Funk & Wagnalls* definition of prayer is:
1. A devout request or petition to a deity.
2. The act of praying, especially to God.
3. A set form of words used for a devout request, petition, etc.
4. Spiritual and wordless communion with God.
5. A religious service.
6. Something prayed for.
7. Any earnest request.
There are teachings on how to pray, where to pray, to whom to pray, how loud to pray… There are prayers by Jabez, Jesus, Paul, Moses, Joshua… There are an unending number of subjects prayed about…protection, provision, healing, casting out spirits, salvation… But when you get right down to the basics…right down to what God wants from us…the concept (combination of all the above) of prayer is…talking to God.
God wants to establish a relationship with us so much that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for that final sacrifice. Yes, He knew that He would see Jesus, again, but still he had to watch as His son was ridiculed, beaten, crowned with thorns, had spikes driven into His hands and feet, a spear thrust in His side, blood flowing and worse, but worst of all… for us, God turned away as the sin of the world was paid for, probably ripping His heart right out as His son felt the abandonment. But, He had made a way for us to stand in His presence where He could actually look upon us free of sin. (Thank you Jesus!)
God has constantly made ways for us to come to Him, as with the Israelites. He wooed them, won them over, and like us, they rebelled time and time again. He would lead them back and they would fall away. We get caught up in details of the stories. We learn from them, but all the different lessons to be learned can complicate them.
How many of the stories in the Bible could have been simplified if the people had prayed to God and waited on His answer, trusting Him to answer? How differently their lives would have been. How much more simple. We see that in the stories. The way they ended up followed how they communicated with God and then obeyed Him or not.
We know that we are to obey God when he speaks to us through His written Word, that still small voice, other people, circumstances… We have been taught this for years. How different our lives would be if we talked to God about everything… then listened for His answer. The concept runs throughout the Holy Bible.
Prayer brings about a move of God, large and small; healing of cancer or a splinter; comfort for the loss of a loved one or a bad day; mercy; salvation for a child or the dying; forgiveness for gossiping or shooting someone; love when contemplating suicide or are just needing to know he is there; reconciliation just because we ask; repentance; victory; protection from an accident or a dog bite; open doors or closed ones; straight paths and on and on and on…
He’s waiting on you… listening for your voice to call on Him, to praise Him, to worship Him… waiting on your choice of loving Him, of coming back to Him. He’s waiting to hear from you so He can pour out His blessings on you, to heal those you ask, to comfort those who need Him, to answer your petitions… He’s waiting with great expectation to hear your praises pour out to Him. He wants to hear your voice even more than you need to hear His. God loves us with that agape (all encompassing, unconditional) kind of love. He made a way for us to come to Him.
So, lift up your hands in praise, kneel to honor Him, bow your head in humility, clasp your hands together, prostrate yourself on the floor, or just look up to heaven; talk to Him from your prayer closet, your car, the shower, a chapel, silently or out loud; in groups or individually; always from your heart, no matter what it sounds like… in whatever circumstances you are in at any given time… and PRAY! He’ll hear you. It’s that simple.
*Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedic Dictionary; J. G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago-1974; p.518
Originally published in my "From My Heart" column in the Christian Missions Newsletter, May 2008
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