Say a Little Prayer

Praying is one of the most fundamental practices of Christianity. It’s the means by which believers communicate with God. To some it might seem pointless. If God already knows our hearts and minds, why is it necessary to pray? Well, simply put, because God says so. The Bible instructs us to pray, so that’s what we should do.

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. - 2 Chronicles 7:14

If we need or want something from God, we need to ask even if He already knows what it is. This is not that foreign a concept. After all, human parents do the same thing with their children all the time. Prayer isn’t just about asking for things though. Again, it is the way by which we access the open line of communication between ourselves and God. Many of us do not use that line enough. Sure, most believers pray before every meal and perhaps when we wake up in the morning or when we go to bed at night, but is that enough?  How much should we actually pray? 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The Bible isn’t telling us that we should literally be on our knees praying at all times without interruption. It is telling us that prayer should be a constant part of our regimen. Whatever we’re going through. Whatever we’re doing. Whatever we’re experiencing. Prayer should be in the mix. If we’re honest, many of us find it difficult to do that, but why? It should be one of the most natural parts of the Christian experience.

Perhaps it’s due in part to the misconception of what prayer should be. It’s not unusual to go to a church or watch some televangelist on TV and see a long drawn out prayer with a lot of passion and pleas and invocations. Prayers like that seem powerful, and you often hear people say things like “That was a good prayer.” What is a good prayer? If good prayers exist, then does that also mean that there is such a thing as bad prayers? The Bible actually answers both questions, but those answers might not be what you think based on what a prayer is commonly portrayed to be. Jesus gave us the “Our Father” prayer as a basic model for what a prayer should be (Matthew 6:9-13). So, that prayer and any prayer that follows that format is good. Immediately before giving us that prayer, he also pointed out what kind of prayers are considered bad.

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. - Matthew 6:5-8

Jesus is very clearly telling us two things here. We shouldn’t pray in a showy manner. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t ever pray in public. Sometimes public prayer is a legitimate showing of faith and commitment to God. He is saying that our motivation shouldn’t be for others to see how great our prayers are or how great we are for praying in such a way. If we are motivated in that way, then our prayers aren’t about communicating with God. They are about uplifting ourselves and are thus pointless.

The other takeaway is that our prayers need not be long. We don’t have to ask for every desire or need one by one. We don’t have to call out every individual person that we know that needs help. Our prayers don’t need filler. We need only be direct and purposeful just as Jesus was with the Our Father prayer. There is nothing wrong with keeping your prayers short and sweet. When we realize that, then it’s easier to understand how you can pray without ceasing. If you’re at work and you find out you receive a raise, you don’t have to drop to your knees in front of all your coworkers and start yelling out for ten minutes about how good God is. You can simply whisper your thanks to God in a couple sentences. He’ll hear you. If you catch yourself doing something wrong, you don’t have to inflict physical pain on yourself and wail in sorrow about your wrongdoing as some misguided Christians have done in the past. You can simply say “I’m sorry for that, Lord” and express your intent to avoid committing that same sin in the future.

Prayer doesn’t have to be a big production. In fact, it shouldn’t be. God is our father. Our interaction with him should be similar in some regard to how it is with our parents. It’s true that our prayers should have all the respect and reverence that we would give a parent, but they should also have an air of familiarity. They should flow as if we’re speaking to someone that we love and that we know loves us because that’s exactly what we’re doing. Sometimes we have long conversations with our parents because there are serious issues we need help with. Sometimes our interactions with our parents are little more than quick greetings or simple words of gratitude for something they’ve done for us.  It can be the same with God. The big prayers are often necessary, but if we can work the little ones into our daily lives more consistently, we might just find ourselves praying in exactly the way the Bible instructs.

Chris Lawyer

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