From the Pastor - Lord, Teach Us to Pray

"Teach me to pray!” The disciples just about begged Jesus, and over two thousand years later, we still beg the Lord the same. We want so much to communicate with the Lord, to hear his voice and speak our needs; to know that we are heard and will be answered. And yet there is so much we still wonder about, since most of us have at least a small amount of difficulty trusting that God will indeed respond to our meager pleas.

Jesus himself outlined the true way to pray in giving us the Lord's Prayer as a model for calling upon our Heavenly Father. The first words we speak are words that honor his place so far above us; all-powerful, holy, the one in who we are to entrust all we are. Before our needs are expressed we are to acknowledge the dependency we have on God everyday, and the past blessings that have been granted us throughout our lives. It is in gratitude that we present ourselves, and from which we will be answered. As mentioned in last week's column, prayer that begins with gratitude and trust will truly be heard. Once humbled before our all-loving and blessing God, we can then present our needs.

For what, then, will we ask? Certainly the goal to all prayer is that we are truly self-less in our motivation and intent. Too often our prayer, though thinly disguised, has more of a selfish nature. Instead of praying for the Lord's will to be done in our lives, we set the parameters in which we want God to act. We may pray for someone we love - for healing or deliverance, guidance or freedom from some evil or disease - but part of our prayer may be so that we may not have to feel so out of control, or deal with suffering that is beyond us. Perhaps our prayer is not answered the way we want it to be, since we prayed not for understanding and the ability to see as God sees, but tell God what he is to do for us.

Whatever we ask for in our prayer, we must always wait on the Lord for his answer. True prayer always involves some semblance of silence and listening to the Lord. We always need to just shut off our own voice and try to find the Lord's in our heart and soul. Quite frankly, there are not many of us that can do this well. The world in which we live is so fast paced and frequently disjointed and our tendency is to fill every waking moment with noise and activity. We believe, wrongly, that silence and waiting for the Lord to speak to us is like wasting time. In essence, when we find true balance between speaking to and listening for the Lord, we have accomplished a great work. How can we think that we will find a new direction to our lives, or to see the way through the problems we face, if we do not take the time to ponder and analyze our next step? And how can we expect to know when and how God answers our prayer if we are not taking the time to step back from all that is happening around us, and look in every direction possible?

The Lord will always answer our prayer, just not always in the way we would like. He will not give to us something that he knows is not going to be in our best interest, nor will he grant us anything that will not help us in achieving the fulfillment of salvation. He will answer us through friends that challenge us, or doctors that direct us in ways to find healing. His answer may bring us to face the most difficult issues of our lives, and will help us to place our trust in him, allowing him to walk beside us and carry us when necessary. God will place in our hearts and minds the knowledge of truth, and offer to us the opportunity to see our lives in terms of eternity, and not just for today.

Prayer takes much time, patience, energy and practice. Daily discipline and constant attention to our prayer is a must if we ever hope to gain in our relationship with the Lord. To relegate our prayer to our asking for things only when we need them, is like trying to maintain a loving relationship through only expressing our wants and desires and not giving the other person the same courtesy. It will not last long. The good news is that no matter what we have called prayer in our lives up til now, can be the foundation for all that prayer can become. It is never too late to move forward to finding balance.