Growing up we had a local store called Ann & Hope; it was like a flea market in a barely-converted penitentiary, but with less ambiance. Great deals though. Local Christians would joke, “Why go to Ann & Hope when you can go to God and pray?” My inner four year old laughs every time.
I grew up praying. I heard so much praying as a child that I started categorizing prayers by method, favorite phrases, and vocal patterns. We had powerful prayers that inspired, but also gossip prayers, where one wondered if the intent was seeking divine aid, or making sure that everyone knew about so & so’s shenanigans. We had teaching prayers, reminding God about such & such a passage with lots of commentary. Many prayed in King James English and expanded my vocabulary with phrases like, “Know ye,” and “Doest Thou.” I discovered that “words proceedeth,” and that “men smiteth.” We had the “Father-God” prayers who replaced every pause with… well… you know… “Father-God.”
So, as you might imagine, prayer doesn’t seem weird to me in the least. All the good guys in the Bible prayed. Jesus prayed. Jesus even gave His disciples a beautiful pattern for prayer, which has been turned into more than a few inspiring songs… usually called either The Lord’s Prayer, or Our Father.[1]
Prayer comes naturally to me… feeling, at times, only a little more intentional than thinking. I live life before the Lord, who knows the number of hairs on my head,[2] and the thoughts and intents of my heart.[3] He hears,[4] which is one of the benefits of being omniscient and omnipresent. He knows what I want before I ask,[5] but likes to be asked, and always reserves the right to respond for His purpose and my good, rather than satisfying my often misguided wishes.
The Apostle Paul instructs us to “pray without ceasing,”[6] which means remaining in open-channel conversation with God. So, pour out your concerns to Him, because he cares for you.[7] Seek His guidance.[8] Hold out others before Him for special care, salvation, healing, and deliverance from troubles.[9] He is present with us… we should act like it. It’s more than just therapeutic; it is one of the primary means by which God transforms us into the people He wants us to become.
I went to a dinner once at a church and sat at a big round table with my wife and four other Christian couples we didn’t know. As each introduced themselves and said where they were from and what they did, it eventually came around to us. When I told them I was an Old Testament scholar just finishing my PhD at Trinity International, their faces went taut… they just stared tight-lipped. In this situation, I usually get peppered with questions that inquiring Christians wanna know. Some prove eager to bounce their own thoughts off me to see what I think as an “expert” in the field. But that night, the other couples turned away, talking freely to each other, but completely ignoring Melodie and me. Now my ego does not need stroking by being fawned over and “Oliver-Twisted” for biblical tidbits, but I was curious at the shunning. “If I had someone like me around,” I said to my wife on the way home, “I’d pump them for all the information I could get.” Of course, I do have someone sort-of-like that around… so do you… all the time… and He is far more knowledgeable and trustworthy than some doofus with a PhD. I have God, His Word, and His Holy Spirit to instruct, empower, convict, and guide.
So Christians pray. They strive to keep open channels of communication with God. Their striving, of course, is not with God, Who is eager to commune with them.[10] Their striving is with themselves. They must learn to turn the echo chamber of their own self-talk into an open conference with the Lord of all creation. This is a help in imitating Paul’s own determination to “take every thought captive” so that He might obey Christ.[11] We must learn to consider God in all our dealings and reach out to Him consciously in word and thought as we navigate the complex world around us. Christians pray.
This, thus far, is the soul of prayer, but it doesn’t stop there. Couples pray together. People pray for one another… sometimes in person. Christians also engage in group prayer and public prayer. Jesus warned His disciples about the lure of praying for the benefit of being seen, heard, and admired, saying in Matthew 6:5-6: “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. …But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” But prayer is still a legitimate and regular part of Christian gatherings. We pray with thanksgiving before eating, for protection before events and travels, for guidance before meeting or speaking. We pray for the sick and suffering in our services. We open in prayer, close in prayer, and pepper each transition with prayer whether seeking a blessing over the offering, participating in communion, or closing our time of worship. Christians pray.
Lastly, Christians cultivate the spiritual discipline of daily devotional prayer. This is often done upon waking so as to begin each day with our minds set on God. We take a short time to read the Bible, maybe a devotional thought by people who write books like this… perhaps we sing a song of worship, and then move through a series of prayer points for which there are many schemes. I like the old A.C.T.S. prayer. Adoration; confession; thanksgiving, and finally, supplication, which means seeking good things from God’s hand.
Try it. It just may change your life.
~Andrew D. Sargent, Ph.D.
[1] Matthew 6:9-13. My favorite versions use the composition by Albert Hay Malotte. Look it up and take a listen. Jackie Evancho does a nice version… So does Andrea Bocelli and believe it or not, Reba McEntire.
[2] The fact that it is easier to count them on my head than your head does not take away from the miracle in the least… so stop laughing.
[3] Romans 8:26-27.
[4] Luke 11:9-13.
[5] Matthew 6:8.
[6] 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17.
[7] 1 Peter 5:6-7.
[8] John 16:13.
[9] 1 Timothy 2:1-2.
[10] Indeed, 2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us plainly that “the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”
[11] 2 Corinthians 10:5.
