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Dearly Beloved,

Let’s pray. Good idea. But how should we pray? What should we pray? What is prayer?  How does it work?

Most people, even unbelievers, pray, at least on occasion. My perception is that most people, even believers who have been praying a long time, have questions and want to continue growing in prayer. We want to learn to pray more effectively. This is nothing new. The disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” When I was young my prayers were often to find things, most often our baseball. At the end of our lawn was an area of high grass. A good hit or a missed catch meant the ball could go missing. We only had one baseball. We sometimes needed divine help to find it. Throughout my life I have continued to pray to find things. In more recent years I pray to find my disc that has errantly gone off course (disc golfers will understand).

On a –30 degree winter evening when I was in high school two of us guys and two girls decided it would be fun to go tubing. There was a big hill a couple miles out of Fort St. John. There was enough moonlight to know where to slide. We were the only people on the hill. About 10 o’clock, tired and getting cold, we decided to go home. That’s when my friend discovered he had lost his keys. Somewhere on one of our many runs, hopping on the tube, speeding down the hill, and getting thrown off, the keys had fallen out of his jacket pocket. It was a massive area, a fairly dark night, and we did not have a flashlight. The odds of finding the keys were not good. While there may be times guys want girls to feel cold so they want to snuggle, that was not on our minds. It was important to get to a place of warmth. We prayed. After just a couple minutes we found the keys lying in the snow. Thank you, Jesus!

I still have questions. While I have been amazed at many of God’s answers, I also have prayers that have gone unanswered. At least the answer was not what I asked for.

Philip Yancey wrote a book which is in our Resource Centre, Prayer: Does it Make any Difference? Sections include unraveling the mysteries, dilemmas, and the practice of prayer. He too wrestles with aspects of prayer, particularly the inconsistencies. Why does God sometimes do miraculous things, and other times not?

I like reading Yancey because he is so real in dealing with the hard questions. He also makes it clear that prayer is much more than asking for things. In fact, Yancey suggests prayer is keeping company with God. I am very much trying to learn this. We talk, God listens, God talks, we listen. While we are certainly invited to ask in prayer, prayer is about sharing ourselves with God and listening to God share Himself with us. This involves being real with God.

Yancey writes, “The church I attend reserves a brief time in which people in the pews can voice aloud their prayers. Over the years I have heard hundreds of these prayers, and with very few exceptions the word polite indeed applies. One, however, stands out in my memory because of its raw emotion.

In a clear but wavering voice a young woman began with the words, “God, I hated you after the rape! How could you let this happen to me?” The congregation abruptly fell silent. No more rustling of papers or shifting in the seats. “And I hated the people in this church who tried to comfort me. I didn't want comfort. I wanted revenge. I wanted to hurt back. I thank you, God, that you didn't give up on me, and neither did some of these people. You kept after me, and I come back to you now and ask that you heal the scars in my soul.”

Of all the prayers I have heard in church, that one most resembles the style of prayers I find replete in the Bible, especially those from God’s favourites such as Abraham and Moses (89)

Yancey inspires me to keep praying, including listening and being in God’s presence. I felt encouraged by amazing answers to prayers, and humbled by the many times we, including those mighty in prayer, struggle with understanding why God doesn’t answer certain prayers that seem so good and right. Like Yancey, I find it helpful to think of prayer as keeping company with God. Through prayer we live not only in the earthly realm, but in spiritual reality. I seek to share my deepest thoughts and feelings with God, to listen for Him, to ask earnestly for needs, and to trust that He is good and will do what is best.

I have read quite a few books on prayer, and in fact I am reading another now. It is such an important aspect of life. Other than the Bible I think Yancey’s book has helped me the most. I encourage you to read it. There are copies in the Resource Centre.