“I can’t do anything, but I’ll pray for you.”

That line is familiar and used again and again. We treat prayer as a last resort. The line comes out just as smooth as “bless your heart” and with the same meaning when it is said without action following.

What is prayer?

Before diving too deep into a rant about how shallow society is let’s step back and discuss what prayer is.

Prayer is simple.

There is no formula or ritual needed to pray. The veil has been torn and we are able to freely communicate with the God of the universe who created you and me.

Prayer is a form of communication with our God.

Who is prayer for?

Prayer is designed as a way for broken humans to talk to an unbroken God.

In short, prayer is for everyone and it is something that the believer will have a natural desire for just as you have a desire to talk to those you spend time with.

How do you pray?

Talk. String words together into sentences if you like. Say just one word. Say no words. Think. Be. Listen. Read Scripture. Meditate on Scripture. Sit in silence. Sing praise songs. Write praise songs. Sit outside and look at creation. Dwell in the presence of God. Focus on Him.

There is no rule set. You simply live out your life in relationship and communication with the God of the universe who is with you always and will never forsake you.

Back to the rant…

Okay, now that we are on the same grounds about what prayer is, let’s get back to fighting societal norms and not falling into a false understanding of the power of prayer.

Things we know:

• Prayer is communication with God.
• God is all powerful.

Therefore:

• Prayer is communication with God who is all powerful.

Prayer should be our first step in every situation.

The moment you wake up in the morning before your eyes are even fully opened, you should be thanking God for giving you breath and another day. The second you hear good news, you should be praising God. The second everything falls apart, cry out to Him for help and guidance. The second you forget about His presence in your life and fall back into the sinful habits of your old self, beg Him to forgive you and give you a greater desire to be in fellowship with Him. The second a friend reaches out about a joy or anguish, stop and pray. The second people start getting on your nerves, ask to see them as God does with loving patience. The second you see something beautiful, thank the God who created it. The second you fall and scrape your knee, thank God for all He has blessed you with and how He works through the pains of life.

Pray aloud. Pray in your head. Pray always.

Fear God and respect His holiness.

Be thankful that He listens to your cries.

Pray prayers of intercession for those who do not know Him.

Pray with transparency and honesty as He knows all and loves you through it all.

Now there is nothing wrong with telling someone you will pray for them, but be careful not to act as if prayer is just a band-aid with no real power. Prayer is terribly powerful and should be held in the highest regards as God has the power to do all things.

Do not belittle its power or the power of the God behind it.

When you tell someone you will pray for them, stop right then and there and pray with them. Before you open your mouth to speak aloud ask God to guide your mind and give you the words to say. After you say “amen” aloud, continue in prayer that God would guide and use you for His glory in this situation. When they come to mind a week from now or even a month later, pray for them.

Now, I am not asking each of you to become a monk and pray for people 24/7 with elaborate prayers of intercession, but I am asking you to evaluate your heart perspective in regards to prayer. We are called to live on this Earth and love others and that requires physical action as well as prayer, which we must learn to balance. But we should be careful not to fall trap to the extreme of doing one without the other.

All that we do should be started, continued, and ended in prayer. Prayer is as necessary to our life as water and oxygen. We need to be in communion and communication with God so that we can glorify Him and surrender our lives to Him. We must learn to see and seek Him first in all situations.

Here is a short life program I wrote with my 6.5 years of coding experience:

Actually that program is kind of stupid. It could be simplified to the following:

To God be the glory forever and ever! Amen.