BE PRAYERFUL: September 8

I love to hear my kids pray. They used to be too shy to do it, but after years of assuring them they didn’t need to be anything but themselves, it’s getting easier as they get older.

When they do pray, their prayers are so uniquely “them.” Paxton’s are full of humor and heart, and comments that make us chuckle and smile at each other. Jaana’s are earnest and deep, thoughtful and touching, making me avoid eye contact so no one sees me tear up.

Their prayers make my heart swell. I care nothing about how fancy they sound; I don’t dwell on how much theology they need to learn. Simply hearing their sincerity, their earnestness, their unique personalities come through makes me beam.

I think as adults we get caught up in avoiding prayer altogether because we worry we don’t know how to do it “the right way.” We worry that we’re not theologically correct, that we don’t know enough scripture, that our prayers are meaningless and perhaps too repetitive. We think we don’t sound like so-and-so from church when she prays, so ours must be ineffective and unnecessary.

But God is our Father. If my mom heart swells hearing my own children pray in ways that’s so completely them, how much more does it make God’s heart swell when we pray in ways that are so completely us?

What if we commit to praying more sincerely? What if we stop worrying about each word we’re saying and simply let our hearts pour? What if we stop editing in the process and just trust God knows what we mean? What if we decide that any prayers to God that we utter are better than not uttering any at all?

The enemy does a great job of convincing us that there are too many obstacles to overcome to pray, and comparison and inadequacy are at the top of the list. Let’s choose today to extinguish those arrows and decide to pray anyway, wholly as you.

“You will answer me, God; I know you always will. Hear my words like you always do as you listen to my every prayer.” (Psalm 17:6, The Passion Translation)

-Monica