As Simple as Prayer

Prayer is so fundamental and foundational for the Christian life.  Prayer is communication, it is deference and reverence, it is humility and praise, but most of all it is worshiping God who provides those who earnestly seek Him.  Prayer cannot be overemphasized for its value, and it is often relegated to the time between "Our Father" and "Amen".  This should not be the case, no not ever never; prayer is so much more!

Instead, prayer should be constant, the constant state of honoring God for who He is and what He has done while relying utter upon Him to provide for every one of our needs and desires.  In reality, the essence of prayer is aligning ourselves with the Holy Lord, not just aurally but in the deepest and most foundational parts of ourselves.

Prayer is like a conversation between a babbling infant and their parent.  The infant intuitively knows that the parent is in control while the parent merely wants to care for and help their child.  Prayer could also be described as a love letter from one partner to the other, or rather, like a letter from a sick child at camp to their loving parent back home.

Essentially prayer is about vulnerability before an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and holy God. It is this realization that dominates heartfelt and effective prayer.  When we remember who we are praying to, the what of the prayer becomes secondary and will reflect the prayer's receiver, i.e. God.  Therefore, prayer needs not be rehearsed or refined or liturgical; it only needs to be sincere and humble reverence to a Holy God.

Although much could be said about format and the like, it will suffice to say that the heart determines both prayer's validity and its efficacy.  Simply put, when we pray, two basic postures must be present: (1) the praise of God as the Holy Lord Almighty, and (2) faith that He will provide.  It should also be stated that thankfulness is a relevant aspect of prayer.  The point is that prayer should be more like breathing than talking on a phone, and less like conversing than blinking.  Let us then pursue a fervent and ever-greater life of prayer!