Pray

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6). “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Pray about everything. Never stop praying. The Bible tells us Jesus often went off alone to pray. Prayer is such an important part of our relationship with the Lord and yet I feel as though the bulk of our prayer life takes place at church on Sunday morning. Do we pray on our own on a regular basis? Really?

For a believer, praying is supposed to be like breathing, easier to do than to not do. However, I find a lot of people are afraid to pray. It ranks right up there with the fear of public speaking. They don’t think they’ll do it right. I understand that. You’re talking with God. You certainly don’t want to do it wrong. Today I want to offer some help in the area of prayer.

First of all, it is important to recognize what prayer is and is not. The most basic definition of prayer is “talking to God.” Prayer is not meditation or passive reflection; it is direct address to God. It is also not only a wish list of requests like we are eight years old and writing our letter to Santa Claus. “Lord, I want…Lord, I need…Lord, please help…Lord please heal…” Jesus actually gives us a “formula” to follow. In His sermon on the mount, in Matthew 6:9, Jesus says, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven…” Luke records it this way. “Jesus said, ‘This is how you should pray…’” Did you notice? Pray “like” this. This is “how” you should pray. Jesus does not say this is what you should pray. In other words, Jesus never said pray these exact words. Jesus begins by acknowledging to whom He is praying. He reveres God’s name, declaring it to be holy. He then recognizes that God is both our Father and our King. After acknowledging the character of God, Jesus submits to God and prays for God’s purposes to be done. We need to trust that God’s way is better than ours. Only then do we get to requests. Our daily needs as well as others. Our biggest need is to be forgiven. Without God’s forgiveness, we are dead in sin and will be separated from Him for eternity. Therefore, we ask God to forgive us our sins. The final request “Lead us not into temptation,” demonstrates a heart that is eager to please God. We pray to be aware of the evil that tempts us and to readily see the escape God has provided.

“Pray like this,” Jesus says, not “Pray this.” Now, I am certainly not against praying the Lord’s Prayer. We do so every Sunday. However, we should not understand it as some sort of magic words like “abracadabra” or “open sesame!” It is a recipe for prayer. All our prayers should include: 1) Acknowledging God. Praise His name. 2) Submitting to His authority, purpose, and plan. 3) Presenting our requests. 4) Asking to remain faithful. You can use whatever words you choose. Including the Lord’s Prayer if you like.

For those of you still struggling with the idea of praying, especially out loud, next Wednesday, I will have some suggestions (some food for thought) to help you with that. I hope you will join me.

----------------------------------------------------- 

Remember to email your praises and petitions to southchurchprayer@gmail.com. We lift them up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 4:00 pm on Facebook Live.