We love Him because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:12 

…and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6.

Question:

Trying to understand prayer creates questions;
How do I pray, to whom, for what and when?
Must I be on my knees closing my eyes?
Must all prayers end with Amen?
My pastor said to pray to the Holy Spirit, 
A priest, said it’s OK to pray to the saints
My Hindu friends said, “To whomever, you pray
Just make sure you pray to the East.”
I know I will pray to the one living God.
And it doesn’t matter which way I face.
My problem isn’t with whom where or when, 
My problem is what I should say.
But do any of these things matter to God?
Does He really care how we start?
I can’t help wondering why we pray at all
When God knows the truth of our hearts.

Answer:

We pray to give God the gift of our words.
And He doesn’t care how we start.
He wants to have a conversation with us
About that which He sees in our hearts.
Prayer doesn’t have to be so confusing
It shouldn’t be something we dread.
We can let confusion drive us away from prayer
Or allow it to open our hearts instead.
Yes God knows what’s in our hearts
And He knows both our minds and our souls.
He doesn’t really need us to pray at all.
But we need prayer to keep ourselves whole.
Linda Troxell © 08/21/2021

Why do we Need to Pray?

Why do we need to pray if God already knows our heart and what we are going to say?

It’s a good and reasonable question. All of us have, at some time, struggled with what to say to God in our prayers. We hear others pray, in the pulpit, or in a small group, or even saying grace, and they sound so eloquent, so sure of every word. Those are the times we might think our prayers are inadequate and decide not to pray at all, because “God knows our heart anyway”. 

But prayer is not about saying pretty words. Prayer is about creating and maintaining a relationship with God. It is not a monologue it is a conversation. Because relationships require at least two people. If only one of them speaks, well that’s not much of a relationship. Our relationship with our Father in heaven is unlike any other relationship we have. Still, it has similarities with all relationships. 

For instance, in any relationship, it takes time to get to know one another. It takes time to become comfortable speaking to someone new and to become comfortable in their presence. At first, we might not really get each other. But some epic relationships have been known to start that way. Because relationships evolve over time. 

Think of prayer as an ordinary conversation. In the beginning, when we are getting to know each other, the first few conversations probably won’t be super easy. In any new friendship we can expect to struggle with what to say the first few times. But should we, then, try to impress our potential friend with formal or flowery language? Probably not. Yet, that’s what we do when talking to God?

When we need to have a conversation in our business or professional life and we are struggling with what to say, we might begin by considering the purpose of the conversation. Why is that important? Well, if its purpose is to propose marriage, we will need to say something quite different than if its purpose is to end a relationship. What we say in any conversation is largely purpose-driven. 

It is the same with prayer. If we want to know what to say in prayer, we first need to understand the purpose of the prayer. Yes, words are needed to pray, but ultimately, prayer is not so much about the words we choose, as it is about what we communicate with those words. Because the words we choose and the way we use them will reflect what’s in our hearts. 

Will the first words we choose in our prayer tell God what we need? And the next ask Him for help? Or will we use our words to first glorify Him and then bow to His sovereignty? When we take stock of our prayer words, will they be words of supplication or words of glorification? 

Whenever we approach prayer we must know the overarching purpose of all prayer as well as the purpose for that particular prayer. The overall purpose of prayer, contrary to what some might think, is not to petition God and ask for things, or favor, or blessings. The overarching purpose of prayer is to worship and glorify our perfect God who loved us first. We love Him because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

God did not create the act of prayer for Himself, He created it for us. What? How can prayer be for us if its purpose is to worship and glorify Him? It can be because God designed it that way. And He designed it that way for us. It sounds like a contradiction, but let me explain.

The Bible tells us that God put eternity in our hearts. He gave mankind a deep knowledge of something more than we can see; something bigger than ourselves. God created us with a need to worship. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:12 

The need to worship is part of being human. according to research, all known societies have included some form of worship. When we fulfill that need by praying and worshiping God with sincere words of praise and glorification, we draw closer to Him. 

The closer we feel to God, the safer we feel in the world. With the feeling of safety, we can attain His peace that surpasses all understanding“.  …and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6. God knew we would need to worship Him so He created prayer as the means.

Now, certainly, once we have served the overarching purpose of prayer, we can use prayer in other ways. After we’ve worshiped and glorified God, we can use prayer for confessing, and repenting of our sin. If worshiping God is the most important reason for prayer, then confessing and repenting are next in importance.

It is confessing and repenting that keeps our conduit to God open. When we have unconfessed and unrepented sin, it limits our ability to communicate with God. Think of it like an antenna that needs adjusting. Or to bring it into the 21st century, imagine it as a live stream constantly refreshing.

However you imagine it, imagine it as an obstruction to our connection to God, making the communication unclear. When an obstruction becomes too large, it results in a disconnection. This happens because unrepentant sin brings us feelings of guilt and shame. And that makes us pull away from God.

When we have a backlog of unrepentant sin we don’t feel very good about ourselves. Quite naturally we project those feelings onto God so we can tell ourselves God is mad at us. That allows us to keep pulling away without taking responsibility. Pretty clever, huh? 

Not really. Wouldn’t it be even more clever to go to God, confess, repent, and resume our relationship with a clear connection? But fear keeps us from doing that. It is everyone’s worst fear that God will reject them, that maybe this will be the time He won’t forgive.

Well, let me tell you something, something I know you have heard multiple times before. God has been forgiving sin for over 4,000 years. And surely we can’t have done anything He hasn’t seen before. So why would our sin be the one He chooses not to forgive? Don’t you know that we cannot be separated from the love of God?

Maybe you are hesitant to take my word for that. I mean I have no authority. I’m only an ordinary follower of Christ who enjoys sharing her thoughts, nothing more. So, let me make you more comfortable by hearing it from someone more important, someone of high authority. How about the Apostle Paul? He knows a thing or two, right?

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

We both know the ideas I’ve written about are not original. Just as you are reading them here, I read or heard them someplace else. You’ve probably heard them multiple times. I know I did before I actually went from knowing to using. And even now I don’t always remember right away.

Maybe you will use this information now maybe later, and maybe not at all. But believe me When I did start keeping this information in mind and using it, albeit not perfectly, my relationship with God grew and became closer. 

When I remember that prayer is first and always about praising and glorifying our heavenly Father, my life feels easier. And whenever I can remember that God does not reject, He always forgives, and nothing can separate us from His love, I have a lot less anxiety. I hope this information blesses you in some way.

Heavenly Father,
So many of us struggle with prayer, but Lord, that isn’t because we don’t love you or want to talk to you. It is more about not being comfortable about what to say in prayer. It’s hard to hold onto the idea that you don’t care how we say things, you just want to have a relationship with us. I’ve heard some say, Lord, for them it’s feeling uncomfortable talking to an empty room. Lord, please help them to understand that the room is not empty when we are praying to you. Your are right there with us, listening to every word. Lord, help those of us who have difficulty feeling your presence to understand that you are there whenever and wherever we pray. Please Lord help us to engage in prayer more often so that we will begin to feel more comfortable. You created this thing called prayer to allow us to worship you and have a relationship with you. But it seems somewhere along the line, comparison of prayers began. Naturally some of us felt inept and stopped praying. Lord, please help your people to stop comparing and start supporting one another in learning to find joy, and celebration, and You in all of our prayers.
We pray this in the holy name of Jesus, Amen 

Points for Pondering Or for Prayer

Or

Perhaps For Putting Pen to Paper

Have you struggled with what to say in your prays? How about when you are asked to pray out loud in a group? Write a bit about your experience.

Have you ever decided not to pray at all because you didn’t know what to say?   

What do you think about approaching prayer as a conversation with God needing no special language? Write a few sentences about that.

What are your thoughts about prayer being first and foremost to praise and worship God?   Write something about your thoughts. 

Have you ever had unrepented sin for an extended amount of time?

Did it impact your relationship with God? If so, how? Write a paragraph about that.

Have you ever thought God was mad at you?    Have you ever thought He wouldn’t forgive you?  Write something about that.