Spiritual Disciplines-Prayer

As followers of Christ there are certain disciplines designed to strengthen and deepen our relationship to Christ and his reflection in our lives. I am not certain what the full compliment of those disciplines might be - however, I am certain you would receive a varied response depending on who you asked.

Prayer is most definitely one of those disciplines. I suspect, again based on who you asked, it would rank at the top in most anyone's listing.

I have been thinking a great deal about prayer these past couple of days. In part because our Pastor spoke about it last Sunday morning and will again for the next few Sundays. He is doing a series on the Sermon on the Mount and looking at the Lord's Prayer right now.

In his introductory remarks to the Lord's Prayer, he stated the necessity of prayer for disciples of Christ and strongly implied if one does not pray, then they are not a disciple of Christ. (He did not use the term "disciple" he used "Christian.")  I have been chewing on that for a while now. Here's why.

There are two implications of that position. One is that a form of prayer is indicative of one's relationship to God. Two, one cannot be if one does not do. Now I am certain he might argue those two observations, but nonetheless, in the context of his remarks that was the implication.

I pray a lot. Not like you might pray perhaps, nevertheless, I pray regularly. In fact, I would suggest it is hard for any follower of Christ to not pray. I often pray with my eyes open. I seldom pray on my knees. I despise praying over a meal in a restaurant. I pray when am reading scripture, especially when I am struck by a truth I had not seen before or processed. I pray when I am writing either for publication or pleasure. I pray when I screw up or something comes out of my mouth that should not be there. I even pray when watching TV and something touches my heart either for good or bad.  In some sense, this blog itself is a form of prayer for me.

Yes, I have what some may call "formal" prayers. But those are few and far between.

Prayer is a supreme privilege for believers. Having full access to God through Christ is a powerful thought. That does not diminish the import of models like the Lord's Prayer, it simply means that that prayer is a model, not a ritual. It also means that God's presence, at all times, makes praying, in many regards, an on-going, pray-as-it- comes, experience.

Can a person who professes to be a follower of Christ, not pray? It seems unlikely unless they have been taught some form of prescribed prayer. Will a follower of Christ pray? Absolutely. Will how a person prays be an implication of their devotion to God? I would hope not.

Father I pray that my prayers will be prayed in a manner that speaks of our relationship, not of my prayer practice.