"There are a weird group of people on planet Earth who claim to have direct access to the creator".
These were the words spoken by John Woodhouse, the Principal of Moore College as we began our recent week of prayer.
Prayer is a magnificent privilege that we so often ignore. In fact two of the greatest gifts God gives us in this world, as we walk toward glory are prayer and Bible reading, and they re two of the things we least appreciate. I know in church it is during prayer and Bible reading that I have to work hardest to concentrate!
Why we don't pray?
There are all sorts of excuses for why we don't pray, and as I list them, they seem so trivial: busyness, forgetfulness, sleepiness.
However, behind the excuses lies the world, the flesh and the devil. The world seduces us into wanting its idols. James warns "you don't have because you don't ask God. When you ask, you ask with wrong motives that you might spend it on your pleasures". The flesh urges us to think we don't need to pray because we can solve problems by ourselves, which of course, is the lie first spoken in the garden. And the devil seeks to have people not engage in the great honour of speaking to our heavenly Father.
Why we would pray?
The reason to pray is the gospel. God brings us into relationship with himself and calls us his beloved children, who showers blessings on His children without finding fault (James 1).
The reason we would pray is the Father, Son and Spirit. The Father welcomes us to His family, the Son makes us His brothers by His death, and the Spirit takes our sighs and groanings and presents them to the father.
Teach us to pray…
The disciples, in the company of the Son of God who was constantly at prayer asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus' response was The Lord's Prayer. That is, just talk to God, God who can be called father, about the things that matter. It is not about method, but conversation and relationship.
Here are some tips I have gathered that assist with prayer
"¢ keep watching for things that happen in your day that you can thank God for
"¢ carry a verse in your pocket for the day. Read it when you have a moment and turn to pray as a result
"¢ attach prayer to things you do or places you pass: for example tying your shoelaces or driving around a certain corner.
"¢ pray about anything and everything
"¢ pray for people when they, for some reason, come to mind
"¢ don't think prayer must be long
"¢ pray with someone else
"¢ begin (and end) a time with other Christians in prayer
"¢ turn what you hear in the media or read in the paper to prayer
