Prayer: What It’s Not
Another recurring series this year will be on the nature of prayer and how we can grow in our prayer life as disciples of Jesus Christ. I’ll begin by first dealing with common dead-ends and misconceptions of prayer to clarify what our expectations from God and ourselves should be. So, what is prayer not?
Prayer is not necessarily time-consuming. Many allege: “I don’t have time to pray.” Only if prayer is narrowly seen as the setting aside of large amounts of time each day to do nothing can anyone make that excuse. Instead, prayer can be practiced at any point of the day for any length of time. A five-minute check-in often enables us to become aware of God’s presence all throughout the day, and not only when I’m hunkering down for a prayer session. Prayer is not productive, at least in the typical sense. Some say: “There are so many other ways besides prayer I can spend my day in serving God.” Others will say: “My work is my prayer.” These true but incomplete statements ignore the fact that the goal of life is not to serve God in some widget-making capacity, as if each minute of prayer or charity translates to some practical spiritual nugget of gold. I exist to be in relationship with the God who made me to know, love, and serve him in this life so as to be happy with him forever in the next. Our prayer serves this relationship, and our favorite memories in life are the times we ‘wasted’ with a friend. Prayer is not vague or fluffy. Some assert: “I don’t need to pray formally. God knows I love him.” Once again, true but incomplete. One important way that we not only show God we love him, but actually grow in that love is by prayer. Prayer should be specific, not the type of small talk we reserve for random acquaintances at a gymnastics meet or block party. Prayer is not an escape from the world. After a tragedy hits and people promise their prayers, some counter: “I want you to help people, not just think nice thoughts about them.” While faith overflows into acts of love, prayer is not reducible to thoughts about someone, but communication with One who understands the situation perfectly and knows how best to bring about goodness in the midst of evil and tragedy. Prayer does not require perfect faith. Jesus compared the ideal start to faith to a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds that grows into a large bush. Ask for greater faith from God to pray better. Finally, prayer is not about YOU. Multitudes say: “I don’t really ‘get anything’ out of prayer.” If we applied this utilitarian outlook to human friendships, few would want to be friends with us. Prayer isn’t about you individually, but you and God in relationship. If the relationship is strong, you won’t be fixated on what you get, but on how you can give yourself more fully to the One who loves you perfectly.