There’s no patent on prayer

If you’re like me, you grew up in churches where people talked a lot about “getting a prayer through” to God. There were also certain people in church who were thought to have the special ability to accomplish this. Other than the pastor, they were the only ones you would call when you needed prayer, especially for something really serious.

If you grew up seeing this type of distinction made between “prayer warriors” and the regulars, you may have grown up thinking your own personal prayers didn’t amount to much. So you filled your library with every book on prayer you could find and tried to mimic others whose prayers you admired. You thought your prayers were only good enough to ask God for general blessings. But for crisis situations or situations that were slightly elevated above the norm, you felt – or were even told – you didn’t have that kind of “power” to get a prayer through. I know several people who are paralyzed in prayer because of this type of experience.

No matter the intensity of the situation or the urgency of the need, there is never a reason for you to ever discount your prayers. There is never a reason for you to attempt to sound like someone else or act like anyone else when you are praying. I have to remind myself that it doesn’t matter who’s listening or what they are thinking of me when I pray in groups or in public. Even if I fumble my words or lose my thoughts, if my prayer is super short or super lengthy, at the end of the day I am talking to my Heavenly Father. He is the One who receives our prayers.

I believe many of us are missing out on the impact of prayer in our lives because we are so focused on comparing ourselves with others and caring too much about what people may be thinking when they hear us pray. I know it can be difficult not to do this. It’s just being human. But when you’re stuck in this mode, it can consume you in your personal prayer time and if you’re not careful you’ll be focusing on how you pray even when you’re praying to God in private.

Because of Christ’s death on the cross, we can come boldly to God’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). Not because we have a bold personality or bold words, but we come boldly because Christ gave us full access to God through his shed blood.  We can talk to God our Heavenly Father directly through prayer. It is a sweet and most precious gift. But it will remain unwrapped if we focus on comparisons instead of sincere and authentic communion.

Your prayer time with God is so special and such a privilege. You can’t allow yourself to be robbed of it by prayer insecurities fueled by what you or anyone else thinks about how you pray. You must commit to consistent prayer and press through. God isn’t rating our prayers; He delights in them.

Before you sit down, lie down, kneel down or stand up to pray, always remember:

Your prayers matter.

Your prayers count.

Your prayers are being heard.

So, keep praying.

 

Psalm 66:16-20

Come and hear, all you who fear God;
    let me tell you what he has done for me.
¹⁷ I cried out to him with my mouth;
    his praise was on my tongue.
¹⁸ If I had cherished sin in my heart,
    the Lord would not have listened;
¹⁹ but God has surely listened
    and has heard my prayer.
²⁰ Praise be to God,
    who has not rejected my prayer
    or withheld his love from me!

Community is life’s cushion

Community.

It’s a word you hear a lot nowadays in Christian circles.

To me, it was just a hip new way the younger crowd described hanging out together or another word for church small groups. I also thought it was something only mega churches promoted to maintain control over their astronomical membership. I thought, “What’s with this ‘community’ thing and why are they always pushing small groups? Why don’t people just go to a smaller church?”

Recently I was invited to a women’s group gathering at a local church by a young lady I work with. There were no more than 20 women who showed and everyone brought a dish to share. A short message of encouragement sprinkled with Scripture was presented and we also had a time of prayer. Each of us shared a prayer request and being the introvert that I am, it was not easy for me to open up to these women whom I hardly knew. But for some reason I felt very comfortable with these ladies. It was more than a scheduled event or general ladies gathering. It was connecting. It was ditching pride and pulling off masks  to be transparent in a healthy way. It was receiving wise counsel and heartfelt prayer. It was feeling one another’s pains and standing together through recent struggles. It was rejoicing in our testimonies and the truth of the Scriptures. The refreshing I felt that day made my eyes water.

Building community is necessary. It’s not just meeting for the sake of meeting. It’s meeting for the sake of serving and strengthening one another.

It’s not enough to hear a great message on Sunday and go straight to your next event. Bottom line, we need to be intentional about and committed to maintaining active and meaningful fellowship with one another as Christians. We need to get back to bearing one another’s burdens, exhorting each other in the Word and encouraging one another to persevere. We also need to celebrate together what God is doing in our lives.

I no longer view building community as just some trend that is currently sweeping the church world.

Building community is building a cushion. A place of support, comfort and rest.