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!

Desire or Default?

As we go through the ups and downs of life, the highs and lows, the good, bad and the ugly, what is the real reason that we hold on to Christ? Do we have an insatiable desire to know Him in the midst of trials, or are we just thankful to have Him to fall back on when things don’t go our way? Some of us treat our Lord like the old “fall back friend” that you can always call when you’re lonely or upset or are in need of something, and you know that person will always be there. But deep down you don’t really care about that person. You don’t truly desire a relationship with that person. In fact, you know in your heart that you mistreat this person, yet they are always available to answer your call.

We must not treat our Lord in this way. Yes, He says in his Word that He will be with us always, even until the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). But if we love Him – really love Him – we should desire a true relationship with Him along the way.

One thing about a “fall back friend” is that as you grow and mature, you realize that you failed to connect with someone who was worth so much more and deserved so much more from you.