Prayer MATTERS.  

“Could I ask you an honest question?”  I asked, looking around at the faces of my Women of Passion last week.  Responding to their nods, I said, “Why is it so difficult to pray aloud?” Mini conversations broke out on both sides of our long luncheon tables …  It seems that people are just afraid they won’t ‘get it right’.  Their prayer won’t sound right—well, at least not as good, or as right as another’s!  ‘She practically sounds like a minister when she prays!’  (and I thought, ‘who cares?  Who really wants to sound like the minister?  I wanna sound real.  And once again, I reflected on what my Long Beach friend, an o.g., said, “Paaa-stah, you gotta keep it real, raw, and relevant.”)   Now, it seems to me that my ladies were talking about praying in the presence of others—and usually for someone else.  THEN, there is the kind of praying we do alone, just one-on-one with God.  This is the one I should like to highlight at this moment. 

Friendship with anyone requires a couple things—desire to know the person, and a way to make that happen.  Friendship with God is no different.  We must get to know him—who he is, and what he is like—and the best we can get to know God is by reading what he wrote to us—what he thinks of us, his plan for our lives and for eternity—all of which we can find in the pages of Scripture.  And … try as you and I might, we will not get to know someone very well unless we spend time with him; it is no different with God.  So, friendship with God requires communication.  We call communication with God ‘prayer’. 

A few days ago, I highlighted the desperate prayer of a trapped office worker in the 9/11 rubble … and God’s response.  Prayer saved her life.**  And for you and me, prayer ought become as vital to our existence as is breathing.  Let me give us the benefit of the doubt, and say that, at best, ‘we under-utilize prayer—we under-access it’.

Some people seem to constantly be seeing answers to prayer—have you noticed that?  Do you want to see answers to your prayers?  Well, while there are no formulas, there are a few things to consider: 

1) pray to God in Jesus’ name—there is power in that name, and it is a privilege to be able to call on it!

2) When you pray, BELIEVE that you will receive. James 1.6-8

3) Consider your conscience and your heart—are they pure before God?

Otherwise, your prayers may be ineffective.  Sorry … true.  Are you harboring unforgiveness or bitterness in your heart?   The psalmist says it simply, “If I regard sin in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” Psalm 66.18   “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases Him.” 1 John 3.20-21

4) Finally, we are to pray according to God’s will.  (we can know what is consistent with his will through studying His Word)  When God’s will is unclear, then we let the Holy Spirit pray on our behalf.  ‘the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.’  Romans 8.27

Yeah, prayer matters.  As has been said, ‘prayer changes things’, and besides that, it changes you and it changes me. 

So it is well worth pushing past our ‘go, go, go’ mentality, ‘must keep going, must keep going’ . . . ‘prayer, me?  Of course I do—I pray at meals, when I need something, for my kids … is that what you mean?’  Well, yes, but do you spend time just communicating with God—in a give and take kind of conversation?  That’s what I think builds friendship with him—yeah, time with him—just you and him.  Mano e mano – one on one.

Christine

**if you didn’t read it, read her incredible story “Got Him. 9/11. Do you remember?”