There's an old Latin saying in the church, "Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi," which means, "The Law of Prayer is the Law of Faith." In other words, as a general principle, the way in which we pray to God and worship Him (how we pray, the frequency of our prayer, etc.) shapes our faith in God - what we believe about Him, our level of trust in Him, etc.
There are many ways one can apply this principle to the Christian life. But, certainly one area would be how the habit (or lack thereof) of daily prayer affects one's faith in God during the most difficult times in life. We often underestimate the effect our habits have on our overall worldview and even our faith.
When a Christian gets in the habit of praying and praising God daily, first of all out of thanksgiving for the salvation which belongs to us by God's grace in Christ Jesus, but also because we recognize that it is only right to give the Lord thanks and praise- for He alone, after all, is God- it ends up shaping what we believe about God. First of all, it helps to reinforce our faith in the grace of God and His immeasurable love for us in Christ. We say that God is gracious but so often we have doubts about it in the core of our being. Habitual praise of His grace reinforces this truth. And, as they say,
"Repetition is the mother of all learning."
Holy Bible (NIV)
Philippians 4: 4-7
The same goes for being thankful to God for all things - to give Him thanks in all circumstances. In fact, Paul basically employs the logic of Lex Orandi, Lex Credend at the end of his letter to the Philippians, where he writes, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:4-7 ESV)
It's as if he's saying: "When you, a child of God, come daily to your heavenly Father in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, with a heart that is truly grateful for all of His benefits, especially for the salvation He freely provides you in Jesus Christ, you will find that His peace, which He made with you through the blood of His Son - in every circumstance - will comfort your heart and your mind; for His peace alone surpasses all understanding."
Paul first writes about the practice: Rejoicing always. Being reasonable. Not being anxious, but rather by prayer with thanksgiving bringing all requests to God. Only then does he describe the effect on the heart and mind when one prays, worships, and lives this way: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." It's noteworthy that Paul says God's peace in Christ Jesus "surpasses all understanding." During the most difficult times in life, we usually can't help but ask the question, "why," as if knowing would somehow make the situation more tolerable. But, knowing "why" isn't going to change anything and it really isn't going to help us feel any better. It's really only our arrogance and pride which leads us to believe that if we only knew all the reasons for everything, we'd be satisfied. The truth is, the only thing that can truly help us during those really difficult times is the peace of God, precisely because only His peace can surpass all understanding. Because, ultimately, that's what we need. You see, we don't need to understand. We need the peace of God which surpasses our understanding. And, we receive this peace when we give thanks to God in all circumstances, let our requests be made known to Him in prayer, and rejoice always and give Him all thanks and praise for His immeasurable love for us in Christ Jesus.
But, the thing is, we can't just suddenly expect to do this when the going gets tough. It doesn't really work in those hard times unless it has already become a dailv exercise - a habit. Because, as a rule, the way we pray will inevitably shape the way we believe.
May the Lord grant us His grace that we may daily thank and praise Him!
