Prayer...it's a conversation

When I have to listen through a long prayer that includes quotes from Scripture and sounds like the person is trying to win an Oscar for the best dramatic performance in church, I want to scream.  Especially when I look at them and see that they are actually reading a script!

What are we teaching our children with these kinds of prayers?  I worry that we are teaching them that praying is a complicated task reserved for those who have memorized the Bible and either got an "A" in Speech class or went to state in Forensics...or both.  This is NOT how Jesus taught us to pray.  In fact, the Bible often says that Jesus prayed alone where nobody could hear.  On the occasions when Jesus did pray publicly, he prayed humbly—asking for the ability to accept God’s will, thanking Him for food and blessings, and asking for strength and faith for His followers.

Jesus provided us with an example to show us how repentant believers should pray.

Matthew 6:5-14

First, He gives us some instructions.

• Do not be like the hypocrites who love to pray in churches and on the street so people will see them.
• Go into your room, close the door, and pray to Your Father, who is unseen. 
• Do not keep “babbling like pagans”.  They think they will be heard because of their many words.  God knows what you need before you even ask him. 

This, then, is how you should pray:

Our Father in heaven,

            What is Jesus telling us?  Pray to God the Father.

Hallowed be your name,

            What is Jesus telling us?  Praise God...He is holy.

Your kingdom come,

            What is Jesus telling us?  Acknowledge that the current struggles in our time on earth will be dwarfed by an eternity in which God reigns in His kingdom. 

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What is Jesus telling us?  Understand that things happen according to God’s will.

Give us today our daily bread.

            What is Jesus telling us?  Ask that our needs be met.

Forgive us our debts,

            What is Jesus telling us?  Ask that our sins be forgiven.

As we also have forgiven our debtors.

            What is Jesus telling us?  Forgive people who sin against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

            What is Jesus telling us?  Ask for help in avoiding tempting situations.

But deliver us from the evil.

            What is Jesus telling us?  Ask to be given the strength to resist the temptations that we must face.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and glory forever.

            What is Jesus telling us?  Acknowledge that God is in charge…always has been and always will be.

Amen.

            What is Jesus telling us?  Translated as—so be it.  Accept that God’s will is not always in alignment with ours…but He knows best and you should trust Him.
           

God is your Father.  He wants you to have a relationship with Him.  He wants you to talk to Him.  Nothing you say is going to surprise Him.  There is not a trick to it.  No secret strategies exist.  You don’t have to kneel, bow your head, close your eyes, or fold your hands.  And for goodness sake…you don’t need to quote His own words to Him.

Learn.  Believe.  Repent.  Pray.  Repeat.

It’s just a conversation.

The Tattoo

I’m a people-watcher.

It has always been interesting to me to note how people choose to look and behave in public. Oh, don’t get me wrong…it isn’t because I think I always look presentable or behave accordingly. Ha! Rather, I find it interesting to ponder the events that led up the specific moment in time that they happen to cross my line of sight.

And what better place is there to people-watch than the water park?

Actually, I don’t even realize that I’m taking in the details of other people until something grabs my attention. The tattoo did.

He was fairly young…well, younger than me anyway, with a slender build and short hair. He happened to be right in front of me playing with his children and I noticed that he had many tattoos. Tattoos, in themselves, often draw my eye. It always intrigues me to note what types of things people choose to permanently display on their bodies. A couple of words just jumped out at me. Did that say something about “save me?” Huh? So I watched until I could see the whole phrase.

Written across his upper chest right below his collar bone in upper-case old-English text was printed: SAVE ME FROM MYSELF.

It stayed with me the rest of the evening…and the next day…until this morning when I finally decided to put down my thoughts.

Throughout my life, I’ve made choices that have created my path in the world. No, things didn’t just happen to me. Life isn’t about luck or misfortune. Don’t get me wrong, I realize that we all enter the world with immediate advantages and disadvantages, but we all are also given the free-will to respond to these circumstances and the ability to make the decisions that dictate the course of our lives. We all have burdens that we bear—even those who keep them well-hidden. It’s not WHAT we bear, but HOW we bear it that really defines us.

The fact of the matter is…we are all sinners. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a hypocrite is a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings. Think about it. By definition, if you are a Christian you are a hypocrite. I am a hypocrite. I love God. God hates sin. I know it is wrong to sin. I speak out against sin. And yet, I sin. I am a hypocrite. I don’t want to be. I try not to be. But I am.

It cracks me up that we put so much stock into the “scientific discoveries” of man. How many of these are later proven wrong, even laughable, by future generations? Yes, we have developed some pretty cool technology—but could we develop a self-sustaining eco-system? What about a human eye? Hmmm…not even just one strand of brilliant DNA? Ha! And yet sometimes I choose to ignore God because I think I have it all figured out.

There are times I pray for comfort when I’m mourning loss, healing when I’m sick, help for others when I see them hurting, and of course thanks for my blessings. But most of my prayers can be summed up in the words of a young father’s tattoo:

Lord God, save me from myself.