On Prayer

Last night at TNL, the sermon was on "My Prayer Life." Now, I like to think that I can pray well. I mean, c'mon, I was one of two 14-year olds chosen in all of New England to join in on the monthly Concerts of Prayer! I think that may have had a bit to do with the impartiality of my friend's father towards the two of us, but that's another matter.

This morning when I woke up, I was struck with the whole idea of prayer. Seriously folks, think about it. If our God already knows what we are going to say before we say it, then why pray? I had considered this when I was in my late teens and early twenties, and as a result, my prayer life at that time stunk. I stopped praying for wisdom on decisions, and instead I just started having a constant internal monologue in my head where God was just included by default.

Before I go further, let me state that it is not wrong to constantly "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonian 5:17), which was my original purpose of having the constant monologue. The problem was that I was monologuing rather than dialoguing, which meant that the conversation was only going one way.

I have more to say on this subject, but I am interested in your initial thoughts on this. What does prayer mean to you? How do you pray? Are you comfortable praying alone, in groups, out loud, in silence or in verse and song? How has prayer impacted your life?

I can't wait to hear your responses! Until later....