Reevaluating Prayer

Prayer is one of those things I rarely think I have to think about, but that's more an expression of my own arrogance and pride rather than an honest evaluation of prayer itself. I, like so many other Christians, value myself over God - and that's something that's got to change.

What is Prayer?

Prayer is a call for a response from someone else. It's not just talking to God - it's a communication, normally involving a request, with someone else.

The colloquial usage of the word makes it a religious expression, but that's common usage and not necessarily the best way to think of prayer.

A Second Whack at Prayer

I've been thinking more about prayer since I wrote about it last ("Where two are gathered in My Name", 2011/Dec/22), largely because our church has really been zeroing in on prayer as a church.

My approach to prayer is not lax, really, but it's hard to identify. I see living life with God in mind as a sort of prayer on its own; explicit prayer is not something I really do all that often.

At least, not normally; I find that I, like so many others, pray explicitly when I, well, in the words of one of my pastors, want to "get stuff."

Where should we be willing to go?

I was having a short discussion with someone this morning when I was warned that a group of people were not real Christians, but claimed to be; the assertion was that they were "wicked."

Fair enough. I don't have enough observation under my belt to determine if that's true or not, but the statement made me think about where it was proper for us, as Christians, to go.

After all, one imagines good Christians to be unwilling to ride with Hell's Angels; good Christians don't listen to rock and roll, good Christians do this, good Christians don't do that.

I find this view of Christian life to be limited and ineffective. It's not as simple as "Christians act like..."

Where two are gathered in My name...

I was thinking about a phrase my pastor tossed out about the nature of prayer, and it's been sticking with me ever since.

Matthew 18:20, where Jesus says "where two or three are gathered in My name, I am with them," was the starting point - it's often used to define a church, or congregation, focusing on the gathering of believers.

But that always sounds odd to me.

You know how people say "two is company's, three's a crowd," well...

Pirkei Avot, a collection of ethical maxims from the rabbis, in chapter 3 v. 7 (which I had to look  up), says otherwise, and - more importantly - backs it up with verses that apply for Christians, too: