Prayer is an area of my spiritual life that I have always had trouble with. I just don't get it sometimes.
Here's What I Don't Get
First, if God is omniscient, then he knows what I'm thinking and feeling. Why do I need to voice it? Is it just for my benefit? I realize I need/want to praise him and thank him as part of my prayers, and I need to repent and ask forgiveness. But why do I need to ask Him to help my friend find a job or my sister to deliver a healthy baby? Why doesn't he know that I (and he/she)want these things with all of my (and his/her) heart?
Which leads me to my next question, who am I to ask God for anything? I know the Bible says I am a child of His and an heir to His kingdom, but he is the all-mighty, the creator of everything in the heavens, on the earth and under the sea. I'm just Jill Stuckey, why do I get to call the shots, petitioning the God of the universe? Except
My other trouble with prayer is that I don't understand why some prayers are answered and some prayers are not. Does it have to do with the heart of the prayee or does it have to do God's plans? A lot of the time I try to remind myself that I can't see the whole picture, only God can. Being an inquisitive human though, I'm always trying to figure this one out.
Here's What I Don't Like About Prayer
I don't like that too often it becomes a wishlist of sorts when I do it. I spend way more time asking instead of worshiping. I'd like to spend time praying for everyone in my life daily, but I dislike when my prayers become rote lists of requests. I don't like when I have told someone that I would pray for them, and then I forget to do it more than once. I don't like that I use the word "pray" as a verb too much. (As in "I pray you will...")
Here's What I Know (and Like) about Prayer
I know that I like praising God. I know that I like praying because I can talk with him like he is a friend. I know that it sometimes brings peace in the middle of a storm. I know that it shouldn't be a just-before-bedtime kind of thing, but something that should be woven into my whole day. I know it's hard for me to pray for myself and my struggles, because I feel so blessed and therefore unable to ask for more. I know that I like it when I'm praying for someone in particular and God leads me to other things to pray for that person or even something else.
Here's Some Things the Bible Tells us about Prayer:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Phil 4:6
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." -Romans 12:12
"The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well." - James 5:15
"The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray." -1Peter 4:7 (We have to exercise self-control to be able to pray?!)
Our prayers are collected in the throne room of heaven and smell sweet to God: "Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." - Revelation 5:8 (Thanks to Pastor Talbot for this today!)
Wrap-Up
I wonder if I approach prayer too logically? Is it meant to be something that is understood by your soul, but perhaps not your conscious? I don't know. At any rate, I bet you weren't expecting a discourse on prayer when you visited my blog today. You may think it doesn't have much to do with my healthy weight-loss journey. In truth, I do not often pray to God asking him to help me lose weight, even though it's something my heart wants so much. I'm not sure I'm ready to get into why I don't pray for that (just skimming the surface of thinking about it sounds like a whole other blog post to me.) However, prayer and Christianity are important parts of my life, affecting every part of my life, so I think it works as a topic for this blog.
Sorry if I tried to cram too much stuff into one post. It's just stuff I've been thinking about for years, but then there was a great sermon on prayer today at church, which stirred it to the surface. Maybe it should've been a series. I'd love your thoughts on any or all of the above. Do you have any favorite verses or lessons from prayer? Please share!
There are so many things to say. First, I love your frankness with what you don't understand or like about prayer.
ReplyDeleteI think prayer can be like breathing. It's not something that you necessarily have to stop what you're doing and bow your head/close your eyes and be quiet when you do it. To me, prayer is a simple thought of gratitude for a beautiful sunset while I'm driving, or asking God to intervene at the exact moment that I hear about someone with an illness or struggle. It can still be a time where everything else stops and you are quiet and focused on prayer and praying for many people, but little "whisper" prayers can be uttered all time. Unceasingly. They don't have to be spoken aloud necessarily either. Also, if you're prayers always feel like lists, you could try and go through the words of a worship song before you pray for yourself or others. Worship is prayer and prayer is worship. Singing a song that expresses to God how great he is or how majestic and mighty he is, is just the same as praising him through spoken word.
These are just my thoughts. Something I've been convicted of is that prayer isn't something that needs to be so formal for me...because that's a turn off. I like the idea of unceasing prayer...at all times...whether it be a quick thought, a long time of praise, a simple utterance for mercy, or an extended spoken prayer time.
I hope this helps.