I've been thinking a lot lately about some of the things that make it difficult for some of us to find the consistency in our communication with God that we really want. There are lots of different things I suspect provide that kind of roadblock for many of us and hopefully we will have some opportunities to discuss several of them during this time. However, I am frustratingly aware of one concern that I often allow to hinder my prayers: I'm not sure what to say. It isn't that I don't have anything to say, there are tons of things that need I need to share with the Father. There are so many things I need to say thanks for, confess, plead with God about, acknowledge, praise, question, express, etc. The truth is, I don't know where to begin. What if there is more to say than I have time? What if I don't bring up the most important stuff first? What if I can't figure out the best way to say what's on my heart? What if I've been neglecting my prayers lately and it feels a little awkward? What if God was paying attention to the way I behaved yesterday? What if God doesn't want to hear from me right now unless I can properly apologize for and sincerely repent for that mistake?
For some of you, those may seem like silly thoughts. For many of us, they're very real and can be rather paralyzing when it comes to prayer. One of the books I've been reading lately led me to consider again the story of the Prodigal in Luke 15. In that story, when they are finally reunited the Father embraces his child and celebrates his homecoming. Despite all the mistakes, all the sin that son had dirtied his own life with the Father runs to his son, throws his arms around him and kisses him. Whatever we've done, wherever we've been the Father is longing to hear from us and embrace. This is the entire story of the Bible: God loves us and pursues a relationship with us, even though we are unworthy and awfully prone to messing up our relationships. As it relates to prayer, this story is rather helpful as well when we consider the son's words to his Father. The whole way home the son was scripting, refining and rehearsing exactly what he would need to say to the Father. Yet by the time they are finally face to face, the exact words seem to be irrelevant. The Father embraces his son before he can even begin his prepared remarks, and once the son finally gets the words out it seems the Father doesn't almost ignores the specifics of the son's speech. He's just glad his son has come home. All he wanted, was for his child to come back home and back into his Father's presence. So it is with prayer. We can certainly grow in our prayer and improve our ability to speak honestly and powerfully with God. But more than anything, God just wants to hear from us. He wants us to turn to him and open up our lives with him, pour out our hearts before him. He's just a Father who wants his children to love him enough to spend time with him and share their lives with him. Prayer is one of our greatest avenues for doing this.
I hope you've taken some time to visit with the Father today. If you did, regardless of the exact words you used, I'm sure that God was glad to hear from you.
Be in prayer continually. Pray for one another.
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