Let Us Pray!

I was pondering prayer because it is something I am working on with the kids in my class at church. It hit me that we have prayer snobs and they are a danger. Oh yes, as in the day of the Pharisees making a point of praying on the street corners for all to witness, we have prayer snobs that think they are just better 'pray-ers' than others. You can buy books on "how-to" pray, just as easily as "how-to" unclog a toilet. Here's the deal as I see it, if prayer is a systematic methodology one practices, making sure to say all the 'right' things, they might as well be dealing with the clogged toilet. Prayer is personal, communication through relationship man/woman to the Lord, spirit-to-spirit, heart to heart….not a 1-2-3 guideline to follow. It has nothing to do with the size of your spiritual vocabulary, nor the volume of your voice, nor the poetic flow of words…..

Prayer has to mean something or it means nothing. If it is a litany of formulated words, it can be robotic and mechanical. People can and have been intimidated to pray, especially aloud, because they think they are not as good "pray-ers" as the next guy. How sad is that?

When my Honey and I met, he thought my way of praying could be more effective if I prayed more like the women in the prayer group of his church at the time. He was used to extremely adamant women that prayed with intensity at a great volume and stomped their foot. Me, I'm not so loud. I explained that my God was not hard of hearing and did not require volume to know I was sincere. He was used to what he knew; I was used to what I knew. Judgments come when we think our way is the only way. Prayer snobs are birthed on a bed of judgments.

Praying for and with others is scriptural and vital. When our pastor invites people to come up to the altar to pray on their own or with an elder, it seems curious and doubtful that out of the full sanctuary, no one needs to pray. Really? Pfsst! Of course, there are people that need to pray. So why won't they come to the front?

Some do not consider their needs worthy of bothering God (I've been guilty of that in the past), some are embarrassed by their need and don't want anyone at the church to know their issues (Guilty again). Some are too timid, some too ashamed (me again), some feel like they already covered it, so no need to have someone pray with them (I've been guilty of that, too). There is a host of excuses…er, reasons people give themselves for not praying with the brethren of the church. I can sum it up in five words; it's a matter of trust.

This brings us full circle to the relationship aspect of prayer. We need a personal relationship with the Lord in order to trust Him. Everyone says they trust Him but giving an issue over to God and walking away in complete confidence that He will handle without picking it up as you leave the foot of the cross is harder than it sounds. We trust Him, yet we 'help' Him deal with our issues. He doesn't need our help; we are, after all, the ones on our knees in need are we not?

We need a personal relationship with someone we know we can trust before we lay our naked souls out before them. There are 'generic' prayer needs (for lack of a better term) we share with everyone. Pray that I get a job, pray that I receive healing for this cold, etc. You know those, we all have them. THOSE we will share. Then there are the prayers we take to a smaller group, the people we feel comfortable around enough to show them more of our lives and ourselves. Pray for my wayward child on drugs, etc.

The 'inner circle' prayer partners are the only ones we take our deepest fears, sins, and needs to. That circle is a small group indeed. Some people do not have an inner circle of trust, so they sit in the sanctuary week after week in need but never going to the altar or to a prayer partner. Worse yet, out in the world, without a prayer lifeline. This is the saddest situation of all. Maybe they have that close relationship with the Lord and do not feel they need anyone else to pray with them. Isn't that another form of prayer snob? I don't need anyone to pray with me…Didn't Jesus tell us to pray with one another. I'm thinking He knew what He was talking about; do we know more than Jesus?