In recent visits we have been doing a rather analytical study of prayer. I trust you have found it helpful, and not complicated and confusing. My fear is that you might get so cought up in the analysis of prayer that you don’t get around to praying. The way to learn how to pray is to pray.
God knows what is on our heart when we come to Him in prayer. Before we ever utter a word or even think about what to say to God in prayer He already kows what we’re thinking or going to say. Yet He takes delight in hearing us express our prayers to Him. He is not impressed with high falootin’ eloquence in prayer. Nor is He turned off by an unschooled, poorly structured, honest, yet ambiguous prayer.
He knows what you’re trying to express. In fact, Paul points out in Romans 8:26 that when we are so overwhelmed that all we can do is groan in His presense, His Spirit helps us. This is how it reads in The Message: “God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.”
There are times when I have heard someone pray in such a substantial way that I have been caught up in the presence of God as a request is expressed in rich, Biblical terminology and imagery. But I have also been blessed when a new Christian just blurts out their request in broken, simple words, like a child just learning to speak asks their Dad for something. I’m sure God’s heart is warmed by such genuine prayers.
