Wednesday, April 19, 2017

                “The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective,” (James 5:16).

                Over the last number of years, it has been a personal joy to speak occasionally at the Men’s Morning Prayer Group at Park St. Baptist Church. The group is not as large as when I made my first visit over ten years ago, but they still have a wonderful spirit as they gather for fellowship, prayer and a message. They have been meeting weekly like this for many, many years.

                There is a lengthy list of people for whom they pray written on a large blackboard. Most of those names are from their own church family, but they are more than willing to add to that list when suggestions are made. Each name has a current story – illness, disease, infirmity, single parents, people looking for jobs, caregivers, etc.

                What I find the most compelling is listening to these lay men, mostly seniors, pray. Their spoken words are sincere, often eloquent yet simple, and certainly poignant as a few of them take turns to speak from their hearts to God concerning the people whose names have been mentioned. There is no showing-off, no long-windedness, no preachiness, no pious or pompous babble.  There is a genuine humility. There is a wonderful trust and faith.  These men are examples of the verse from James.

                Luke’s Gospel tells us that Jesus taught his disciples about “the need to pray always and not to lose heart,” (Luke 18:1). Indeed, Jesus prayed often, through thick and thin. Note his prayer in Gethsemane. Once, he prayed the whole night through. He often chose a secluded and quiet place to pray privately.

                It may surprise you that there are Christian folk who say they don’t know how to pray. Even the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and Jesus taught them what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. But I guess some people may think that one has to use special words or the “right” words, or religious words, or that praying is for the true, eloquent pillars of the church, whereas they stumble for words and become overly and awkwardly self-conscious, especially to pray out loud in front of others.

                Prayer is basically conversation. It is how we converse with God about what is going on in our lives. Prayer is a spiritual dialogue. There are no magical, mystical words. There are simply your own words, spoken in your own way, using words that have meaning for you. It doesn’t get much more complicated than that, really. Maybe that is why Jesus suggested that we should “go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father,” (Matthew 6:6); so that we aren’t worried about how others might critique our prayer style.

                Anybody can pray. There are no special qualifications, special rituals, or  religious formalities. Sometimes we pray with fervour; sometimes we pray out of a hesitant but hopeful faith. We pray when the world is beautiful and full of grace; we pray when the road is bumpy and dangerous. We pray when life is a banquet; we pray when we are trapped in arid, barren wildernesses. We pray when there is a bounce in our step; we pray when we are limping along. We pray when life is sweet; we pray when bitterness and hurt have their way. Sometimes the words flow like cascading water. Sometimes we pray even when words might fail us. We pray continually. If anything, God is a superb, caring listener.

 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests,” (Ephesians 6:18).

Dale