Prayer

So last week there was National Prayer Day on Thursday.  I found out about it on Tuesday.  But for a week before that, my thoughts have been on prayer.  What prayer was supposed to be like.  What prayer was about.  What are we supposed to pray for.  How are we supposed to pray?

When I was very little, I went to a Catholic school.  In Kindergarten, our teacher taught us what it meant to pray.  We're supposed to get on our knees, close our eyes, bow our heads, put our hands together, and ask for what we want.  It was like that throughout grade school, not just at the Catholic school, but also at my church.  Beyond the Kindergarten-style of what we're supposed to look like when we pray and how we have to say 'in the name of Jesus, Amen' we were never taught what it meant to pray or anything about prayer, really.  So I never really did like praying.  I didn't understand how God would like children constantly whining about toys they want.  But then high school happened.  The youth pastor (the same youth pastor that is still there) started at my church.  (It's why I'm so attached to the group.)  Along with bringing in a whole new world about what it meant to love Jesus, what it meant to be a Christian, and what church was about, he also brought with him the concept of prayer.

I took a discipleship training class that he offered.  For ten weeks, there was intense Bible study, essay writing, and a lot of new ideas and concepts that I've never seen before.  On one of those days, we discussed prayer.  He told us that Jesus gave us an example of what prayer was supposed to be like:



Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:9-13

These aren't just some words to repeat every Sunday, but they tell us what prayer should be like.

Jesus starts off with glorifying God, how God is almighty, and that our will here on earth should coincide with the will of God's.  And that's what prayer should start off with, and that's what prayer should revolve around.


Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
Wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons;
He deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
And knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
He knows what lies in darkness,
And light dwells with him.
I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
You have given me wisdom and power,
You have made known to me what we asked of you,
You have made known to us the dream of the king.
Daniel 2:20-23

When Daniel prayed to God, it was with praise, glorifying God's character.

The rest of the Lord's Prayer is about asking God for His sustenance (not necessarily food) to continue living, asking God to forgive us our sins, and rescuing us from temptation.  But over half of the prayer is spent on describing God's goodness.

The entirety of Psalms that David wrote gave God the praise and glory that He is due.  Even during the times David felt lost and abandoned, he blessed the name of God.


Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
For I will yet praise him,
My Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:11


And so that's what I believe that this is what prayer should revolve around.  Oftentimes we kneel down and we ask God for things that we need.  We ask Him for peace, for love, for financial help, for the restoration of relationships, etc.  But we forget to give Him the praise He deserves.

And so I've made it a thing to give God praise whenever I pray.  No matter what it is that I need, I praise God for His goodness first thing, and I end my prayers with praise.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.  Amen.