Prayer is talked about a lot in Christian circles.  When I first started my journey with Jesus, I took a lot of bible studies and classes on prayer.  The crazy thing was, the more I studied prayer, the more inadequate I felt in my conversations with God.  Looking back, my dialog with Him started out so simple and real.  Then, before I knew it, I was saying all these “right” phrases and approaching Him with some stiff agenda that someone else came up with for me. 

I am not saying that studies on prayer or even prayer mentoring is a bad thing. I’m just bringing up the possibility that prayer is a lot more personal than we present it most times.   I’m concerned that a lot of Christ followers have a weak or inconsistent prayer life not because of something God said, but because of something we’re saying. 

Think about this.  Abraham obviously had a robust prayer life.  The bible tells us he left his home and land just as God said. How did he learn to pray?  He didn’t attend a conference or bible study.  I think the answer lies in another question.  Who gave him the desire to communicate?  

God wants us to talk with and listen to Him. He wired it into us. Remember how He walked around in the cool of the evening with Adam and Eve in the garden… talking? 

Jesus reminded us we should be praying - so we should be praying. But when He talked about prayer, He seemed to be trying to orient our hearts toward God as an intimate and good Father more than teaching us canned strategies.   In Matthew 6 Jesus tells us to get secluded and talk with God.  He seems to imply that prayer is really about centering down…shifting our focus to heaven… allowing the One who resides there to influence our mind, will, and emotions. 

Here’s Matthew 6:5-13 from the Message version:

“And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

 ”Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

 ”The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

   Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best— as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.

For me this centering down with God is a more a mindset than geography.  Yes, a lot of the time, I physically draw away from everybody to talk with God.  More often than that though, I talk with Him right in the  midst of my crazy daily life.  I treat Him as the trusted Father/friend who is right there with me.  I’ve learned to submerge like a submarine into my soul and spirit and get eyeball to eyeball with the One who’s on top of life. 

And I talk spirit to Spirit.  And I listen spirit to Spirit.  And I know I’ve prayed.  But I didn’t learn it.  I’m living it.

What’s your prayer story?

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