I am thinking, as I write this, of the various approaches to prayer. Some use prayer as a means of “preaching” or expressing an opinion on a matter. Others tend to be extremely formal in their approach to our Father. Some rely on prayers learned over the years. In certain situations, I use prayers written by others that apply to that situation. Then there are those who would say you can only pray in certain ways. Jesus, in Matthew chapter 6, seems to make it an issue of the heart.
I teach a group of kindergarten, first and second grade children in our church setting who seem to get this heart thing. For this precious group of children, prayer seems to simply be conversation with our “Daddy.”
They talk to Him about everything including pet lizards, dogs, a sick school teacher, their vegetable garden, siblings and grandparents, and trips to the doctor and orthodontist. It is very refreshing and I think I am learning from them to simply speak from the heart when talking to our Father.
If prayer is conversation with God, perhaps we could spend a little more time listening and a little less time talking. Meditating scripture is wonderful practice for this. The Spirit of God will quicken those scriptures when we stop and listen in prayer and then we are able to pray those scriptures back to Him, thus agreeing with Him in a situation. And we can be assured when we agree with God on a matter, His will is accomplished in that situation. This also seems to assist in the heart issue Jesus addressed in Matthew since the Word is said to discern between the thoughts and intents of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12-13). The Psalms are filled with references to meditating on His precepts, His laws, His wonderful works, etc. This allows us to come to prayer with an eager expectation that God will hear and answer us and, in turn, gives us boldness as we cross paths with those who are in need of prayer.What I hope they are learning from me is to watch for the ways our Father answers our prayers and to acknowledge those answers as coming from Him. I see in them the contrast between the children in Mark 10:13-16 of whom Jesus said “to such belongs the kingdom of God” and the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-27 who trusted in his self-righteousness and his riches instead of simply trusting in God.
I would encourage all of us to seek after God’s heart on the matter of prayer. He gave us a glimpse when He said in I Thessalonians 5:16-18 to “pray without ceasing.” Seems like an ongoing conversation awaits us!
by Cherilyn Writght