What Do We Believe
About Prayer?
It’s boring . . . . . One-sided. . . . . Lots of words . . .
. . Have to put on our ‘holy face’ – get it just right . . . . . Some people
are better at it than others . . . . . We do it on Sunday mornings – otherwise,
in emergencies or when we need something . . . . . ‘Good thoughts’ sent out into the universe .
. . .
What Is It?
Communication, conversation that springs from relationship .
. . . . Natural . . . . . Easy . . . . . Continuous . . . . . . Two-sided –
speaking and listening . . . . . Always heard and answered . . . . . Love . . .
. . Real . . . . . Honest . . . . . Raw . . . . . Sweet . . . .
Why do we struggle so with prayer? Because relationships
take work – sometimes hard work – and maybe we imagine prayer to be like
dropping a penny into a wishing well and waiting for our wish to come true when,
instead, God calls us to enter into relationship, to do the hard work that
relationships take, to get to know our Lord and Saviour.
And that ‘getting to know’ part? That means all the parts of
us that we’d rather people not know about.
Our Lord sees and knows all those parts, all of us – warts and all. And
he loves us totally, unconditionally, and eternally. Is that scary? I think so
- perhaps because it’s too hard to believe and too good to be true. There’s got
to be some part of us that when it’s revealed will be too much, will tip the
scales in the other direction. We dare not get too close, dare not open
ourselves too much; therefore, we approach God with our prayers and we offer
them the way we think they should be offered – make sure the words are right,
that we’re ‘holy’ enough – because if we said the things that were really on
our heart, that bolt of heavenly lightening would come crashing down and
obliterate us. Well, maybe not that extreme but there’s a certain amount of
fear that, I think, prevents us from being completely open and honest with our
prayers.
Think about your best relationships – friendships, family
members, your spouse – the ones with whom you can be totally honest. We don’t
have to put on a certain face for those people. When we’re mad, we show it.
When we’re excited, we jump up and down, laugh and celebrate together. When
we’re sad, these are the people that will hold us and cry with us. If we’re
afraid or worried, they’re the ones we can call at any hour and ask for help.
Why not God? Our God, who became man and came to this earth
to walk with us, eat, sleep, laugh, cry, celebrate, mourn, worry, be afraid –
shares every emotion with us. Jesus gets us – he totally knows what we go
through because he went through all that and more. Why can’t we go to him with all
our stuff?
Any relationship that’s worth anything is an authentic one.
Perhaps prayer is, in its simplest terms, an invitation from God to get to know
him better, to learn to trust him and to grow in our ability to let go of our
fear and guardedness and just be --- our true, real, authentic self. The
psalmist wrote, Be still and know that I
am God. It’s a useful exercise to meditate on each one of those words – one
at the time. I think it sums up what I’m trying to express:
Be
Be still
Be still and
know
Be still and
know … I AM
Be still and
know that I am God
I don’t presume to have all the answers but I value the
prayer lessons I’ve learned by struggling through, asking the questions,
getting mad some of the time, asking “WHY?” a lot of times, learning to trust,
learning to wait, learning to watch, and seeing prayers answered in ways I
could never have imagined. And in the process of all that, I’ve come to know
Jesus in a way that astounds me.
His name was the first name cried out when my car was
spinning out of control at 70mph two weeks ago after being hit by another car.
His name was the first name I gave thanks to when the car stopped and I was ok.
His name is the first name I think of when I look at my beautiful grandson take
his first steps and when I give thanks for the wonderful people I’m blessed to
call my friends and family. The more I’ve spent time with him, gotten to know
him, grown in relationship with him, the more my thoughts throughout the
day-to-day stuff of life become conversational and prayerful. Maybe that’s what
Paul meant when he wrote, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in
all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1
Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV)
Prayer, like our best relationships, is a journey of
discovery. It’s a journey I invite and encourage you to begin and continue -- and be blessed.
