Some Thoughts on Prayer
August 1, 2010
A priest, a minister and a guru sat discussing the best positions for prayer, while a telephone repairman worked nearby. “Kneeling is definitely the best way to pray,” the priest said. “No,” said the minister. “I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to Heaven.” “You’re both wrong,” the guru said. “The most effective prayer position is lying down on the floor.” The repairman could contain himself no longer. “Hey, fellas,” he interrupted. “The best prayin’ I ever did was when I was hangin’ upside down from a telephone pole.”
I want to share some thoughts on prayer with you today. And as I do, I want you to think about this statement. Prayer is not getting ready to live the Christian life. Prayer is living the Christian Life. Talking to God should be natural for believers. It is not about the words you use. It is sharing your heart. It should be easy. We make it more complicated than it has to be. Kids know how to keep it simple. One class of young children was given the assignment to write letters to God. Look at how easily they are able to talk to Him about any and everything.
Dear God …
- Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones why don’t you just keep the ones you got now?
- I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church. Is that ok?
- In bible times did they really talk that fancy?
- We read Thomas Edison made light but in Sunday School they said you did it. So I bet he stoled your idea.
- I bet it is very hard for you to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it.
- Please send Dennis Clark to a different camp this year.
- I think about you sometimes even when I’m not praying.
When do we lose that ability to talk to God so freely? Prayer is not getting ready to live the Christian life. Prayer is living the Christian Life
An email I received told the story of a pastor who had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and was afraid to come down. He tried to coax it, offer it food and milk, even shook the tree a little, but nothing worked. The cat wouldn’t come down. This pastor was not going to be outsmarted by a cat. The tree was too tall for him to reach up into it, but it was not sturdy enough for him to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and pulled it until the tree bent down, he could probably reach up and get the cat. So he attached the rope to the tree and his car and carefully pulled the tree down, all the while checking his progress. He needed to go just a little bit further, he figured, in order to be able to reach the cat. Suddenly and without warning the rope broke. The tree snapped back up and launched that cat through the air and out of sight. The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they had seen a kitten. No luck. So He prayed, “Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping” and went on about his business. A few days later, he saw one of his members in the grocery store. He noticed she had cat food in her basket, but he knew she was a cat hater, so he asked her about it. She said, “You won’t believe this. My daughter has been begging me for a cat, but I told her ‘no!’ She kept asking and begging and pleading, so finally I said, ‘Well, if God gives you a cat, I’ll let you keep it.’ I watched my little girl go in the back yard, get on her knees and ask God for a cat. And I wouldn’t believe this if I had not seen it with my own eyes. A kitten came flying out of the sky with its paws outstretched and landed in the yard right in front of her.”
Prayer is not getting ready to live the Christian life. Prayer is living the Christian Life
Sometimes our prayer is “God, I don’t understand why you did this – help me figure out what is going on and what I’m supposed to do.” Other times we pray, “I’m angry right now. This isn’t what I wanted, this isn’t what I expected.” You can go to God with any and everything. If you want examples, look at the Psalms and how David prayed to God in good times and bad, happy and sad. The important thing is to keep in contact with the one who is in control.
On a side note, did you ever notice that we spend more time praying to keep people out of heaven than we do praying to keep people out of hell? Think about all the prayers we offer for healing, asking that people would stay with us here on earth a while longer. I’m not saying this is bad or wrong. We can ask God for anything. But in a way, we are praying that God would keep them out of heaven. It seems like we pray for that a lot more than we ask God to use us to share His love and mercy and forgiveness with those who are on their way to hell. I just think we should spend more time including that in our prayers, too.
Prayer is not getting ready to live the Christian life. Prayer is living the Christian Life.
Prayer is not for God’s benefit, but for ours. It keeps us in constant contact with the one who loved us enough to come down to earth, be one of us, live among us, keep the law in our place, offer His life to pay for our sins, earning our forgiveness, life and salvation. Jesus did that for you, and He wants you to keep in touch with Him. He speaks to you in His Word. You speak to Him in prayer. That doesn’t mean all our problems and difficulties, our lack of understanding and our anger just go away. It means we have this confidence as we deal with our problems and difficulties and anger and lack of understanding.
The next three Sundays our theme is “Being With Jesus.” He is with us always. When you pray, you are reminded of that.
Prayer is not getting ready to live the Christian life. Prayer is living the Christian Life.
