16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Can I be honest? I do not know how to pray. In truth, i’m still unclear on how it all works. Even people who hold to no religion, have an opinion on prayer. It is my thought that I am not alone in this either. The greatest failure of the Church, is found in not equipping its people in crucial things such as prayer, study, and service. It pains my heart to realize that it has done more to teach on tithing, than anything else. Yet like Charles Spurgeon says: “Prayerless souls are Christless souls; for you can have no real fellowship with Christ, no communion with the Father, unless you approach his mercy-seat, and be often there.” The words puncture the faith facade I have constructed out of false humility and dead devotion:
Prayerless souls are Christless souls
So where do we go from here? Do we just accept that some of us are experts at prayer while the rest of us are doomed to struggle? We do know enough about the Gospel to know that it is not simply doing more but relying on the works of a God above our achievements. Of course we need to go past our passive faith which says “I suck” or “I don’t understand how to. . .” We need to journey into the center of Christ, holding our shotgunned faith and utter the prayer of a broken saint: Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. Perhaps that’s a start to something greater – a deep reliance on Christ will result in a deep conversation with Christ.
Matt simon blog 