Prayer
Prayer, at its simplest, is a conversation with God. It can be a casual chat or a formal worship service on Sunday morning. It can be a quick word of thanksgiving or an hour-long time of confession and repentance. Some people pray the same thing every day: Our Father who art in heaven… Others have heart-wrenching pleas that they constantly bring to the throne of grace: Please heal my baby… I don’t know how much more I can take! Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He modeled prayer for them and gave examples of what should be included in prayer (Luke 11:1–4). Some believe that prayer must include certain words and phrases or follow a particular formula, but this is not necessary for effective communication with God. True prayer always begins with the heart and flows out of our relationship with Father God through his son, Jesus Christ—the one mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).
Have you ever watched two people holding hands as they prayed? While holding hands isn’t essential to prayer, it does communicate something about the nature of prayer; it represents intimacy between friends who trust each other enough to join their lives together for just a moment. In much the same way, when we pray, we draw near to our heavenly Father who loves us like we are his very own children (Romans 8:16; Galatians 4:6), so he invites us into an intimate relationship with him through his Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14). Though prayer is simple conversation with the Sovereign Creator of all things—our eternal companion—its simplicity often belies its power as a force in this world.
Prayer is talking to God.
Prayer is talking to God. It’s not just a list of requests, it’s about listening to God. When you pray, you open up your heart and listen for his voice. You tell him what’s on your mind and hear what he has to say in response.
Sometimes we get so caught up in our own problems that we forget how much bigger the world is than us and our problems; but prayer reminds us of this truth again and again—that God is bigger than anything that could ever happen in our lives (or anyone else’s).
Pray Everyday!
I think it is important that we as Christians do not get caught up in thinking of prayer as a ritual to perform, but instead try every day to be more aware of the presence of God around us and with us. We should pray because we love him and want him to be with us always; not because we feel obligated or because someone else expects it from us.
