We make prayer into an academic ritual founded on prerequisites that help the petitioners achieve greater results. Christian bookstores are overloaded with a plethora of publications aimed at teaching the reader how to approach the Heavenly Throne. Prayer is not a jigsaw puzzle that has to be worked on to achieve a picture of what prayer should look like.
Prayer is not a formula, but a relationship. If you can talk with someone, you can talk with the Lord. God does not care about our educational, financial, or societal status. He doesn’t care if we stutter, stammer, or use the wrong grammar. He doesn’t care if we use words or just use our thoughts. He doesn’t care if we want to let the Holy Spirit represent our words. He doesn’t care if we want to read prayers. All God wants us to do is communicate with Him. God doesn’t care about our praying posture. It doesn’t matter if we bow our heads, fold our hands, raise our hands, kneel, lay prone, or close our eyes. We are free to approach Him in whatever manner we choose.
We tend to talk about God, rather than talk with Him. Prayer is a two-way street. It is more like a conversation than a salutation. I have heard people say that they get tongue-tied and don’t know how to express themselves. What should help is that God already knows what you are about to say. (Matthew 6:8)
What we are praying for does not guarantee that God’s response will be the result we desire. God is our Heavenly Father who will teach us through our petitions and requests. Prayer is a growing experience in which we become more aware of God’s involvement in our lives.
Prayer can be elevated through Praise, Thanksgiving, and Intercession. We praise Him for His mighty acts and His excellent greatness. (Psalms 150) We thank Him for His mercy and His acts of compassion. (Psalms 136) At the end of each verse in this Psalm is the phrase “For His mercy endures forever.” Finally, Intercession, which includes petitions and supplications, is offered. (Psalms 27:7-12) This is where we ask God to do something in and through our lives. Many Christians skip Praise and Thanksgiving and go right to petition and supplication.
There are times during Praise and Thanksgiving that we never get to Intercession, for the Lord has taken care of our needs before we even have a chance to present our requests. We get so lost in Praise and Thanksgiving that we forget what we were about to Petition. There is something about being in the presence of the Lord that dwarfs things we deem as important. We are to pray without ceasing. (I Thessalonians 5:17) There should never be a time when prayer is not exercised. We are always to give thanks. (Ephesians 5:20) Our praises should continually be in our mouths. (Psalms 34:1)
When we unlock the attributes of prayer our lives will take on a whole new dimension of a Spirit-filled life.
