Three Things That Annoy Me About Prayer

I am a Christian.  I believe Jesus was more than just a man.  I believe he was and is the Savior of the world.  He came to not only give us life but take out our enemy and give us what we needed to defeat him.  Our enemy is real.  I believe prayer is a powerful weapon.

Its one often ignored and many who claim to be a Christian don't honor the power of this weapon.  When we come against injustice, we use our mouth to speak up, and that is amazing, but it can't do all that prayer can.  Because of the power of prayer there are three things when it comes to prayer that really annoy me.

1. De-valued Greeting 

When you pass someone on the street, "Hi, how are you?" has become the standard greeting, rather than a question.   The auto response is always, "good, and you?" No one is really asking how you are - your presence is merely just being acknowledged. Honest answers are only okay in a more intentional setting like over coffee or lunch. 

Prayer requests have become the passing salutation in the Christian world.  People often say, "I will pray for you," but it rarely ever goes past that.  When we say we will pray, we need to actually spend time talking to the father about that person, their life and God's purposes for them. 

Honestly, if we prayed for everyone we said we would, I'm not sure we'd have time for much else.  Luckily, if you become a person of prayer, you will soon find, while you do need quiet time to pray, prayer is also a good multi-tasking job.  I can pray for people as I pass them on the street or stand in line hearing the heartache in their exasperated pleas with their children.  Prayer is a beautiful way to find connection in this world and we are selling that blessing short when we just post a praying hands emoticon and feel like we've done our spiritual duty. 

2. Mimicked Fortune Teller 

I have been to Christian churches of all varieties and see benefits to the stoic practices of groups like Lutherans as well as the more demonstrative practices of denominations like Assemblies of God.  We can experience God in a variety of ways and I love the balance I get from the spectrum.  I don't speak in tongues often in public (like maybe a few times total in my life), but do I use this spiritual tool in my solitary prayers often.  I am not offended or freaked out when I hear others utilizing this gift, yet some certainly abuse it.  This abuse is not okay.  I have had people pray over me that don't know me.  Some have prayed a surprising prayer that definitely echoes the heart of God and speaks to their strong connection with the Almighty.   Others have prayed and I experience just the opposite.  They begin to get this word from God that is completely NOT GOD! 

I recently had someone pray for a body part that has no issues and I could see them look for non-verbal feedback to that prayer and when my body language did not confirm the accuracy of that prayer they tried to re-speak it in some spiritual terms.  I immediately felt off-put by their seemingly forced spirituality.  Others go to praying folk as a way to get answers like prayer is some sort of fortune telling.  It is not and that is not its purpose.  Prayer is connection with God and he does speak to us in prayer but he isn't going to give you the winning lottery ticket numbers or let you know what your dead aunt is doing.  If you see someone treating prayer this way, run, just run!

3. Powerless Scrip

I have no problem with written prayers.  There is a time and place for it.  Like I said before there are many ways to connect with God and utilizing those when appropriate is a blessing, however, prayer is at its core, a conversation.  We are speaking to an All-Powerful God who is also our father and an ever-present guide in our lives.

The main purpose of Christianity is relationship.  So I get annoyed when I see people constantly reading prayers and have no ability to just communicate with God from their heart. If you had a friendship that you interacted with by reciting pre-written conversation points, it wouldn't be a close relationship and probably wouldn't last long.  I call my friends or meet up with them and we just talk about life.  That life adds to the strength of our relationship.  I do pray scriptures when I talk to God but I am connecting those to the real-life happenings of my life or the lives of others.  We lose the power when we just read prayers and don't have that open, heart-felt, real communication.

Don't miss out on all God has for you in the area of prayer.  Praying out-loud with a group of people can be scary but its something we should practice doing so we can grow in comfortability, because if someone comes to us for prayer, taking the time to pray with them can be a HUGE blessing.  However,  most of our prayer time should be one-on-one before God.

BONUS TAKE-AWAY 

New to prayer?  Here are 3 things to help.

1. Start small: take 5 minutes in the morning, on your lunch break or before bed to just tell God about your day or about the things that have you stressed in life.  Ask him to take those burdens, and invite him to meet you in that place.  Allow God to train you.  As you become more confident you can make that time longer.

2. Practice praying silently throughout the day.  When you see someone hurt or hear an ambulance nearby, pray God healing.  When you see someone stressed out, ask God to relieve their stress and train them to run to Him.  The opportunities are endless in our world.

3. Train yourself on Prayer.  Do a word study in the Bible (search out all the scriptures that have the word prayer or pray in them).  Find resources that teach on prayer.  I just found a great devotional by Ann Spangler on Praying the Names of God.  That is a great way to learn about God and prayer, but there are a ton of Christian books out there on the subject.