Hey everyone! As usual, I pray that all is well and all will be well in your lives.
What is prayer? Most people think of prayer as simply talking to God, and that’s literally all they do. However, prayer is much more than just you talking to God, prayer is communication with God. The American Heritage Dictionary defines communication as: “The exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, signals, writing, or behavior.” The key word in the definition is “exchange”, that means prayer is a two-way street; God should be communicating with you during and/or after prayer. No, He’s not going to talk to you in some audible voice, but look at all the ways in which one can communicate.
Most people would not fathom admitting it, but the reason why they get bored, frustrated or prayer becomes a chore, is because they are talking too much; they don’t let God get a word in. In fact, did you know you can also bore and annoy God with your praying? We’ll talk about this more later.
There are many ways/types of prayer, it’s not always on your knees with your hands folded. I won’t cover them all, but here are a few.
There is spur of the moment prayer where you call on and/or thank God for something. It should be the most common type of prayer in your life. This is what Paul is talking about when he says:
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. –1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
There is formal prayer, which I like to call throne room prayer. It’s powerful and needed, but it tends to be one directional: just you talking. If it’s the only type of prayer you do, or do too much it can become monotonous and unproductive. It is important to mix in other types of prayer namely meditation.
Meditation/reflection. People don’t spend enough time simply sitting and being quiet in God’s presence. I understand that we live in a world that is fast-paced and multitasked. Additionally, modern technology has both shortened our attention spans, as well as our ability to concentrate and focus. However, I cannot stress enough the importance of being quiet in God’s presence. This is where God can talk (communicate) with us. It’s where you find guidance, solutions, faith, peace and answers to the prayers you had in the throne room. Meditation goes beyond communication; it is communion with God. It’s where you also can feel His warmth, His affection and His gentleness. The American Heritage Dictionary defines communion as: “The act or an instance of sharing, as of thoughts or feelings.” Key word here is “sharing”. Having communion with God is what makes prayer so sweet and draws you back again and again to God; you thirst for it, it’s addictive, but in a good way. You should always meditate before and/or after your throne room prayers and then sometimes do it just by itself.
It’s also import to mention group prayer. If throne room prayer is powerful like a grenade, then group prayer is powerful like a nuclear bomb. I have only seen group prayer fail for one reason: the prayer wasn’t the will of God. We’ll also talk more about prayers “in the will of God” later and it’s a critical topic.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” — Matthew 18:19-20
Of all the praying I do, the prayer I look forward to the most is my Saturday evening thank you prayer. It’s a prayer where I meditate and thank God. I try not to ask for anything; simply be in His presence and thank Him for the week that has gone by. Even just typing it now brings a sense of serenity. You could not pay me to miss that prayer and I would fight you tooth and toenail if you tried to stop me. It’s not even a long prayer, but I get more out of that prayer than all the praying I do during the week.
William B. Bradbury, 1816 – 1868 wrote the hymn: “Sweet Hour of Prayer”. He could not have written that song without knowing the communion and fullness or prayer. I encourage you to read and listen to it https://www.greatchristianhymns.com/sweet-hour-of-prayer.html
Next week we’ll study how Jesus taught us to pray.
May God bless and keep all who read this.
May God bless and keep all brothers and sisters, new and old, in the faith in his name.
With his love and mine,
Chrom