fire. His light exposes our darkness within, leaving us to agree with His assessment of us.

Then there is prayer as a contemplative response to God’s presence and call. Here, prayer ‘offers believers a means of acknowledging the character and purposes of God.’ It also provides the opportunity to seek guidance concerning His will for them’ (Ps. 27:4, 1 Sam 3:10).

Also, John 15:7-8 shows us prayer arising from our co-operation with God in His kingdom work. We co-work with God, therefore we pray. Then God’s answer brings abounding fruitfulness in our lives and ministry.

But the climax of these is prayer viewed as relational communication that expresses one’s longing for God (Ps 42:1-2; Jer 29:12-13, Ps 130:5-6). Indeed, humanity communes with God through heartfelt communication with Him (Ps 73:23-26). Here, a person needs nothing from God that is extrinsic to Him.

Such a person is undoubtedly satisfied with and by God’s being and presence. His beauty and holiness halt their hunger, as their longing meets an inexpressibly and overwhelmingly sweet response. No lack lurks in their consciousness since they are lost in His presence. This praying overflows into praise, thanksgiving, and worship.

So, Should We PUSH?

Prayer is powerful, if not merely viewed as a transaction, a marketplace, or even a medium of exchange. God indeed provides for us when we pray. But we do not barter with God through prayer – bringing our words and hands, often without the heart, in exchange for things we want.

More than a petition for provision, prayer is principally a place where we experience God. And because this is so, there are times when nothing tangible will happen when we pray. There is when God’s answer to us will be NO or WAIT.

In such situations, ‘pushing’ might not bring the expected ‘breakthrough.’ But if not careful, ‘pushing’ may push us off the cliff – into unbelief – as we question whether God is listening or even exists.

But if God’s desire for prayer is communion more than commodities, holiness rather than happiness, then prayer itself will be an answer to prayer, as we encounter through it He who surpasses all we may ever ask.

Thus, if we are to use PUSH as an acronym any longer, may we mean by it ‘Pray Unceasingly, Seek Holiness.’ After all, earth has nothing we desire besides Him (Ps 73:25), or does it?

To pray unceasingly is to commune with God ceaselessly, and to seek holiness is to find His face.