Not a Prayer Wimp
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7 ESV)
I have been wondering if I am the only ‘prayer-wimp’ this side of Heaven. Come to find out, Max Lucado confessed in his latest book “before amen”, that he is ‘card-carrying member of the PWA: Prayer Wimps Anonymous.’
Please don’t get me wrong; I pray – daily – sometimes even hourly. But to be honest, I do not set a certain time every day for prayers. Before I take off for work, I pray that God will protect me on my way, and invite Him into my day. I always pray Psalm 19:14 before getting into my car:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”
After reading Max Lucado’s book on prayer, it occurred to me that there is no right or wrong way to pray. Max Lucado writes:
“Prayer is conversation with God while driving to work or awaiting an appointment or before interacting with a client. Prayer can be the internal voice that directs the external action.” (from page 7 ‘before amen’)
Paul writes in his letter to the church in Philippi to “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (emphasis mine)
Although God knows our heart and thoughts, I believe that we should still ‘voice’ our pain, hurt, and anxiety in prayer. After I read the book ‘before amen’, I dusted of my prayer journal. I am really bad keeping it up. However, one thing is very important: that I remember God’s faithfulness of the past. I quickly forget that God has answered my prayers. Maybe not the way I was hoping for, but He answered.
Lord of mercy and grace. Thank You for Your faithfulness, even when I tend to forget that You are good…all the time. You may not answer my prayers the way I think they should be answered, but You answer them. Lord, help me to be more faithful and fear less. You are my Rock and my Redeemer. In the precious name of Jesus I pray – Amen.
This is a great post, Iris. I think we can get too caught up in how to pray. As long as we’re sincere and be reverent I don’t think there is a right or wrong way.
Thank you for your post! I wonder if there is a Christian alive who does not suffer from some sort of guilt about their prayer life. Thank you for our transparency.