The Church in its many denominations and sects has gone astray from the most important aspect of the Christian walk, Prayer. Studying the Scriptures is vital to a sound mind and sound doctrine, but prayer is active and powerful. It is in prayer we commune, connect, communicate, and can touch the presence of God. Prayer can change the position of our hearts, and it can change the predicaments of our life. If we do not pray, everything is in our own strength, but if we pray we include The Prince of Peace and the Power of the Spirit to enter our situations. Prayer is a fundamental and essential part of our path as followers of Christ, and yet in the United States in particular, prayer is often an after thought. The emphasis is often on the sermon, a teaching, a book for book club, or Bible Study (all of which are good), but prayer is intimacy and connectivity to Christ. If we do not pray, how can we expect the rays of God's mercy, might, and magnificence to rain down in our lives?
Jesus Christ taught us to prayer, "Our Father, who are in heaven, hollowed (honored) be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our transgressions (trespasses, sins, bad deeds) as we forgive those who transgress against us, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the power, the kingdom, and glory forever and ever, Amen." (Matthew 6:9-13). Contained in Our Father's Prayer is blueprint: worship God with your heart (hollowed), ask for God's kingdom to come (come quickly Jesus Revelation), seek God's will instead of your own for the day, ask for provision from God (daily bread), repent and seek forgiveness (trespasses), ask the Lord to help you avoid or withstand temptations (lead us not into temptations), ask for supernatural protection from the devil (Evil One) and his ways. Finally, recognize God is one with strength and power to make it happen, that his kingdom is to be sought (Matt 5:33), and always glorify the Lord in your heart, actions, and deeds.
Beyond the Our Father blueprint is communal or connective prayer. This kind of prayer is when a Christian seeks to be close to Lord, to as David cried, "One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." (Psalm 27:4). We have ultimate access to God's holy of holies because God lives in us (1 Corinthians 3:16). We are now the temples of the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:19) and so at any second or moment of the day we can connect with Christ in quiet prayer or spoken prayer or while we do chores. But the connective prayer tends to be in a prayer closet, in a quiet time, or in a place where it is tranquil so that you can concentrate on the Lord without confusion, chaos, and concerns of this life. There in stillness, God speaks and even touches your heart with His Spirit. It is this communal or communing with Christ prayer that you go beyond requests, petitions, and questions, though you may ask them anyway, this time tends to be more about God and your relationship, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind," and about others, "love your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27).
Archpriest Moses of the Orthodox Church said, "Prayer should ever be flowing from us, it should be constantly in our hearts, as we do tasks, and more, until eventually we cannot tell the difference between prayer and breathing." Fr. Moses is speaking of " Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you," (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) which to many sounds impossible, but if we understand prayer as communication with God, then we understand that we pray always because God lives in us () and so we can pray when we don't think we are, pray in our heads, pray in our hearts, and pray under our breath.
Jesus Christ said when in Temple, confronting the religious elites, "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it 'a den of robbers.'"(Matthew 21:12). The Church is suppose to be a house of Prayer, not a place that collects money in plates or that feeds the pontifications of a pastor. It is chiefly and mainly to be place where people in the faith can pray and connect to God together as the body, as the church! My mother has been taking about the importance of prayer for forty years and finally the Kendrick Brothers, creators of "War Room" and other famous Christian films have written a book that summarizes what my mother has said for some time:
- "Jesus prioritized prayer above almost everything else. The disciples saw Him continually praying in secret and walking with spiritual power publicly. That's likely why they summarized their seventeen thousand training requests of Him with these words, "Lord, teach us to pray." (Luke 11:1). He (Jesus) also prioritized it above almost everything else in the church. When He ran the money changers out of the temple, He proclaimed, "Is it not written , 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a Robber's Den." (Mark 11:17). With this one violent surprising motion, He distilled down the purpose of God's house and the meeting together of God's people to a central priority: believers getting together for prayer. He did not say, "my house shall be called a house of sermons," or a "house of evangelism," or a "house of fellowship." While those things are invaluable, and certainly have their place, prioritizing prayer means prioritizing God Himself. It means prioritizing the activity of God above the activity of man. As Jesus well knew, everything else that occupies the church's time, and energy will be lacking in power and blessing and the fragrance of God's presence if prayer is not kept first.
- Too often, however, we put the cart before the horse by making prayer an add=on. An afterthought. A bonus feature to what we 're already doing., placing our own work ahead of God's. But this puts us on the path to eventually becoming dead churches with lifeless worship, featuring well prepared but powerless sermons, delivered to lukewarm, distracted, members who live in sinful defeat and share superficial fellowship with one another. And this, very sadly, is the state of much of the church. It's not because we don't mean well,. We do. We work hard. We do our best. But that's part of the problem. God never intended for us to live out the Christian life or accomplish His work on the earth our own wisdom or strength. His plan has always been for us to rely on the Holy Spirit and live a life of obedience in prayer.
- If we were to press the pause button, repent, and move prayer to a place of priority in our families, schedules, and church lives, everything be ignited and impacted by it." (The Battle Plan for Prayer, Kendrick, pages 22-24).
Make prayer a pillar in your life. Do not be content to mumble a few words while rushing off to work or prayers by rot or repetition that Jesus says, "When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again." (Matthew 6:7, NLT). Remember prayer is not suppose to be some Genie request, but to connect with God the Father, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. It is as the Kendrick Brothers said in their book, "prioritizing prayer means prioritizing God Himself," and "As Jesus well knew, everything else that occupies the church's time, and energy will be lacking in power and blessing and the fragrance of God's presence if prayer is not kept first."
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