Clothesline 258 "6 Prayer Guidelines"

Having been away on vacation for three weeks, it’s time to once again focus…and today’s focus couldn’t be more perfect: Prayer.

We all know the Gospel passage where the apostles ask Jesus how to pray. But what Jesus taught may be surprising to some. He didn’t teach about the position of your hand, or that you had to be kneeling. Human beings came up with all those ideas. But Jesus? He was more interested in your attitude, your motivation and the idea of conversation with God.

Here are a few guidelines that Jesus Himself could have said:

#1 – Whatever works for you is how you meet God. Isn’t that a relief? God doesn’t tell you how to pray; he lets you figure out your own comfort zone. Jesus modeled the idea of prayer: words, intention, connection. Conversation with the Almighty might sound unsettling, but He is our Father, and he wants intimacy.

#2 – Learn how to be intimate with your Father. Again, he’s your “dad,” and he wants openness and honesty between you, and both can only come with intimacy.

#3: Recognize with whom you are being intimate. God wants intimacy with you, but never lose sight of the fact that he is God. It’s a privilege to be as close to God as we can become; it’s not a right. Just as you would sit close to a parent and share your heart, you still recognize their position of authority and importance. That’s the kind of relationship Jesus taught his disciples to have with God.

#4: Invite God to interact with you. Even though the perfect kingdom is not of this world, God is with you, here and now. Don’t pray like an outsider, Jesus is saying, but pray as a member of the kingdom.

#5: Ask. Recognize what you need and “go for it.” If we don’t ask, we don’t receive. Simple as that! You know the old saying: “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Well, God wants us to be that squeaky wheel. Even though he already knows what we need, he wants that special connection. That doesn’t mean that our wants and God’s gifts always match, but it does mean that God has our best interests at heart.

#6: Be spontaneous. Say whatever is on your mind. God loves what comes from your heart as much as he loves what comes from our Book of Common Prayer. How we communicate with God isn’t the point—that we do it is the point. The only prayer God has trouble with is… the prayer you don’t pray.

So, does this make you want to stop what you’re doing and pray? I hope so! What a gift to know that we have a God who always has time for us, who waits to hear from us, and who wants to grant us those things that will make us better persons in Christ.