Thought for Today

Genesis 2:7  then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.  

Psalm 5:2  Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.  

Luke 11:1  He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." 2  He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.  

“Prayer (From Lat. precari, ‘to entreat’) – Human approach to God and addressing God in praise and adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, and intercession.” [Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, pg. 216]

I am pro prayer; I strongly advocate praying often and I often advocate to do so. I thought about prayer as I read today’s reflection on Ephesians 6:18 in the devotional guide These Days, “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication.“ The devotional reflection included, “Every Christian community in every age needs the reminder and encouragement to keep tethered to God by prayer . . . “ Greta and I were captivated by that idea of being tethered to God by prayer.

Do you pray? Do you set aside a specific time and/or place to pray each day? I believe prayer must be deliberate and purposeful . . . but, I also believe in spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment prayer directed to whatever the immediate situation might be.

We set aside a portion of our weekly worship service specifically for prayer. In our Order of Worship, it is titled Prayers of the People. I always introduce that time in our service by reminding us all that it is a time we set aside to share our lives with our community of faith and with our Father in heaven. A time to share the joys, cares and concerns of our lives. We offer prayers of concern, of joy, of thanksgiving, we share our lives with our family and with the Head of the Family, our Creator God.

I cannot imagine a Christian (or Jew or Moslem) who would not be pro prayer. At its heart, prayer is all about talking to God. I believe it is appropriate to share everything with God. After all, we believe God is omniscient, all-knowing. It is not as though we can hide anything from God . . . much as we might on occasion wish to do so. We don’t pray to God to reveal any secrets to God. God already knows it all. We pray to God to be in contact with God, to be in an intimate relationship with God and to acknowledge to God our own realization of what God already knows.

Have you ever noticed the way people structure their prayers? The way we phrase our prayers tends to be much more formal and structured than the way we converse with each other. Even that devotional today included “inviting the holy into the conversation we are about to have with God.” A church we attended many years ago once had an associate pastor who rambled on incessantly in addressing God. I once timed his taking 3 minutes to say what amounted to “Dear God.”

For anyone who feels inadequate or uncertain in how to pray, in how to form the words to properly express one’s joys, cares and concerns, I highly recommend beginning with the Lord’s Prayer. Examine that model prayer Jesus offered to his disciples. It was common practice then for every rabbi to offer such a model prayer to his disciples.

Luke’s version begins with “Father, hallowed be your name.” Not a recitation of every title or name imaginable or ever associated with God. Just a simple, direct ‘Father.’ But, a powerful name, ladened with history, meaning and acknowledgement of our relationship with God, our dependance on God.

Jesus then offers a prayer for the future, “Your kingdom come.” The attainment of the Kingdom of God is the ultimate aim of our faith. Matthew’s version of Jesus’ model prayer adds, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven is my favorite definition of the Kingdom of God.

Step-by-step Jesus then walks us through prayers of supplication, prayers for forgiveness and prayers for strength to resist temptation. A straightforward, simple and complete prayer. A prayer that is holy, Spirit-filled without unnecessary, flowery rhetoric.

I believe God wants to talk with us all. God wants to know what is on our minds and what is troubling our hearts. God wants to know what is bringing us joy. God wants to be a constant integral part of our lives.

Stay safe, pray often, trust God,

Pastor Ray