What I Really Think About Prayer

I believe in prayer, but not all prayer. There is quite a lot that I don’t believe about prayer. I don’t believe in prayer used as a magic incantation to get God to do what we want Him to do… what we’re sure He should do and no doubt wants to do, if only we’d say the right words the right way. I don’t believe if we pray long enough or loud enough God has to give us what we want. I don’t believe that if we just get enough people to pray the same prayer with us… you know, convince them that what we want is what they should want too… then God has to grant our wish. Some seem to think God’s keeping score of how many people are praying for the same thing. I just can’t see God saying something like: “Are you seeing this Peter? They’ve got 45,000 people praying for rain. Another 5,000 and I’m just going to have to make it rain.” I don’t believe in prayer reduced to a “Santa Claus list”. But sometimes I go through the motions of adoration, confession, and thanksgiving just to get to my supplication list (the more spiritual term for Santa Claus list).

That reminds me of something else I don’t believe about prayer. I don’t believe the little formulas (like "ACTS" - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) that are supposed to help us organize our prayer life are all that helpful. I can’t imagine insisting my wife follow a certain formula before I’d be willing to engage in meaningful conversation. “Before we talk about your difficult day at work sweetheart, I need you to tell me you love me, and list 3 of my attributes you respect.”

Sometimes prayer feels like I’m talking to myself. It annoys me when my wife catches me actually talking to myself out loud. I won’t even realize I’m verbalizing my thoughts in a barely audible whisper and she’ll say with a sly little smile, “Who are you talking to?”

When my prayers are more about me thinking about me I wonder if God ever feels like saying, “Who are you talking to?”
Me: “Uhhhh I thought I was talking to you.”
God: “I don’t think so.”
Me: “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll go back to journaling.”

Keeping a prayer journal has helped me in my prayer life more than any other discipline. It keeps me on track, focused. My own formula (I know, I said I don’t believe formulas are all that helpful) is to write a verse or even one line of a Scripture text at the top of the page. Then I’ll write a paragraph, or a page, or two or more about the verse or line that connected with me or spoke to me. I never know how the prayer will start. It feels like giving God the first word before I get to my list. It works for me most of the time. Even journaling has limitations. Sometimes ten minutes is all I’ve got. I don’t mean I’m too busy to pray longer, I mean in ten minutes I’ve covered all I need to talk about with God. I know that’s ridiculous, but some days that’s all the spirituality I can muster. Other days I can write in my prayer journal for an hour or more. Some days it feels like God is quietly whispering to me. Other days it feels like I’m just getting the obligatory prayer time out of the way... or I'm talking to myself. But I like writing, so journaling is good for me.

What if you don’t like to write? I came across an interesting website that offers a new way to pray. http://prayingincolor.com/ is based on the book by Sybil MacBeth. The premise is to doodle while you pray. From the website: “When multiple friends and family members received ugly and scary diagnoses, Sybil MacBeth found herself exhausted by the words of her prayers and stymied by a lack of focus. One summer day, she retreated to her back porch for a session of mindless doodling with a basket of her favorite colored markers. She drew a shape, put the name of a friend inside, and added lines and color. She drew another shape with another name and added detail and color. When the page was covered with designs and names, Sybil realized she had prayed. The action of drawing was a wordless offering of friends and family into the care of God. The page of drawings became a visual reminder to pray. This was the beginning of Praying in Color.”

If journaling isn’t for you, perhaps you could try doodle-prayer.

My favorite statement about prayer outside the Bible was made by Eugene Peterson in his little book, The Wisdom of Each Other. Peterson says, “The single most important thing to know about prayer is that Jesus prays, is praying right now, and for you… My life of prayer is not primarily a matter of what I do or don’t do, but of what Jesus does… is doing, ‘at the right hand of God the Father.’”

That’s prayer I believe in.

I’ve got more thoughts about prayer to come. Check back in a few days.