Prayer.

The word can be so intimidating, but at the end of the day, prayer is very simple.

Simple, however, does not mean easy.

One day, in the course of a conversation discussing some of the details of my past, my mother said, “Megan, you need to pray about it.” That simple comment changed my life. The following day, I committed to a daily habit of Bible reading and prayer. I had no idea where to begin either with my mountain of personal pain and brokenness or with “how” to institute this discipline into my life. But, for the last 19 years, I have “gutted it out with God” on an almost daily basis, and in that process, He began to heal my soul. This habit has literally changed my life and also saved my life. It has been the ingested and invested Word of God that has kept me through difficulties and dark seasons. It is the Word of God that has walked with me through the challenges of unforgiveness and many other things. In the early days of this habit, when I didn’t have a clue where to “begin,” I read something from Max Lucado that said, “Read the Bible until something jumps off the page at you, then write it down in a journal and think about it during the day.” That was so simple, but so profound. It helped me immensely in my pursuit of God, and my pursuit of truth in His Word. It also introduced journaling into my new routine. Eventually, I began to dig into the original Hebrew and Greek definitions of different words and began to write a little about things that I noticed as I read. Over the years this habit has grown into more of “devotional writing.” It has made the Word of God so fresh and alive in my life, and it has led me down a path of healing. If there is even ONE beautiful thing in my life, it is a result of the Word of God and the presence of God THROUGH THIS DISCIPLINE, through His Spirit, and incredible mercy and love.

Prayer is conversation with God. This can be very challenging for humanity, as we are so programmed to operate in the tangible. God is invisible, and it takes true faith to have a conversation with someone you cannot see.

The essential posture of prayer must be honesty. In Psalm 51, David wrote, “You desire truth in the inward parts…” What God wants in prayer is not form or ritual. It is not a particular “prayer tone,” or “prayer words.” He doesn’t want a prayer read from a book. God wants honest, raw, vulnerable, gut-level conversation with you. He knows every detail of your life, but He longs for you to share it openly. The best prayers you will ever pray are the ugliest. The best prayers you will ever pray would probably scare other people, but God is never caught off guard by the honest state of our hearts. He is never surprised by the broken realities of our lives. And He wants to get involved. Prayer is an invitation for His involvement. Prayer ushers us into His presence, and “in His presence is fullness of joy.” Prayer empties the contents of our souls out before the One who made them and knows them best. Prayer is a conversation that turns our hearts inside out. It is in the act of prayer that God downloads His heartbeat to our chest.

After walking with Jesus throughout His 3.5-year ministry, His 12 disciples asked Him to teach them ONE thing: “Lord, teach us to pray…” At their request, Jesus taught them what we commonly call “The Lord’s Prayer.” The Lord’s Prayer is not a prayer to be recited, but, rather, a pattern to be followed. Here is a breakdown of Jesus’ famous prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 (As written by my Pastor, Rev. Joseph Hanthorn.)

1. Recognition and Worship: “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…” (v. 9)

a. This portion of our prayer time calls our flesh and mind to attention. It announces to our flesh that we are entering into a conversation with the most important person in the universe.

2. Invitation and Surrender: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven…” (v. 10)

a. This is possibly the most important part of our prayer time. This is where we connect with God, and where grace becomes active. This is where we learn to pray—we give Him freedom to direct everything including our prayers. There are simply some things we cannot pray until the flesh has been crucified and our will surrendered.

3. Petition and Intercession: “Give us this day our daily bread…” (v. 11)

a. God invites us to ASK! He wants us to discuss our needs and desires with Him! Asking creates peace in our lives. We have given our needs and desires to God and trust that He knows what is best and will do for us what needs to be done.

4. Repentance and Release: “And forgive us our debts; for we also forgive our debtors…” (v. 12)

a. Here we ask God to forgive our sins and here we release others from the things they have done against us. It is only under the umbrella of submission that we can honestly search our hearts.

5. Direction and Protection: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…” (v. 13)

a. We need to pray that God will keep us sensitive to sin and that we will see the snares awaiting us. Here we seek to be led and protected by the Spirit of God.

6. Worship and Thanksgiving: “For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, amen.” (v. 13b)

a. Closing with worship and thanksgiving evidences faith and trust…two key attitudes of prayer.

Using this pattern of has been a very helpful tool in my prayer time. But remember, prayer is a means to RELATIONSHIP, not a formula. Not a routine. Prayer is a conversation to form a friendship with Jesus.