Dan Czaplewski posted on September 14, 2009 15:32
This past Sunday (September 13, 2009) we began a sermon series on prayer. This six-week series will be supported by a Bible class (that meets on Wednesday evenings at 7 pm), e-devotions, and this BLOG.
During this series, we’ll be using the Lord’s Prayer as an outline with the hope that our understanding and practice of prayer will grow. We begin this week at the beginning with “Our Father.”
When I was in high school I came to believe that prayers that were prayed without any preparation were more sincere and authentic. I had grown up with very formal, written prayers as a regular part of worship in Church, in School, and at home. When I first heard people pray without a written script, I came to feel that those prayers were better than the written prayers I knew as a child.
I’m not so sure any more. In fact, I’m pretty sure that, as long as you understand the words you’re using, it really doesn’t matter whether some one wrote a prayer for you to use or you composed a prayer in the moment. Personally, I use some of both.
One of the reasons people feel awkward about prayer is that they feel they don’t know how to pray. At least they aren’t sure what to say. Maybe you aren’t sure what to say when you pray and because you can’t put the words together with some elegance, you feel that you don’t know how to pray.
I think that a prayer book can get you over that initial shyness about prayer. There are many prayer books available in print and the new “Lutheran Service Book” (hymnal) has a great selection of prayers for private or family use. A personal favorite is “A Dairy of Private Prayer” by John Baillie. I use Baillie’s book almost every morning and I appreciate the style with which he puts words together.
Another reason that I use Baillie’s book is that he helps me pray about things that might never cross my mind. I might not, for example, think to pray for the unemployed unless I was seeking work or I may not pray for the fruitfulness of the earth unless I had just planted my garden. In short, written prayers can help us to pray for ALL people according to their need.
Whether you use written prayers or pray in your own words I hope that you will take time today to pray. You don’t need to ask God for anything; you don’t even need to thank Him for anything. Find a place where you can open your heart to your heavenly Father and make a connection with the God who made you and redeemed you.