Prayer: the underrated gift

I used to feel like prayer was a chore. Between you and me, just the mention of the word would make me feel like I would rather avoid it because I felt like it was routine and boring.

But now, I think it is one of the most beautiful ways of connecting with God. Now, I really look forward to it, delighting in the pleasure of it.

Like I did, I believe people carry presumptions that deter them from praying. Presumptions like prayer is complicated- being only for the skilled, or that it requires that one is holy or clean enough first.

These impressions about prayer keep people from experiencing the gift that it really is, and the satisfaction of connecting with God through it. Let’s unpack them.

But, what is prayer anyway?

I would say that prayer is being present with God and sharing your heart with him. It’s communing with God. The word ‘communing’ is like an umbrella term for; conversing, sharing intimately and connecting deeply.

So, from these words, we can start to see that prayer is a heartfelt thing. It is meant to be genuine communication between a person and God.

Let’s unpack – Prayer is complicated

When it comes to prayer, we tend to put pressure on ourselves. The pressure to use certain words that we believe are most suitable, or to have a certain structure and flow.

It could be that we have heard people pray a certain way; with mighty words and deep conviction, with knowledge of the bible and fervency, and yet when we pray it just doesn’t sound like that. And so, we may back away from prayer because we think it complicated or hard.

Simple & genuine prayer is good prayer

Being able to pray fervently and with mighty words is great. But here’s what’s also great, what’s also mighty; praying in your own simple, and genuine way.

Prayer is not meant to be a benchmark that shows to people, to ourselves, and to God that we are spiritually deep or experienced.

It is a personal tool that connects us to God, but how can we connect if we are ingenuine (in trying to pray like somebody else) because of comparison? I believe we should always pray in the freedom of being relaxed and genuine, and that’s where getting comfortable and better with prayer starts.

In Matthew 6:5-6, Jesus emphasizes how prayer is not about using impressive words, but about talking solely with your heavenly Father.

What matters when you pray

This is what matters when you pray: to be conscious that God loves you, and to let your words flow from your heart. Not from what you think they should be, but from your heart. It’s okay to take a moment to calm yourself and reflect. What do you personally know about God? What do you want to say to him? That’s what you should apply when you pray.

Let’s re-imagine prayer in this way: powerful or good prayers do not have to sound a specific way. They don’t have to be extravagant. They only have to be flowing from your heart, with the faith-attitude that God does not judge your eloquence, but delights in you turning toward him¹.

You have to be clean/holy to pray

Sometimes, there is a feeling of unease that rises within a person when they are presented with the idea of prayer.

Something inside us informs us that we are in a state that is unworthy of relating with God². It could be the shame and guilt of living in a way that we know deep within ourselves is not pleasing to God. We then tend to believe that we need to clean up first, be better in our habits or lifestyle and then we can pray.

A standard that is much too high

The thing is, no person can ever make themselves “clean enough” to pray.

Consider this; God is Holy, meaning he is absolutely morally perfect. Human beings, however, miss the mark of being morally perfect all the time. Like Romans 3:23 says, “…Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard”. Jesus raised this standard by saying that we are imperfect even in our thoughts. God’s standard of perfection is far beyond any person you know, even on their best behavior. Therefore, to be good enough to come to God is unattainable because the gap between Him and us is far too wide.

A God with a plan up his sleeve

But God, in his love and mercy, closed this gap. For the person who thinks, “I’m not clean enough to approach a perfect and pure God”, here is some good news for you.

God made provision for you to be clean because someone else, Jesus Christ, already paid the price of your sin. All you have to do is believe it with your heart, and say it³– “Jesus, I believe you died for my sins to make me clean, so that I can always come to God freely. I’m sorry for my sins, and I trust you as my Savior and Lord, help me live this life with you.”

Because of Jesus Christ being your Savior, you can approach God confidently and pray freely⁴. He alone makes you clean enough.

To be continued…

These are only some of the presumptions about prayer that keep us from it. Because you’ve made it up to here, send in any that you have heard of that you would like for us to unpack in part two!

Prayer is truly a beautiful thing. I hope that we would start to look beyond what we assume about it, open ourselves up to it in the way that God intended, and enjoy a deep relationship with him through it. Lots of love.

Sincerely,

Elsa

Bible references

1. God delights in you (Zephaniah 3:17) ↩︎
2. Our consciences convict us (Romans 2:14 & 15) ↩︎
3. Believe, and speak (Romans 10:10) ↩︎
4. Approach God boldly (Hebrews 4:16) ↩︎