On Prayer

Can we talk about prayer for a minute? I don’t know about you, but it’s one of those fundamentals of faith that has always been a work in progress for me. How do I talk to God properly? Do I kneel? Hands: folded or steepled?

I can’t recall ever in my life not talking to God. From a very young age I remember talking to God about the things that mattered to me and asking Him what mattered to Him. Though I was talking to God, I always wanted to know about praying to God.

I would hear talk about “effective prayer” and wonder just what that meant. Effective implies that there is an end goal. What am I praying for and am I doing it right? ‘Cause right now, all I’m doing is talking.

My latest and longest prayer problem came in the area of prayers of petition. I have to be honest and tell you that I used to cringe when asked to pray for someone. Prayer requests that went like this, “Please pray that I get the job I applied for and that my cat doesn’t need surgery” made my underarms get damp and a bead of sweat to appear on my upper lip.

How am I supposed to go to God and ask Him to make sure you get the job you want? What if God doesn’t want you to have that job? What if your life is actually supposed to stink a bit longer and God has a different plan altogether? What if your cat secretly doesn’t like you and it’s in your best interest to let it go? You don’t know. And neither do I. So I ask you, how am I supposed to go to God with a list of prayer requests and tell Him how I’d like to see things work when I’m already pretty sure He has a plan that is completely different than anything we could come up with because He usually does?

I felt a certain sense of spiritual small mindedness in making my long list, like I was going to Santa or making wishes with a coin tossed in the fountain at the mall. But I also couldn’t very well say, “No. I certainly will not pray that you get your dream job and that your cat passes that fur ball. The idea. Ha-rumph”

See what I mean? I had me a prayer problem.

Some months ago, Ian and Mackenzie were learning the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6. What struck me like an absolute ton of bricks to the forehead were the words Jesus spoke just before He said the prayer.

“In this manner, therefore, pray.”

My ears were pricked by that. In this manner… I got real excited to actually learn this prayer all over again like new with the notion that this was indeed the manner in which to pray.

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.^[a]

Can I tell you what I saw there?

Our Father who lives in Heaven, your Name is holy, you are set apart from your creation. You are God, you are Father, you are Creator. (Notice that the prayer starts out talking right away about how great God is. I wince to think of how often my prayers begin, “God! Why? Why is it so hard? Why?” and go on for a good bit before I remember to tell God how great I think He is.)

In Heaven, your will is done the instant you speak it. I long for the day your Son returns and this is once more the case on Earth. May your Son’s return bring us back to a place where your will is that of all people and nature. Come quickly, and give me a heart that wants to see you come quickly. (I’m no scholar, but this is my interpretation of this scripture. I have heard enough unrealized prayers of petition to know that God’s will is not done on earth currently. It is not God’s will that any of us should die, or any of our children get sick beyond help. This world is not His end game plan for us. Phew.)

Just for today, Lord, only today, give me my physical need. I have no worry about tomorrow, my only concern is today and its work. Give me today what I need to carry out my tasks. (It’s scary, but this bit of the prayer makes no provisions for retirement or my kid’s college fund. Just today.)

Lord God, I challenge you to forgive me in the same manner that I forgive others. Give me a heart of forgiveness. There is freedom in forgiveness and I ask that you grant it to me as I grant it to others in the same manner. (This is also scary.)

Don’t lead me to places where I will be tempted to stray: poverty so deep I’d steal, anger so raw I’d destroy, envy so strong I’d rot. Deliver me from evil, and give me the wisdom to recognize I’ve been delivered instead of complaining about the method.

Right here is where I interject my petition. And it is usually only one word long. Truth.

I pray for truth in my life, and the life of whomever I may be praying for. If I have ever said to you that I’ve been praying for you, that is my prayer: Truth.

Truth makes clear what is necessary. What is important. What is going to further the Kingdom. Truth is the Gospel. Truth is the one way to Salvation. Truth is what allows for faith.

And then of course, there’s that awesome close. I leave that one unchanged. Say it with me and own the truth:

For Yours is The Kingdom, and The Power, and The Glory
Forever.

Amen.

I’m a 30 year old believer who has been sitting on church pews since the second Sunday of my life, and I think I just got schooled on how to pray.