In these fright-filled times, I find myself with more names on my prayer list than I’ve had before, as people I care about (and people I’ve only heard about from others) are faced with pretty daunting challenges, which I want to ask God to help, or protect. Sometimes -hopefully- these people face the kind of hardships that only come along once in a lifetime.
But what are we really doing, when we pray for someone? Do we just recite their name, and ask God to intervene on their behalf, and move on, content that we’ve “done something”? Sent “thought and prayers”, as politicians seem so fond of doing these days? I believe there may be more involved than just this.
This isn’t Biblical, merely my conjecture. But the God of the Bible is said to be a relational God; that is, He wants to be in a relationship with His children. So it follows, in my mind, that He wants more from prayer than a mere reading, a listing, a recitation of names and needs. I believe He wants heartfelt caring, a deep concern, for the subjects we are bringing before Him. I think He wants us to feel pain or need or joy or love for the person or the need we are praying for. Roll them around in our heart, take a few seconds to feel about them, to remember the emotion we have for them, as we lift them up to bring the attention of Almighty God upon them. Keep in mind, He already knows all about that person or that situation, because of course, He is El Roi. He knows the end from the beginning and all things in between. So we bring no news to Him. The only thing we bring to God when we pray…is our caring.
I believe that’s also why He wants worship first, because He wants us to care about Him, to recognize that He exists, that He loves us and we Him, and while He is the God of all the majesties of the universe, He knows and cares about each of us individually. We have that bond with our Creator.
So when we pray, I think God wants us to pray not just with our mind, with our thoughts, but also, and perhaps even more importantly, He wants us to pray with our heart. He wants us to care about the things we pray and talk to Him about, even as He cares about us.
The Cool of the Evening 