If you haven’t already guessed what today’s topic is, it’s PRAYER ! That’s right, one of the most powerful tools we have as believers (Praise and worship being others, just to name a few).
Disclaimer: I am not an expert on Prayer so everything I say here may not be 100% on point. I am only sharing my views and perspective from personal experiences. Please feel free to comment your thoughts, or question mine.
Prayer is one of the easiest things to do but yet, its one of the hardest things for us to do as believers (Yes, I know I just contradicted myself… we do it all the time). So, why is this very easy thing so hard to do? I think it’s because we have a misconception about what prayer is. We have a false perception of what prayer looks like, and what its supposed to feel like.
Please tell me if I’m wrong, but I have a strong feeling that many of us have this view that prayer is a very serious thing. I’m not saying it’s something to be joked about but, what I’m saying is our perception of it is too rigid. Many of us grew up with the idea that we have to be on our knees (there’s a significance to this but that’s for another day), or clapping our hands and screaming at the top of our lungs. Some of us believe that there’s a pattern to prayer or a time/length expectations. We get so caught up in trying to fulfill all these notions that we forget what prayer really is, the essence of it. All these things just make prayer something to be mastered and that’s why it’s so hard for many of us to do because truth is, you can’t master prayer.
It’s not something to be mastered! Prayer is simply talking WITH God. Not just to him, but with him, meaning you listen as he speaks as well. It’s alright to pray on your knees, sometimes that’s the appropriate posture to pray in. At times it’s appropriate and necessary to clap your hands and pray in a loud voice but not always. Sometimes, prayer is simply saying “Thank you Jesus”. The bible instructs us to pray without ceasing. That means our thoughts should consist of prayers, and we should pray in our hearts.
Just a quick testimony on how my prayer life has improved. I used to be so caught up in trying to set aside hours to be able to speak with God and read the word (this isn’t a bad thing but sometimes, its not always feasible to set aside HOURS…maybe a few minutes) but my busy schedule never permitted me to do so faithfully. I used that as an excuse for not talking with God on a daily basis. One day I was just thinking to myself “God, I want to spend more time with you, but there just aren’t that many hours in the day.” I was thinking this but saying it out loud, although I wasn’t aware until I realized. And that’s when it hit me! I can literally speak with God at ANY and EVERY TIME. Literally from this moment, my prayer life changed, I’m not even exaggerating. I now find myself talking to God all the time even concerning the “dumbest” things. It’s like having a conversation with my friends, and truth is God is my friend, my very best friend. That’s one of the things he should be to us, among many other things. We should have that kind of free-spirited relationship with him.
When I can, I try my best to not do anything else and just sit in his presence and commune with him for as long as I can. But, if that’s not something you can do, don’t let that discourage you or keep you from talking with your maker. He wants to hear from you. He’s interested in knowing how you felt about the day, or the situation that happened. He wants to know why you said or did what you did. You may say he knows all these things already and you are absolutely right & that’s the beauty of this relationship with him. He knows but he still cares enough to listen to you tell him again.
So whatever your posture of prayer (Down on your knees, standing up, eyes closed, hands raised, sitting in awe), for however long (seconds, minutes, hours). Your father longs to hear from you. He wants to commune with you. What are you waiting for? You can just open your mouth right where you are or say something to him within your heart.
He’s listening.
Heart Talk 