Prayer

What is prayer? How do you do it? How often should you do it? Is it really as powerful as people say? These are the questions I want to look at today. I would like to specify that I will be talking about Christian prayer. In case you want to know what kind of Christian I am, I believe in one God who created everything, who has no beginning and no end, who begot one son named Jesus Christ, who was fully God and fully human, who died on the cross to take away the sins of the world, who rose back to life after three days, and who is alive in heaven. Now, let’s talk about prayer.

What is prayer?

To me, prayer is communication with God. He sees our every movement and listens to our every thought and spoken word. When I say it like that it’s almost creepy. Haha! At the same time, it seems comforting, if you believe that God loves you in spite of your darkest thoughts and worst deeds. He could have blasted you from the face of the earth at any time for the things you’ve done you don’t want anyone to know about, but He chooses not to.

You might wonder, if God knows all that, then why should I talk to Him? Talking to God isn’t necessarily about letting Him know things. It’s about relationship. A movie I really like, Pacific Rim, is a great example: there are giant alien monsters attacking earth, and humans have giant monster-fighting robots that are piloted by two people simultaneously. To make sure the duo works well together, their minds are linked through the drift: each pilot knows everything about the other, past memories and current thoughts. One duo is a father and son who don’t get along outside the drift. When they reconcile, they apologize for not saying certain things, for not taking the time to nurture their relationship. It seemed to them there was no need to because they knew everything about the other, but in the end, they realized it didn’t matter. They still needed to talk.

Another reason prayer is good is because it helps you put your own thoughts and feelings into words. Studies in psychology have shown that writing out your thoughts, fears, joys, trauma, and triumphs helps you deal with them. It helps you release tensions or understand things in a different more healthy way. The same can be said when praying. But the most beautiful thing about communication with God is that He understands the groaning of your heart when you can’t speak (read the story of Hannah in I Samuel 1 to see what I mean. It’s my favorite story Bible story).

How do you do it?

I don’t believe there is really a right or wrong way to pray. There have been so many versions throughout the centuries across all cultures and religions, even in different Christian denominations. Personally, I believe there are two important ways to pray: Chat (yes, you read that right, chat, not chant) and discourse.

I like to chat with God about little things here and there. This is informal, quick, and random. It may be about a little thing that I saw or heard or maybe just a “please help that person” kind of prayer. It’s sort of like quickly texting a friend. It’s simple, comforting, and acknowledging His presence. I don’t usually do chat prayer out loud. About 90% of them are in my head. I might consider my meal blessing a prayer chat, or my nightly and morning prayers as chat prayers. This just keeps me in contact with Him in a friendly way.

I engage in discourse when I am deeply troubled or know that I’m drifting and need to focus on God. This is the time I go into deep conversation with Him, when I spend time cultivating our relationship. This may or may not be formal, or both. For me, formal means praying scripture, saying precise things, or praying according to a rigid structure. I think of informal as rambling about whatever is on my mind, saying whatever is on my heart with no clear direction.

What separates discourse prayers from chat prayers is the former might be longer, said out loud, either in private or in a group, and are usually more serious. I block out all distractions and focus on talking with God like I would a friend, parent, or teacher, who I want to spend time with and glean knowledge or comfort from. And because God already knows everything, it’s easier to confess shortcomings to Him and ask for His help in the future.

When I practice discourse prayer, I will take the time to be silent before God. I try to block out my own thoughts and listen for anything He is trying to tell me. Sometimes I receive comfort, sometimes a solution to a problem from having talked through the situation will come to me. There have been a couple of special times in my life where I believe I got a direct reply from God; those moments were different. A new, random thought came to me whose origin could not be explained; a thought that I could never have come up with on my own, that was so different from my previous thoughts, it was incredible it came to me all. But even if none of the above happens, I still give Him space to speak, then I praise Him after.

How often should you do it?

Again, there is no right or wrong answer to this. My chat prayers happen nearly constantly, whereas my discourse prayers happen maybe once or twice a month. I can tell a difference in myself the more I pray. Like I said, prayer cultivates your relationship, much as talking to a spouse would. The more time you spend with God, the closer to Him you become.

Is it really as powerful as people say it is?

I believe the answer is yes. I’ve already mentioned receiving comfort after a prayer. That’s the bare minimum I’ve experienced in my life. When I was a child, my dad had a severe nosebleed while working a night shift. He’s familiar with nosebleeds and did all the usual things to stop it, but nothing worked. He called my mom, asking her to pick him up and take him to the hospital. My mom got us kids in the car and we were driving in the middle of the night to help him. My mom prayed hard for healing over his nose. When the last syllable of the prayer left her lips, my dad called her. The bleeding stopped.

When I was a teenager, I had a week of depression. It was a strange occurrence for me, who is usually so patient and happy. It was a rough time for my family, and I thought about death a lot. I wasn’t contemplating suicide (yet), but I would wonder things like, “What would happen if a snake jumped out of this bush and bit me and I died?” and similar things. I told my mom because it freaked me out that I was having these thoughts. She prayed with me. She prayed hard, as I’d never heard her pray before. I was instantly relieved of that spirit of depression. Those thoughts didn’t come to me again.

Of course, I’ve prayed for things that haven’t happened, such as healing for family who have chronic medical conditions they developed due to an accident. I’ve prayed for God to heal people of depression like He did me, and it hasn’t happened (yet). I’ve prayed for many things I don’t have, and I have to trust that God knows better.

It’s not easy. Sometimes I grow impatient and push for things that don’t turn out so well, or I grow angry with God for delaying on promises I believe are mine to enjoy. However, it’s prayer that always brings me back, helps me see my errors, and gives me peace in the waiting.

Prayer is simple. It is communication with the Creator of the universe. There is no limit to the number of prayers you can make. It is possibly the most powerful gift we humans have on earth. Don’t take it for granted. And if God ever says no to something, look for what He is saying yes to.

-Beth