Prayer Problems: Practice - 2 Let It Be Natural

Focus passage: Luke 11:1-13

The hardest part for me of playing the piano is that a good pianist seemingly plays without a lot of effort. When they want to play a “C” chord, their left hand move effortlessly to those notes. When they want to play a scale, the right hand knows exactly what fingering to use. 

They have practiced until playing becomes so natural that they don’t have to consciously think about what their hands are doing. Such a pianist gets there by practice. Prayer becomes more natural as we practice it as well. We want our prayers to just flow out of us and not be labored.

• It begins with familiarity. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus tells us to call God Father. It was a reminder of their special relationship with God. They had a God who loved them and wanted to hear from them. They never had to worry that God was too busy or that they were not worthy to talk to Him. Practice makes us comfortable before God so that we can talk without fancy words, but just talk from the heart the way that any child talks to their loving parent.

• Familiarity takes time. When you begin to date a person, you want to spend as much time as possible with them. It is the only way that you get to know them and the relationship can grow. Prayer is much the same way. God has told us in the Bible that He wants to spend time with us. Yet, it is up to us to make the time. God is always available. We need to set aside time for the Lord so that we get to know Him and learn to love Him.

• You have to learn to surrender to the Lord. It is not an even relationship in prayer. I don’t have the wisdom or the power that God has. I need to come to prayer asking for His direction and help. He knows what is best for me. He has the ability to bring me into His plan for my life. Prayer will continue to feel awkward if I try to order Him to do what I need. It will feel more natural if I follow His lead and learn His will.

Prayer is a discipline that needs to be learned and practiced. The Lord’s Prayer gives us some guidelines, but practice is what will make prayer a part of you. At seminary, I was taught a lot of written prayers that seemed stilted and stiff. Those may be fine for worship services with a lot of people, but I find that I need to just speak my heart. I know that God loves me and that He wants to talk to me in prayer. Over the years, my prayers have become more natural as I have grown in my relationship with God and my willingness to trust Him and let Him guide me.

How comfortable are you in prayer? Please share your comments and questions below or send me your thoughts at 32daysdevotions@gmail.com.   My hope is to “talk” about your thoughts in the blog on Wednesdays so we can have a conversation and I can learn from you.