What is prayer to
me? Three words come to mind when I
think about prayer; relationship, communion, and communication. It’s about being in a relationship with God,
the creator of all things; it’s about spending time simply being in one another’s
presence, communing with one another by sharing time and space; it’s about
talking and listening to one another on a heart to heart level. For me it is intimate and private. It seems to be more a part of who I am than
something that I do. “Make my life a
simple prayer unto you, O Lord; take my life it is yours.”
In Luke’s Gospel
Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them to pray. Jesus gave them a pattern to follow. After that there is a teaching about the
importance of asking, seeking, and knocking.
Jesus assures them that if they ask they will receive. This is a description of what is called
intercessory prayer; asking for what is needed and receiving what is needed
from a loving and generous Father God.
In Matthew’s
Gospel this pattern of prayer is a part of the Sermon on the Mount and it comes
as part of an admonition to “Beware of practicing your righteousness before
other people in order to be seen by them and not to be like the hypocrites”
(Matthew 6:1). They are to “go into your
room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret” (Matthew
6:6). Prayer isn’t about just asking for
your needs. It’s more about
acknowledging who God is, what God has on his heart, our daily simple need for
bread, and being right with one another.
David is
considered a man after God’s heart. (I Samuel 13:14) The psalms he wrote reveal
a man whose life was a simple prayer unto God.
He was in a relationship with God, communed with God, and communicated
with him at all times and about all things.
David lived in God’s Presence and he bore the fruit of that Presence,
fruit that was pleasing to God. I can
imagine David lying there on the slope of a hill while his sheep are happily
grazing. I can se him just looking up
into the heavens, watching the wind play with the clouds and the trees, just
communing with God in his spirit. Those
heavens declare the glory and majesty of God and that fills David’s mind and
soul. The clouds, the trees, the birds
are all the handiwork of God; all speak of the Creator, who he is and what he
does. David learns his lessons in the
silence that surrounds him. This is my
desire.