The Process of Prayer
Growing up in the church, I have been taught much on when to pray, what to pray, and how to pray. Tradition has taught me what word choices, what tone of voice, and what style of delivery God must prefer. I have seen such tradition make prayer seem inaccessible to those not well-versed in our churchy lingo and rhetoric. I bet you have seen this also. Many times it seems the ability to pray is a matter of the brain: a mind activity in which we must remember exactly the right things to pray, at the right time, and in the right way. Without realizing it, we may start to believe that our prayers are only as powerful and effective as our words are pretty and intelligent.
…but the process of true prayer paints a very different picture. Romans 8 tells us it is the Holy Spirit in us who leads us to cry out to the Father in the first place. The Spirit leads us into this time of communion with the Father, an opportunity made possible only by Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. The Spirit assures us that we are not just the Father’s children, but heirs to His kingdom with Jesus (provided we are suffering with him).
Now communing with the Father, we find ourselves helplessly weak and lacking in knowledge. In light of His will, we can’t possibly know the right things to pray, at the right time and in the right way. Because of the Spirit, however, we don’t need to. God looks deeply into our hearts, and knows our spiritual longings. The Holy Spirit takes these heart cries, interprets them, and expresses them to the Father in ways that we could never express with our words alone.
How humbling is it to know we cannot pray without complete dependence on the Holy Spirit? How freeing is it to know our prayers don’t need to resemble anything pretty for the Spirit to know our hearts and intercede for us when we don’t know what to pray? How exciting is it that prayer is not an activity of the mind, but of the heart?
So pray boldly, church. Pray like you know the Holy Spirit is in you, guiding your prayers, and interpreting your heart cries to the Father. Pray freely. Pray often. Pray to be with the Father and to know Him, not to impress Him.