Power in prayer

G.K. Chesterton said this, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult; and left untried.” The same might be said of prayer.

I know we’ve all said our share of prayers — grace before meals, bedtime prayers, prayers in church services. But many people — perhaps even you — are a little uncomfortable praying, a little unsure of how to go about it.

We know that there is power in prayer, but that power sometimes seems a little beyond reach. We truly want to connect with God and not just get into a prayer rut of always saying the same thing. We just don’t know quite how to do it.

Maybe that’s because true prayer is so honest. It can’t be done without vulnerability. Praying like we mean it means forgetting all the churchy-sounding phrases. It requires laying off the lingo and laying out our hearts before God.

More than likely, some of your best times of prayer have been in times of desperation — times when your need was too urgent for you to worry about things like what you were saying and how you were saying it. You just let the cries of your heart spill out.

It’s not the length of a prayer that makes it great; the greatest of prayers are those that we voice from the heart. In other words, when we pray like we mean it.

If you’ve ever lived far away from someone you loved, especially if that someone was in a difficult situation, then you know what I mean. Maybe it was when your young, naive, trusting daughter went away to a university. Or when your son was serving overseas with the military. You tend to pray like you mean it in those kinds of situations. It’s the only thing you can do. But it’s also the best thing you can do.

But prayer isn’t just about asking God for help, it’s also about getting to know God and His heart better. Knowing God’s heart means we begin to understand His lavish generosity, His eagerness to bless, His beautiful holiness, His infinite kindness and grace and His desire to accept us as family.

Prayer isn’t just about asking God for help, it’s also about getting to know God better. When we pray, it’s important for us to pause and learn what God wants us to know about Him. Things like, He is on our side, ready to help us meet each and every obstacle; His power is never out of commission — it’s always actively working on our behalf; He is always fighting against the forces of evil on our behalf.

When it comes to prayer, it’s easy to get into a rut where our prayers seem only to say “Thanks!” or “Help!” If that’s the case, don’t be discouraged, and don’t feel guilty. But don’t stay there, either, because you’ll miss out on an amazing, invigorating experience. The solution to your prayer problem is to dedicate a little time and energy each day to figuring out what you really want to say to God.

Jesus even gives us a really great place to get started:

“So this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, we pray that your name will always be kept holy.? We pray that your kingdom? will come — that what you want will be done here on earth, the same as in heaven. Give us the food we need for today. Forgive our sins, just as we have forgiven those who did wrong to us. Don’t let us be tempted, but save us from the Evil One.?’” (Matthew 6:9-13, ETRV)