Prayer Can Be A Conversation

The way people look at God and prayer sometimes makes me wonder if they've really thought it through. For example, take Pete Wentz, bassist for the pop-punk group Fall Out Boy. He was recently quoted in Kerrrang! as saying,

I don't know where I stand about God. I want God to exist when I need Him. To me, God's the ultimate crisis counselor—I want to be able to dial up 1-800-HEAVEN and make sure that my plane doesn't crash! ... I don't go to church or believe in God, particularly, but I really hope there's a place for me.

Let's hope Pete doesn't take the exit from the freeway of life anytime soon. Like a lot of people, he opts for a convenient higher power. Prayers are shot up into the heavenlies like, "Please don't let my plane crash." "Please let me win the lottery." "Please let my friend be okay." We treat God like he's someone we don't like. We don't call on him unless we're in a mess of trouble.

Prayer is--or should be--just like a conversation. The more you talk with someone, the better you know them. The deeper the relationship, the easier and more meaningful the words. Some folks never get past the trite prayers, the ones we say at dinnertime or the ones we pray when we want to feel good. I remember a line from Bruce Almighty,

Bruce: Lord, feed the hungry, and bring peace to all of mankind. How's that?
God: Great... If you wanna be Miss America.

Good prayers are relevant, heartfelt and simple. The best prayers are selfless and loving. Later on in the same movie, Bruce is praying for his ex-girlfriend Grace,

God: ...You want her back?
Bruce: No. I want her to be happy, no matter what that means. I want her to find someone who will treat her with all the love she deserved from me. I want her to meet someone who will see her always as I do now, through Your eyes.
God: Now that's a prayer.

These are the kinds of prayers that God loves to answer. They're from an eternal perspective, not a temporal, "gimme" mentality. They have an effect not only on the subject of the prayer, but on the one doing the praying as well.

Additionally, there's a common perception out there that prayer is a one-way deal. Most people pray and don't expect to hear an answer. They don't know that they can get a response through the Holy Spirit. If you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it's possible to hear his voice in your heart and discern God's will. Why else would 1 John 4 instruct us to test the spirits? We have an ability to know God's specific will for our lives and even some of God's answers to life's questions. But it won't work if you fail to submit to him. God is not willing to give an answer to someone who wants to push back on him. Job found that out. If we think we should make God submit to our own judgment, then ants should likewise have total authority over our lives. Instead, we follow God as children: curious, inquisitive and thoughtful. It is childlike faith that pleases God. It's then that he's most willing to answer our questions and embrace our hearts.

Prayer can be a conversation, a meaningful, loving, heartfelt, selfless, childlike conversation. By reading the word and seeking his wisdom in prayer, we get to know the character and the heart of the Almighty. Most importantly, little by little, that character and that heart reaches into us and makes us more like him. That alone should make it worth our while.