PRAYER

And after Jesus had dismissed the crowds,
he went up the mountain by himself to pray.
When evening came, he was there alone… Matthew 14: 23

Prayer, very simply, is talking to God. 

Everyone needs prayer, and needs to pray.  Whether we are a life long Christian, or a brand new seeker, prayer is an essential part of our lives.  Whether we are spiritually mature, old or young, a minister or a layperson, a saint or a sinner, we all stand in the need of prayer.  The Bible tells us that even Jesus needed to pray, and that he prayed often.

Anyone can pray.  Prayer does not require fancy words or long, windy sentences.  It does not require knowledge of the Bible or to be in a certain position.  It is not reserved for mealtimes, or just before bedtime.  One need not be in church to pray.  One can pray anywhere, at any time, in any mood, using any words.

The shortest prayer a person can pray is, “HELP!”  (That is an especially good prayer when one is driving on the Schuylkill Expressway or Route 95.)

We can pray when we are happy, or when we are sad.  We can even pray when we are angry, and even if we are angry with God!  In the Bible, sometimes the great people of faith came pretty close to yelling at God in their prayers because they were either mad or scared.  The Book of Psalms is full of prayers of frustration, and pain, and anger. 

We pray because God invites us to and wants us to.  We pray because Jesus told us to pray and then taught us to pray; the Lord’s Prayer is Jesus’ basic lesson on prayer.  When Jesus taught us to pray, he said, “Pray like this; “Our Father, who art in heaven…’ ”.  The best thing about that is that when Jesus said “Our Father” he was actually telling us to call God “Daddy” when we pray.  Prayer is between us and “Daddy”; we can crawl up onto Daddy’s lap and pour out our hearts to him.  It is just the two of us.  God hears our individual voice above all of the noise of the world.    

There are lots of different kinds of prayers.  We can pray for someone else (intercession).  We can prayer for ourselves or for something (petition).  We can give thanks for food, or friendship or country or church (thanksgiving).  We can pray without words, simply falling quiet before the God of the universe (meditation).  We can ask God to be with us (invocation).  Or we can dedicate something we plan to do or have done to God’s glory (dedication).  Sometimes prayers can be sung (children’s graces before meal are good examples). 

Prayer does not need practice so that we “get better at it”.  However, the more we pray, the more trusting we become in both prayer and in the God to whom we pray.  Prayer is like exercise; the more we exercise our spiritual muscles, the farther they will carry us.  When we have learned to rely on prayer, then we are less likely to panic in hard times, or to doubt that God is with us when we feel alone. 

But remember, after all and whatever can be said about prayer, prayer is still just talking to God.  A child of God just talking to Dad.    

Anyone can talk to God.  Even you.