Have you ever thought about prayer … in the midst of it?
Have you ever been at a meeting, a small group, a dinner table, a church service and felt the weight of all that you (or others) were bringing to prayer?
Have you ever lifted your head, after that short, goal-oriented point of the meeting, the small group, the dinner table, the church service and felt like you (and others) had just not done the prayer requests justice? That you had just not felt the weight of what you were laying at God’s feet long enough to allow that request to change, to alter you … your soul … just a little bit?
Have you ever wanted to simply shout out :
“we take more time to describe our prayer praises and requests than we do praying!”
Prayer is not a checklist, not simply a mandatory start and finish to a meeting, a meal, a small group. Prayer is about allowing the God of the universe to reign in our hearts, in our lives, and our allowing Him to have dominion over us in totality … whether in want or in plenty.
A couple of years ago, I wrote about how Prayer Changes Me., and quoted C. S. Lewis, who said of prayer, “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God- it changes me.”
It is not that we pray so as to change the mind of God, as though he is some sort of puppeteer moving our bodies and our lives as if we are inanimate objects. We pray, so that our minds, our hearts become more in tune to the will of God, so that His will becomes our will … so that His plans become our plans. Prayer is the practice of changing the heart of the one who is praying, towards the heart of the one being prayed to.
“Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out. Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.” James 5:13-16
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