Getting Real About Prayer

Dear Sisters in Christ,

Prayer is one of those tasks as Christians that can often become one of those “checklist” tasks. I am very sure that every single one of us at one time or another in our walk with God push prayer up at the end of our busy days, and only acknowledge Him as we are closing our eyes.

Been there, done that, more times that I can possibly count!

Don’t get me wrong. There is truly nothing wrong than ending our day talking to our Father. I also am of the opinion that there is no better way to drift off to sleep than in His arms. (Let’s stop being so hard on ourselves for falling asleep while really talking to Him.)

But I am talking about when we choose to rush our prayers at the end of the day. You know, we do it because we feel bad that we did not pray the rest of the day. We also rush through it because we are tired. 

Yeah. That kind of prayer.

Going off of our previous articles, it’s hard to really, fully give our hearts to God if our hearts are not in it. If we don’t really have a grasp on His love, compassion, and care for us, our spiritual lives become a chore. That is not love on our end. That is fear. While we need to "fear" God, that form of fear for Christians means deep respect and reverence rather than terror.

But for those who choose to follow Him, He wants us to understand that He loves us and WANTS a relationship with us. He doesn't want us to serve Him out of fear of being condemned to hell. If we have chosen to follow Him and walk in the light, we have no fear of that. (1 John 4:12-19 is a passage that beautifully explains this. Go read!)

Love takes time, energy, and intention to nurture.

If you have kids or fur-babies, family members, spouses, friends, etc...let me pose this to you: 

How do we bond or grow closer with them? We grow closer to them by talking, laughing, spending time together, encouraging, caring for them, and by physical touch. 

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Can you even imagine giving these people only a small portion of what we give often give  to God?

When we feel inadequate in ourselves, it is so hard to think that God actually wants to hear from us. I know for me, I treated prayer as a chore because God wanted me to pray. But I was not pouring out my heart. Deep down, I did not believe that God actually wanted to hear from me. I did not believe that He cared that much about my petty problems or even helping me with the sins I struggle with.

If I truly had believed that, the prayers I prayed would have reflected it.

If I had truly believed that prayer worked and that God cared, I would have dedicated more time to it.

If I had grasped that God actually wants me to talk to Him, I would have given and found more time to do so.

Things have been changing for me. I actually want to talk to Him about everything. I look forward to the times when I can focus an unload and share my burdens with Him. I look forward to it because I believe that He truly loves and cares for me. 

And when I finish praying, I walk away feeling refreshed, renewed, joyful, calm, or comforted. Or all of the above.

I often pray in the car, or at work when my babies are napping. I pray when I take walks on sunny days. I also pray when I turn in for the evening. When I feel overwhelmed, temptation comes, or something is troubling me, I try to stop and pray. 

Let’s also put it this way: Life is daily battle. We are doing war with darkness every. Single. Day. 

We have to take that seriously. We cannot be adequately prepared for the battle that lies ahead of us day after day if we go in unprepared. We become equipped, strengthened, and prepared through prayer and His word (Study is a topic for another day.) When we love God and wish to honor Him, that changes how we view our day to day.  (Ephesians 6:10-18.)

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Take a cue from prayers in the bible. There are many in the Psalms, throughout the Old Testament and New. What can we learn and see from these prayers?

“You God, are my God, and earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you for as long as I live, and in your name I life up my hands….” (Psalm 63:1-4)

In this Psalm, we see that the writer is crying out for God to completely take over their life. The writer is deeply aware of their need for God. They know that His love satisfies and carries them through life. 

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; remove my transgressions. Wash away all my wrong doing and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, only You have I sinned and done what is evil before you; You are a just judge, and Your verdict is true…” (Psalm 51:1-4)

This Psalm was written by David after his sin of adultery with Bathsheba, and murdering her husband. He realizes that he was wrong and begs God to forgive him and turn his heart back to Him. Here, David realizes that his sin will ever be before him, but he knows that with God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness, he can move forward and live a life anew.

“O Lord of Hosts, if you will look upon Your servant  and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to Your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord  all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” (1 Samuel 1:11)

Here, we see Hannah fervently calling out to God for a son. She had been unable to conceive and was constantly tormented and harrassed by her husband’s other wife Peninnah (possibly out of jealousy, since it also says that her husband was crazy in love with Hannah.) She prayed with all her heart and begged God. But, she also walked away trusting that God would provide. (Psalm 37:4.)

“...And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.  I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in me, and I am in You, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me...O Righteous Father, even though the world does not know You, I know You, and these know that You have sent me. I made known to them Your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which You have loved me, may be in them and I in them.” (John 17:19-21, 25-26.)

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39.)

Both of these prayers were prayed by Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane before Judas came back in betrayal. He knew what was coming. He felt alone, he felt scared. But also looking ahead to the end result that would come after His torture and His death. 

He prayed for unity in His disciples, and in the future of the church. He prayed for love to flourish. Do we really pray for our congregations and the church as a whole? Do we pray for its future and for love to blossom like an open meadow in springtime? Do we pray for love to reign supreme? (John 13:35.)

Also, we must consider the humanity of Jesus, especially in His prayer of submission to God. Jesus, the son of God, who WAS and IS God, the great I AM, the One that created everything, was scared. (Matthew 26:38.) 

And Jesus, who is God, who we think shouldn’t be afraid, shared very raw and openly how He felt. He did not sugar coat anything. Even on the cross, He exclaimed how He was feeling to His Father (Matthew 27:36.) He was separated from His Father, and in incredible distress, physically and emotionally. 

From all the prayers we have seen, especially the one that Jesus prayed, these individuals poured their hearts out to God in all sorts of situations. They did not try to be perfect. They didn’t pray just because they thought it had to be done. They did it because they knew their heavenly Father heard them and cared enough to listen. They did it because they earnestly wanted to seek Him out. They did it because they trusted Him enough to listen and make a way. (1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 55:22.)

We don’t need to be eloquent; but our prayers must be raw, honest, and emotional. Our prayers should reflect respect, humility, but without holding back how we are feeling. 

Because through honesty, and an open heart, that is how relationships are formed.

Dear sisters, I am working on this too. I am not perfect, but I want an even deeper relationship with my heavenly Father. Prayer is one of the strongest ways in which we do that. He wants His children to converse with Him, and pour our their hearts to Him. Don’t be afraid to tell Him exactly what you feel.

He’s waiting for You to trust Him enough.

This week to end this post, here is a video of an incredible prayer from the movie, War Room. The movie deals a lot with prayer, and if you have not seen it, I encourage you to give it a watch. 

In Christian Love,

Chelsea

P.S.: Next post, we will talk about some creative ways to ramp up our prayer game!