prayer

"the idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from god; prayer is perfect and complete oneness with god"- oswald chambers

prayer so often becomes a duty instead of a pleasure, a discipline instead of a joy. why is it that it seems so difficult sometimes to pray? why do we struggle to find words, do not know what to pray about, or keep looking at the clock to see when we have prayed enough? why does there seem to be more pressure and expectation at prayer meetings to pray well, to be deep and spiritual, to be fluent?

there appears to be so many expectations on prayer, on being effective in prayer and reaching the throne of god. prayer has become a skill, a talent, something to be practiced and mastered. there are so many things to consider now when praying: the form, content, and delivery.

somehow i don't think that this is what god has in mind when he asks us to pray. it is simple communion with god, pouring out whatever is on our hearts and listening for what's on his. our hearts can express worship, thanksgiving, petition, confession, or intercession- in the end all the matters is we're talking to god. in doing this, there are inherent principles of trust in god, earnestness, purpose, faith...but the important issue is to be able to come to our heavenly father without having to analyse how we're praying, to come to the throne without fear but boldly. for me, romans 8:26 highlights the simplicity of prayer to the point of it just being groans; "in the same way, the spirit helps us in our weakness. we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." 

let us come to the father in the knowledge that he loves us and wants to spend time with us, for this is the joy of prayer.

scc student devotional reading; sunday 26th november...with chiristian spirituality and rachel hermans