HOW WE PRAY

by Doris Lakey

Prayer seems to mean many things to different people. 

For some, it’s like shopping online where you put everything into the cart and hope you have enough credit to pay for all the things you want. A few may compare it to wishing on a star. Others treat it like a letter to Santa Claus or a trip to an ATM machine. Making your want list. Going through the motions because we know we should, but not really expecting anything much to happen. 

To some folks it’s a quick, self-conscious “Thank you”. Some are embarrassed to pray out loud in front of others. Some expound at length, blessing the world at large and for everything they can think of, as though hoping their listeners can learn eloquence from their performance. There’s a name in the Bible for these folks: Pharisees, those guys who stood in the street or synagogue, loudly proclaiming thanks to God that they are better than the sinners around them.

Some of us avoid praying because it feels like some formal ritual is required to appease a remote God of All There Is, using Elizabethan English in “thee’s and thou’s”. Let’s face it. We all probably have a few of these kinds of prayers in our past when rushed or distracted by life. Our Heavenly Father knows us each by name, our mistakes, our talents and our hearts, inside and out. We don’t need to impress Him. And that’s a stroke of luck because no way do we have anything to brag about to Him! 

But because we know we should; it’s expected. Like writing that thank you to your grandmother for the socks she sent for your birthday. He loves us, He wants us to visit with Him. And we don’t have any problem talking with our best friend, do we? 

One verse in the Bible used to bother me—not just one, you understand. You know what I mean, but still, this one Pray without ceasing” (First Thessalonians 5:17). No one can expect us to stumble around with eyes closed all day. How does that even work? 

When you are walking with a friend, as you go along you talk and laugh together about details of your day, sharing good news or the day’s concerns and never seem to run out of things to say. Even when no one is talking you are both aware of each other’s presence and enjoying your companionship. Maybe that’s what God wants from us. 

Good friends don’t hog the conversation. We also listen. Maybe prayer should be a heart-to- heart conversation about important things with your best friend.