Thoughts about Prayer

James 5: 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.


This was the verse we talked about in Sunday School last Sunday. So, I'm confessing now. I get up every morning at 5:00 so that I can have time to read my Bible, shower, and leave for work at 6:30. Sounds pretty good, right? But I have been struggling. I get my coffee and sit down. Then I decide that my eyes aren't focusing well enough yet to read the Bible, so I get on social media for a few minutes. I do eventually read the Bible before I get in the shower, but it ends up being hurried with little to no meditation on what I am reading, and either a very quick prayer or no prayer at all. I told the children Sunday that prayer is not just telling God what you want Him to do, but also listening to Him, praising Him, thanking Him. That was like the blind leading the blind, or the pot calling the kettle black. I know the statement to be true but have failed to do that. I have confessed that to God, and now to whoever reads this.



1 John 1:9-10 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We don’t have any sin,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.


I have been thinking about what it really means to pray, and how I should pray. Back before I fell into this back-slidden pattern, I loved to read and pray from the Psalms. I think all the elements of true prayer are expressed there. Praise, thanksgiving, worship, fear, anger, confusion, requests, confession, commitment...All these things are included in the psalmists' prayers/songs. Prayer is deeply personal conversation with God based on who He is and made possible by what He has done for us. Prayer comes from a wholehearted commitment to Him and involves complete honesty with Him. We can't lie to Him, so why try.






Psalm 139: 1-5


1 Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
You understand my thoughts from far away.
3 You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue,
You know all about it, Lord.
5 You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me.
6 This extraordinary knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.






As James states, we are to pray for those who are sick. True. But it seems to me that sickness has been a primary focus of corporate prayer with most other elements of true prayer omitted. I have been in many churches where prayer requests have been made. Certainly not all, but most of those are for illness and bereavement, with an occasional "unspoken" request. Herein lies my confusion. What are we afraid or ashamed to pray about? I really don't know what other people are thinking, but I think we may be embarrassed to pray for lost family members to be saved, because we think their lost-ness reflects some failure on our part. I think we may be ashamed to pray for strength and forgiveness for ourselves because we are too prideful to admit our own sinfulness and weakness. (Before anyone thinks I am accusing others, I'm telling you the things that are my own fears and faults.) Are we ashamed to pray about financial difficulties because we are admitting failure? The list goes on.






First, we need to recognize who God is. A realization that He is the all knowing, all powerful, always present, indescribable God allows us to know with certainty that we can really talk to Him and that He will answer us in real and personal ways. We need to praise and thank Him. We need to worship Him. We need to be wholeheartedly committed to Him. We need to be willing to pray about everything that burdens our heart. Everything.






Imagine individual believers truly committed to Him in honest, open conversation with Him. Imagine bodies of believers who join together in worship and in true prayer for all areas of need. What miracles can our indescribable God do with that kind of commitment to Him and each other?






Think about it. Pray about it. Hope for it. Pray for it. Do it. And I will do the same.