Opus 2025-286: Two Forms of Prayer

“Pray for me.”  How often have you heard those words?  I would imagine fairly frequently if you were in a church that claims to believe in prayer and the power of prayer.  I’ve even heard it from people who don’t particularly believe anything but have a superstitious conviction that Christians have a hotline to the supernatural.  One of the lessons I learned from a teacher years ago was that often people look at us as surrogates to God.  Rather than belive and trust Him, they come to us and ask us to pray for them.  While I might respond that I will pray for them, I don’t think they understand that my prayers will not necessarily be what they are asking for.  I might mention healing in association with their name, but more so I would ask for their salvation and God‘s hand upon the spiritual walk.

I think of prayer in my own life is having two different formats.  The first one is the standard, evangelical, prayer list.  This is what you usually get in the pastoral prayer on Sunday morning or after a time of sharing prayer requests.  It’s like a shopping list style of prayer.  Personally, I don’t see any evidence for that in the scripture.  If you look at the Lords Prayer that Jesus gave us as an example, there is very little of the kind of requests that we get at a prayer meeting.  I will still do it.  I have a prayer map that I try to go through every day.  I have it organized in such a way that I hope I don’t forget anything that I have committed to praying for.  At the same time it’s kind of hard to know what the real needs are and what God wants to see happen.  Well, I will pray for healing, or a job, or a family situation but on those I will generally tack on the words of Jesus, “Not my will, but they will be done.”  About the only thing that I can pray for with a conviction that God is speaking through me is salvation.

The second form of prayer is more along the lines of what I think Jesus did, when He would sneak off in the morning to be by Himself and pray.  There was probably some supplication.  He probably lifted up each one of His disciples.  But I think the main focus of His prayer was listening to His father, and just sensing His presence.  That’s what I tend to do in the mornings and when I’m out on the porch.  I will start with a few well worn scriptures and meditating on them such as Genesis 1:1.  Or, I will think about the conversation God had with Moses when He told him that His name was Yahweh.  My thoughts already passed from that point, but they are always trying to listen to what God might be saying to me at that time.  I think there are a lot of similarities between what I consider prayer in which some people would consider Christian meditation.

If God could get tired, I think He would get tired of the endless lists we give Him.  It’s like every day is Christmas and we want to give him a reminder of all the things that we want for life to be good.  As I said, I do it as one of those things I do in submission to the leaders of the church and people who walk with Jesus.  That doesn’t mean that I considered it the most accurate form of prayer but I’m willing to give it a shot.

When I pray my prayer map and come to the end, I feel I have checked the box.  When I finally leave the porch and heading to begin next portion of my day, I feel like I have made a foundation and absorbed the attitude of God and being in the presence of the Almighty.  I think that’s more in keeping with what God wants in our prayer time but that could be just me.

homo unius libri