What is your prayer life like?

If someone asked you about prayer, what would you say?

I read a story once about a man restricted from working because of his faith. One night, his family had no food, and his children were crying from hunger. The man tucked his children in bed and prayed with them for the Lord to provide food. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Afraid it was soldiers coming to arrest him, he cracked open the door. A blizzard was raging outside, and he could see no one there. Opening the door a little wider, he saw a hand with a loaf of bread. Eagerly taking the bread, the man stepped out to thank the provider, but no one was there. He went inside, fed his children, and thanked God for his miraculous provision.

Do you believe God answers prayer that way? Do you believe God is for you like that?

Wouldn’t it be nice to pick up a phone and call God, our heavenly Father? We could ask our questions and hear His answer clearly. Our cries of grief, pain, and confusion would immediately be soothed with His majestic voice.

My ten-year-old granddaughter desperately wants her own cellphone so she can chat and text her friends. On a recent visit, she walked around with a cardboard one she had made, complete with numbers, and pretended to chat with them and G-ma.

My Dad hated talking on the telephone! He loved talking, socializing and family, but in person.

I get it, because I am just like him. Talking on the phone stresses me out. After a short time, my whole body feels like it has been plugged into an electrical socket. My shoulders stiffen, my teeth chatter, my throat tightens, and my voice becomes shaky. Weird, I know!

Texting and messaging electronically is easy and convenient, but there is something about hearing a person’s voice that connects us more deeply. Not as much as face-to-face, but second best.

Zoom or FaceTime is better, but it’s so much richer when we meet with someone in person and have a conversation, isn’t it? This is what the Lord longs for as well: to spend time with us. I love the word picture Beth Moore once painted. She said God was bending down close, face-to-face with us, waiting for a conversation. Are you as eager to spend time with Him?

Prayer is better than calling our Father on His mobile phone. Some have compared it to sitting with Him in your favourite chairs and chatting. But it is even better than that! We have a direct and immediate connection to Him 24/7, no matter where we are or what is happening. As daughters of Christ, we don’t need a telephone or computer; we have a direct link to God, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn’t come and go as in the Old Testament days, but has pulled up a chair, sat down in our souls, and made his home there.

Imagine for a moment, your favourite scent or smell. It makes your eyes close in delight as you inhale deeply. It’s homemade cinnamon rolls for me or the scent of a beautiful, fragrant rose.  In the same way, our prayers are an exquisite fragrance of love and adoration to God.

I grew up learning to pray using rosary beads. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a string of beads with a cross, and for each bead you say a prayer, one Our Father followed by 10 Hail Mary’s and repeat. But it was rote and impersonal, just something to be done before bed, like brushing my teeth.

However, my mom always impressed on me the importance of prayer; she believed in it and lived by it. Moms, what you say and do about prayer before your children does carry weight, even if you don’t see it right away.

When I first started attending a Baptist church, I decided to attend the Wednesday evening prayer meetings. Entering the chapel, I was caught off guard. What, we are supposed to pray in a circle? You want me to pray out loud? I thought. Most of the people there were older, or long-time believers, and eloquent prayers flowed out of their mouths. As an introvert and newbie, I was totally intimidated. But our prayers don’t need to be eloquent or flowery, like poetry or prose, or detailed like a journalist.

After our family moved north, I led a ladies’ Bible study in our home. One sweet woman was a newer Christian, not highly educated, and a recovered alcoholic. She never hesitated to pray out loud, and her prayers always made me smile and brought me joy. She prayed simply and directly, like a child to her dad.

Maybe some of you have never known what it was like to have a dad, or maybe, like me, you had more than one father figure float through your life. But even if you never experienced a good father, you have read about, or seen what a good Dad should be like. However, all your experiences and dreams about having a good Dad don’t come close to what “Our Father who art in Heaven” is like. He is the perfect Dad who knows you down to each hair on your head, including the ones that keep falling out, and loves you more than you can bear.

So, how is your prayer life? Spend some time today asking your Dad about it. He’s in front of you, as close as your next breath, waiting to spend quality time together.

We’ll continue our conversation about prayer in my next post. Until then, let’s all practice finding time to sit and experience the presence of the Lover of our souls. It will be the sweetest moment of your day.

Be well!

Patricia