The Most Honest Prayer You’ll Ever Pray Might Be Wordless

 

In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words.

Romans 8:26 (CEV)

Have you ever been dumbfounded? Perhaps speechless? How about taciturn, tight-lipped, or tongue-tied?

I admit there have been many times when I've looked at the chaos surrounding me and have been utterly gobsmacked. It's hard to know how to even begin praying in the face of a world gone crazy.

But the Apostle Paul brings us good news, friends. Our prayers do not need to be peppered with perfect prose. The Holy Spirit, being God, knows exactly how we feel and is able to bring our burdens to Yahweh in a way that is beyond words.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...sometimes the most effective prayer is a sigh ... or a sob.

Calvin & Hobbes and the Parable of the Santa Letter

 

With thanks to Bill Waterson, we, once again, turn to Calvin & Hobbes for confirmation of a deep truth.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:2-3 CSB)

P.S. While we're on the subject...

Dear Jesus

 

Dear Jesus,

How do you put up with it all?

I mean...every day, thousands upon thousands of people make social media posts that pretend to understand what you've said and what your priorities were while living on the planet. And every day, thousands upon thousands of people attribute to YOUR heart whatever notion THEY are committed to.

Your name is used to express contempt for everything from human trafficking to getting cut off in traffic.

We swear to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then pray for you to help us get even with those who disagree with us about how we voted in the last election.

I talk a good talk about starting my day with you in my heart and your word in my lap, but somehow, checking to see how many Likes my last post got takes precedence.

I honestly don't know how you put up with it.

I mean...with me.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is (P.S.)...If you didn't love us all so much, you wouldn't be so quick to show us grace and mercy. And all I can do is be grateful and pray for the power of the same Spirit that resurrected your dead body to stand me up, brush me off, and push me in the right direction again.

And again.

First Prayer of the Year

 

If I want this year to be one of spiritual health, I could do worse than to pray this prayer from Thomas à Kempis in The Imitation of Christ, as updated and edited by James N. Watkins:

Lord, you care more for me than I care for myself. When I don't cast all my care upon you, I do not stand firm and secure. So, do with me whatever you desire, for I know your purpose cannot be anything but good. I bless and trust you when you leave me in the dark. I bless and trust you when you bring me into the light. I bless and trust you when you comfort me. I bless and trust you when you cause me to be troubled.

Lord, I will willingly bear for you whatever it is you desire to come upon me. Without complaining, I will receive from your hand good and evil, sweet and bitter, joy and sadness. I will give you thanks for all things that happen to me. Keep me from all sin, and I will not fear death or hell. Only do not cast me away forever or erase me from the book of life. Then no troubles and trials which will come upon me will do me any harm.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...It wouldn't hurt me to pray this  -  not only at the start of the new year  -  but at the beginning of each day.

The Ins and Outs of It

 

John Fischer was a pioneer of what is now called Contemporary Christian Music, having written a lot of songs that a lot of teenage Christians sang around a lot of campfires.

He not only wrote songs, but for many years wrote a "last page of the magazine" monthly article for CCM. Several of those articles found their way into book form in 1988's Real Christians Don't Dance!.

One of the most memorable pieces in the book is a poem titled "The Ins and Outs of It":

"In it, not of it," the statement was made
As Christian One faced the world, much afraid
"In it, not of it," the call was made clear,
But Christian One got something stuck in his ear.
"Not in it, or of it" was the thing that he heard.
And knowing the world was painfully absurd,
He welcomed the safety of pious retreat,
And went to the potluck for something to eat.

Now Christian Two, he knew what to do,
He'd show those fundies a thing or two!
How will the world ever give Christ a try
If we don't get in there and identify?
So "In it, and of it," he said in his car,
As he pulled in and stopped at a popular bar.
"I'll tell them the truth as soon as I'm able
To get myself out from under this table."

Now along comes Christian Three jogging for Jesus
In witnessing sweats made of four matching pieces.
His earphones are playing a hot Christian tune
About how the Lord is coming back soon.
"Not in it, but of it," he turns down the hill
And stops for a bite at the Agape Grill.
Like the gold on the chain of his "God Loves You" bracelet,
He can have the world without having to face it.

While way up in heaven they lament these conditions
That come from changing a few prepositions.
"Not in it, or of it," Christian One thought.
But who in the world will know that he's not?
"In it, and of it," thought Christian Two.
But who in the world will know that he knew?
"Not in it, but of it," thought Christian Three.
But who in the world watches Christian TV?

And Jesus turns to Gabriel, shaking His head.
"'In it, not of it,' wasn't that what I said?"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...This is all based on John 17, when Jesus was praying about his disciples and said, "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it."

For us to be the answer to the prayer of Jesus, we need to be present as a contributing part of our earthly reality, engaged and engaging, but not fall in love with the foul and shallow trappings of a fallen worldview.

Like John said in First John 2: "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world  —  the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life  —  comes not from the Father but from the world."

Hammer Time, or, Dear God, Make Me What You Want Me to Be

 

At this point in history, Carl Sandburg is probably most well-known for calling Chicago the City of the Big Shoulders; "Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler."

But I recently learned about another poem of his titled "Prayers of Steel." It's as if steel is lifting its voice to Yahweh, and it resonates with my decidedly non-metallic soul.

Lay me on an anvil, O God.
Beat me and hammer me into a crowbar.
Let me pry loose old walls.
Let me lift and loosen old foundations.  

Lay me on an anvil, O God.
Beat me and hammer me into a steel spike.
Drive me into the girders that hold a skyscraper together.
Take red-hot rivets and fasten me into the central girders.
Let me be the great nail holding a skyscraper through blue nights into white stars.

This seems to echo Adelaide Potter in the hymn, "Have Thine Own Way, Lord":

Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!

Thou art the potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me after thy will,

while I am waiting, yielded and still.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...Sandburg's words are grittier and a more realistic image of what it can be like to be fashioned into an effective disciple of Jesus. God's refining work on my life won't always be easy or painless, but the results will be a life of strength and usefulness.

Does God's Voice Sound Like Morgan Freeman?

 

 

It's not every day that Hollywood makes a deeply truthful theological observation, so I thought I'd better not let this one disappear into movie history unnoticed.

The movie was Evan Almighty  -  the 2007 sequel to Jim Carrey's film, Bruce Almighty. In Evan, God (played by Morgan Freeman) contacts Congressman Evan Baxter (played by Steve Carell) and tells him to build an ark in preparation for a great flood.

As might be expected, Evan's wife (Lauren Graham) has a hard time wrapping her head around this major change in her husband.

It's at this point the following conversation takes place:

Just to make sure you didn't miss it, here's the main point:

Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If they prayed for courage does God give them courage or does he give them opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for their family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...Sometimes we are the answer to our own prayer.

Bonus truth...Now you know why I never ask God to give me patience. (wink)

Hello Darkness My Old Friend

 

When Paul Simon started the song Sound of Silence with the words "Hello, darkness, my old friend," I'm fairly certain he had no idea he was paraphrasing Scripture.

And when the Sons of Korah ended the song that came to be known as Psalm 88 with the words "Darkness is my closest friend," they probably had no idea it would get put into Israel's hymnal.

And if you take the time to read all of Psalm 88, you may rightly wonder why it did.

Here are some highlights:

• v3 - I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death.
• v5 - I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.
• v8 - You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them.
• v13 - But I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you. Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?

If you're like me, as you read this you keep waiting for a sharp right turn.

At the beginning of verse 13, you perk up and think, "Okay, here's where this is going to come around," but nope. Verse 18 ends the song in the same depressive mood it began in: "You have taken from me friend and neighbor — darkness is my closest friend."

Why is this in the Bible?!!?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...Even though I don't know why this sad song is part of Scripture, I'm glad it is. It teaches me that it's okay to be completely honest when I'm praying. There is no need to sugarcoat my pain, confusion, anger, or grief. God's not going to be shocked by my honest emotion and doubt.

And that right there is a reason to praise him, even in the midst of my pain, confusion, anger, or grief.

A Prayer of Repentance Leading to Revival

 

It's been said that every God-sent revival starts with prayer and personal repentance, and “The depth of revival is determined by the depth of the repentance”(Revivalist Frank Bartleman).

I can't imagine a better prayer of repentance to send us in the direction of revival than this one from John Baillie's A Diary of Private Prayer (updated and revised by Susanna Wright):

Holy God, I have dedicated my soul and life to you, yet I lament before you that I am still so inclined to sin and so reluctant to obey:

So attached to what makes me feel good, so neglectful of spiritual things;
So quick to gratify my body, so slow to nourish my soul;
So greedy for present delight, so indifferent to lasting blessing;
So fond of being lazy, so unprepared to work;
So soon at play, so delayed at prayer;
So quick to look after myself, so slow to look after others;
So eager to get, so reluctant to give;
So confident in my claims, so low in my performance;
So full of good intentions, so unwilling to fulfill them;
So harsh with those around me, so indulgent with myself;
So eager to find fault, so resentful when others find fault with me;
So unfit for great tasks, so unhappy with small ones;
So helpless without you, and yet so unwilling to be tied to you.

O merciful God, forgive me yet again. Hear this sad account of my failings and in your great mercy blot it out of your memory. Give me faith to lay hold of your perfect holiness and to rejoice in the righteousness of Christ my Savior. Grant that resting on his goodness and not my own I may become more like him, so that my will may be united with his, in obedience to yours. All this I ask for his holy name's sake.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...I also repent of merely mouthing these words instead of wrenching them up from my innermost being.

Prayer Posture Poem

 

In response to the 8-part series on prayer that finished last week, a co-worker of mine passed along the following humorous-but-accurate poem about the non-importance of what posture we assume when talking with God.

THE PRAYER OF CYRUS BROWN

By Sam Walter Foss

"The proper way for a man to pray,"

Said Deacon Lemuel Keyes,

"And the only proper attitude

Is down upon his knees."

"No, I should say the way to pray,"

Said Rev. Doctor Wise,

"Is standing straight with outstretched arms

And rapt and upturned eyes."

"Oh, no; no, no," said Elder Slow,

"Such posture is too proud:

A man should pray with eyes fast closed

And head contritely bowed."

"It seems to me his hands should be

Austerely clasped in front.

With both thumbs pointing toward the ground,"

Said Rev. Doctor Blunt.

"Last year I fell in Hodgkin's well

Head first," said Cyrus Brown,

"With both my heels a-stickin' up,

My head a-pinting down;

"An' I made a prayer right then an' there -

Best prayer I ever said,

The prayingest prayer I ever prayed,

A-standing on my head."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...The attitude of the heart seems to be the place to start  -  more than standing, bowing, or what to say  -  whenever we set out to pray.

Reasons to Pray: There's Only One Way to Get It Wrong

 

More from Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton:

Pray Because the Only Way to Get It Wrong Is by Trying to Get It Right

I find it so helpful that when teaching his disciples to pray, Jesus included this line right in the middle: "Give us today our daily bread."

What a simple request! Bring your felt needs to God  -  the needs of this day  -  and talk to him about them. How should we pray? The most straightforward response is to talk to God about what's on your mind. That's it! You talk to God like a friend. You vent. You ask. You laugh. You listen. You unload. You just talk. You don't try to sound more holy or pure or spiritual than you are. Prayer isn't a monologue; it's a free-flowing conversation, and the only way to get prayer wrong is to try to get it right.

In the wise words of Candler School of Theology professor emerita Roberta Bondi, "If you are praying, you are already 'doing it right.'"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...this may be the hardest truth about prayer to actually live out.

Reasons to Pray: Complaints Are Welcome

 

More from Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton:

Pray Because Complaints Are Welcome

God isn't nearly as worried about our mixed motives as we are. I can prove it. Here's a few prayers that made the cut as part of the inspired, inerrant, canonical Scriptures:

May burning coals fall on them;

may they be thrown into the fire,

into miry pits, never to rise. (Psalm 140:10)

I am worn out calling for help;

my throat is parched.

My eyes fail,

looking for my God. (Psalm 69:3)

I pour out before him my complaint;

before him I tell my trouble. (Psalm 142:2)

Anger, depression, complaint. Whoever wrote those needs to see a professional.

David  -  that's who wrote those prayers. You've probably heard of David  -  ancient Israel's most famous figure, the king who set an unreachable bar for all subsequent kings, the man after God's own heart, the one whose bloodline was promised to lead to the Messiah. He's the psychotic nightmare who wrote those prayers. They were collected into the Psalms, which have framed Christian worship and prayer since before the church's inception.

The psalms reveal a garden variety of motives. Some of the words in those prayers go directly against the teachings of Jesus and the character of God (What happened to loving enemies and a God who is rich in love and loyal in faithfulness?), meaning some of the psalms are technically heretical. So why would those prayers be included in the Bible?

Because they're honest. That's what makes these psalms exemplary. God is looking for relationship, not well-prepared speeches spoken from perfect motives. God listened to overreacting rage, dramatic despair, and guiless joy, and he called David a man after his own heart. When it comes to prayer, God isn't grading essays; he's talking to children. So if God can delight in prayers as dysfunctional as the ones we find wedged into the middle of the Bible, he can handle yours too without you cleaning them up first.

If the Bible tells us anything about how to pray, it says that God much prefers the rough draft full of rants and typos to the polished, edited version. C. S. Lewis said of prayer, "We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us."

The way your motives change isn't by working them out in silence; it's through such brutal honesty with God that he, by prayer, can refine your motives. Complaints are welcome.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...not only does Yahweh know what we need before we ask, he knows how we feel before we admit it. For our own good, we might as well be honest about it all. Pouring it all out is the only way God will clean it all up.

Reasons to Pray: Trust Comes Before Faith

 

More from Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton:

We Pray Because Trust Comes Before Faith

We fear silence. But the thing that calms that fear isn't faith; it's trust. Faith is the assurance of what we hope for. Trust is confidence in the character of God.

Before we can have faith that God will answer a given request, we simply have to learn to trust the character of the God we're talking to. In my experience, trying to will faith into the equation doesn't make the possibility of silence any less terrifying, but trusting the character of the listener certainly does. Trust allows us to say, "I don't understand what God is doing right now, but I trust that God is good."

What if I pray and the cancer doesn't disappear? Or I don't get the job? Or she doesn't come back? Or he's still addicted?

Without trust, we suppress the disappointment that God's silence leaves with us. We build a wall to protect ourselves from the very God we pray to. We carefully nuance our prayers, guarding ourselves against allowing God to disappoint us like that a second time.

With trust, we can come to the God whose character doesn't seem to match his silence, saying with brutal honesty, "Where were you? How could you? What were you thinking?"

Jesus hasn't revealed a God we can perfectly understand, but he has revealed a God we can perfectly trust. Trust is the certainty that the listening God hears and cares. I trust the God who, even when he doesn't make the suffering go away, wears the suffering alongside me. Trusting the God revealed in Jesus means silence is real, but it's not forever.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...believing in the existence of God is one thing, but experiencing his unwavering love is something else. Something else entirely.

Reasons to Pray: You're Overwhelmed

 

For the previous four weeks, we've been contemplating some reasons why we tend to not pray, as discussed in Tyler Staton's book, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools. Now it's time to turn those hindrances from praying into inducements to pray.

Pray Because You're Overwhelmed

The great social sin of the modern world is naivete. Belief is out; cynicism is in. Where did that modern phenomenon come from?

Historically, the Enlightenment set forth the great myth of human progress, which assumes that with the passing of time, everything is improving, people are becoming more whole, and the world is getting steadily better. That assumption, which served as the backbone of the developing world, was deflated by two world wars and the bloodiest, most barbaric century in recorded history. The balloon was popped on the optimism of human progress, leading to an equally widespread sweep of disillusionment.

You and I have been groomed by a post-Enlightenment story of deconstruction that doesn't trust God anymore but has plenty of reasons not to trust people either. The result is multiple generations of people who find safety in pretending they don't need either one  -  I can trust myself, guide myself, be enough for myself.

Jesus once wisely said that we'll know a tree by its fruit. So what's the fruit of that story of self-sufficiency in the life of the modern person? We're overwhelmed. Everyone I meet is drowning in "their thing." It doesn't matter if "your thing" is an artistic endeavor, profit margins, wining and dining clients, or raising children. We can't see past "our thing" because "our thing" (whatever it happens to be) is all-consuming.

We've avoided becoming naive, but we've done it at the cost of becoming overwhelmed. The story that was supposed to free us is really just swapping jail cells. If the story we thought would free us is trapping us, the logical thing to do is look beyond it. Instead, even in the church, our prayers don't exchange overwhelmed lives for transcendent peace. They simply drag God into our overwhelmed lives, and the only way we can make him fit is to shrink him down to a reduced size. We keep on praying, but we lower the bar of expectation and power in prayer.

We kick like mad to keep our heads above water, all while talking passively to an imagined God who is powerless to do most anything except give us the right perspective to make it through the day. We dwindle God down to a divine Being just as overwhelmed and powerless as we are, and our prayers to that God are understandably vague and infrequent.

Constantly overwhelmed lives should drive us to prayer at its purest and rawest, but the tendency for many of us is to pray safe, calculated prayers that insulate us from both disappointment and freedom.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...Who else can we turn to when there's nobody to turn to? If I can't handle all the "stuff" flying around me, it only makes sense to put it all in the loving care of The One who is ALSO all around me. It's time to get positively Davidic and cry out to God. Perhaps the most honest and effective prayer we can ever utter is a single word: "Help!"

Why We Don't Pray: Fear of Doing It Wrong

 

More from Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton:

We Don't Pray for Fear of Doing It Wrong

Some of us are kept from praying because we listen to everyone else's prayers and it makes us feel like we're up after Winston Churchill in high school speech class.

I'm not eloquent. I'm not confident. I'm not comfortable. I hear other people pray out loud, and it only furthers the insecurity.

Many Christians spend years limiting their experience of prayer to sitting in a pew while a professional Christian talks to God in words they'd never use in normal conversation, leading to the misconception, "I must be doing it wrong."

Some of us don't pray often, not yet anyway. Maybe one day we'll master the lingo and learn the mechanics.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...We too often forget what Jesus said in Matthew 6:7-8: "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."

Why We Don't Pray: Fear of Selfish Motives

 

More from Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton:

We Don't Pray for Fear of Selfish Motives

We are paralyzed by self-evaluation. Prayer sputters when we evaluate and second-guess the words we speak to God as they come out of our mouths.

Why do I really want this? What's behind this request? Have I really put in enough time with God to ask for something like this, or am I just texting him when I need something? Is this desire really pure enough to bring before God?

Let's say, hypothetically, your roommate doesn't know Jesus. Before uttering a word of prayer for her, you're confronted by a question that spirals inward. Why really do I want my roommate to find God? Is it because of a pure desire for her to be met by divine love that makes her whole? Or do I find comfort in someone else reaching the same conclusion I've made, like if this whole thing is just a superstitious way of making life bearable, at least they'll laugh at us one day, not just me?

Or do I think I've got all the answers and the world would be better if everyone thought like me, believed like me, and behaved like me? Am I just cloaking narcissism in faux compassion? Or is it that I carry around some sort of religious guilt my conservative grandma drilled into me as a kid, so now I pray for my roommate but it's really just to feel okay about myself?

We know all too well the cacophony of motives forever swirling inside us. When we pray, we become increasingly aware of those motives. And some are paralyzed by the subsequent self-evaluation.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...Come back in four weeks for a full response to this, but suffice it to say that there is nothing good that happens by stepping into this whirlpool. There's a difference between thinking too much of yourself and thinking of yourself too much, and this fear of selfish motives is firmly in the latter category.

Why We Don't Pray: Fear of Silence

 

More from Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton:

We Don't Pray for Fear of Silence

Many people are pretty comfortable with the spirituality they've got, and prayer  -  as well as living like everything Jesus says about prayer is true  -  risks the possibility of silence.

"Silence is frightening because it strips us as nothing else does, throwing us upon the stark realities of our life," writes Dallas Willard, "And in that quiet, what if there turns out to be very little to 'just us and God'?"

What if I actually strip away the music and the community and the sermon, strip away all the noise of my familiar faith expression? Left with just me and God, what if I discover there's actually not much to just me and God?

Prayer means the risk of facing silence where we're addicted to noise. It's the risk of facing a God we've mastered talking about, singing about, reading about, and learning about. It means risking real interaction with that God, and the longer we've gotten used to settling for the noise around God, the higher the stakes. What if it's awkward or disappointing or boring, or what if God stands me up altogether?

When we've got that much to lose, prayer might be scarier than the avoidance of never being alone with God.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...if my model for interacting with Yahweh is filled with crunching guitars, chest-pounding percussion (or teeth-rattling bass notes from a pipe organ, for that matter), and highly-amplified-but-mostly-cliche words of praise, the words of Psalm 46:10 can truly be frightening: "Be still and know that I am God."

Why We Don't Pray: Fear of Being Naïve

 

Sometime in December, my daughter-in-law posted a picture of a few books she was getting ready to read. One of them caught my eye and I asked her to let me know how it was. Little did I know that she had already purchased a copy to give me for Christmas!

The book is Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton. I'm only into the second chapter, yet here I am, already feeling the need to share a series of quotes from it. In fact, today and for the next seven weeks this blog will be featuring four reasons the author says we don't pray, followed by four positive twists that become reasons why we should pray.

We Don't Pray for Fear of Being Naive

The scenes of my life play out against the backdrop of a fiercely logical, intellectual city. In that environment, there is no greater sin than naivete. In a city like New York or Portland, there is nothing less fashionable than a state school grad from a Midwestern suburb fresh off the plane and wide-eyed in the big city. Innocence is terribly out of style.

Everything we interact with in this small, cramped, secular world of our own making, we have the potential of mastering. In fact, we must master it quickly in order to survive  -  the most efficient route between home and the office, how to move up the ranks at work, how to eat sushi without looking stupid, how to cut across lanes on our bicycles and live to tell the tale. And if we can't master it, we can always avoid it. I'll just change industries, avoid chopsticks, and take an Uber.

Prayer can't be mastered. Prayer always means submission. To pray is to willingly put ourselves in the unguarded, exposed position. There is no climb. There is no control. There is no mastery. There is only humility and hope.

To pray is to risk being naive, to risk believing, to risk playing the fool. To pray is to risk trusting someone who might let you down. To pray is to get our hopes up. And we've learned to avoid that. So we avoid prayer.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...maybe "the world" considers us naive and foolish when we open ourselves up to a God we can't see. But maybe there's a reason why I'm suddenly thinking of what Jesus said in Matthew 18:3  -  “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven."

Why Pray? Part Two

 

Jesus kind of opened a can of worms when he said this during the sermon on the mount: "When you pray, do not keep 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." (Matthew 6:7-8)

You can't really blame anybody for hearing that and then asking...

If God already knows everything, why do we need to tell him ANYthing?

I am encouraged in the midst of this by thinking about Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane before his arrest. Jesus was dreading the torture and isolation ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?") that was just around the corner. He fervently prayed for it not to happen. And yet, he knew that it was for this very purpose that he left his home in heaven, emptied himself of his godly rights and privileges, and took on the fullness of humanity's limitations and challenges.

He poured out all his anxiety from the deepest part of his heart until he was able to say "yet not as I will, but as you will."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...A lot of the time, prayer is more about changing us than changing God. If I go to God with a request, it's because I know I am incapable of making the request happen on my own. Prayer is a reminder that It's Not All About Me.

Why Pray? Part One

 

From the outside looking in, I'll admit that prayer really seems kind of strange.

"Okay...you do what? You sit in a room and talk to the air? You...like...ask the ceiling for favors?"

So right off the bat, it would be good to ask the simple question posed in this post's title: Why pray?

There are a couple parables Jesus told that will help you understand why my simple, bottom-line answer is what it is.

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

The Parable of the Persistent Neighbor

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Truth is...We pray because Jesus said so.