Prayer

I once taught a class on prayer. It was probably the most frustrating experience I’ve ever had. Not only was it enlightening from the standpoint of the class’ understanding but of mine as well. I was in a strange situation, I had to use a syllabus packet provided by the church which I was not used to and I was with many people that expected me to give them a formula for prayer. I still struggle through but I have seen some things that I just want to bring to the forefront.

Prayer in school or anywhere in public:

We hear this argument almost constantly don’t we? I’ve heard people say that they were told they couldn’t pray over there lunch, children couldn’t pray at school during their moment of silence. Who knew they were praying? I struggle with getting an answer to that question. Were they standing with their hands raised and calling in a loud voice? Did they go and ask if they could pray during “their” time? If the answers to these are “no”, then what’s the problem? There’s no reason you can’t pray anywhere, ANYWHERE, unless you’re making a spectacle of yourself. Jesus said in Matt 6:5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. NIV

I think one of the great things about prayer is the fact you can pray in silent. You can pray standing, kneeling, sitting, lying on your bed or on the floor. You can pray in a building, on top of the building, outside the building. You can pray with your head down, looking up, looking forward. The point is God hears you regardless of your physical position, geographical location, or whether you’re talking loud or not speaking at all. Jesus also said: Matt 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. NIV

Prayer is a fantastic tool to understanding as well as a fantastic opportunity to get to know the Father more intimately. That’s truly the main purpose of prayer. It’s great to be able to ask God to do things for us, for finances or physical healing and I’m not suggesting that you don’t ask for those things. But if those are the only reasons we pray then we are missing it. Of course we could make it much more difficult and pious sounding than this but is that simple. We could get our seven theological points of prayer, or the many books regarding the secrets of prayer. It’s simply not about the systemic way we pray. It’s about being real when we pray.

Having someone else pray with us or for us:

I it’s great to be in agreement with others whether in a personal prayer or in public prayer. Something Jesus said, I would encourage you to keep in mind: John 16:26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. NIV

It gives me great comfort to know that I can go directly to the Father and He will hear me! I don’t have to go through a Pastor, Priest, Prophet, Bishop or Elder but I can go to the Father myself. 

There are also other aspects of Prayer such as fasting, deliverance and so on. I would encourage you to study on these areas but don't be consumed by it. It can be made to be much more difficult than necessary.

I could go on about prayer and I could make it very complex but the bottom line is; your prayer is your communion with the Father, the Creator of all things. What of this world or any man can prepare you for that?