Lord, Teach Us to Pray
Personal prayer can be one of the greatest challenges of an individual Christian’s faith life. We have a comfort level with prayer in church, when we pray together the familiar words of the Lord’s Prayer, and participate in the responsive prayer. We expect to hear the prayers associated with the beginning and end of worship, the prayerful nature of confession, and the reverent Words of Institution when we prepare to receive Holy Communion. When you think about it, much of our weekly worship service is in the form of prayer, so we should be completely at ease with praying, right?
Well, that isn’t always the case – in fact, I have an idea that many adults have a hard time getting past the memorized prayers of childhood, and feel a little awkward or uncomfortable without a format to follow. We certainly don’t want to sound like a child with a Christmas wish list, and we probably would avoid telling God what we want God to do. That just doesn’t seem appropriate, given that a mere mortal is attempting to communicate with the creator of the universe.
I know that there are occasions when I hope to relate to God through prayers of eloquence and clarity. That probably creates an unnecessary complication, because, after all, I believe that God knows me and will hear and understand me regardless of how elegant (or not) my phrasing is. But, for all of us, there are those times when we have heavy hearts or troubled minds, and we need to find a way to bring those burdens to our Father who will hear us.
Fortunately, throughout the Bible we are assured that God hears our prayers, however inadequately worded and stumbling they may be. The Book of Psalms is filled with prayers of every kind – thanks and praise, fears and complaints, questions and reflections, as the psalmist reaches to God, knowing that God is reaching back to him. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell us that the disciples witnessed Jesus in prayer and then asked him to teach them to pray. In response to their request, he taught them the Lord’s Prayer. Encouraging the church in Rome to be faithful in prayer, Paul writes: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27).
Once again, God’s Word reminds us that we don’t have to muddle along on our own. We are God’s own children, who are loved and to whom he will listen. If we struggle for words, we can turn to his Word, where we will find the reassurance that our Father in heaven knows and understands what is in our hearts.
Your Friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers