We may have many concerns on prayer; which prayer to pray, how to pray, which prayer for what purpose and so on. It seems complicated, but at its heart, prayer is a free, open conversation with God. We know that there need to be trust, freedom, and a good heart if a good conversation is to happen. When Jesus taught us how to pray, he has asked us to call God, ‘Our Father.’ That is the heart of prayer. Because, prayer, even before being formed into a conversation, is a trusting relationship. It is the confidence of the children of God with which they open up their minds and hearts.
We live in different situations of life, and the experiences that come from these situations do form the nature and content of our prayer. Our work places, works, tables, shops, classrooms, bedroom, kitchen, roads we travel - all of them have to come in our prayers; our worries, our burdens, distractions, temptations and even our secret sins, and our hopes - they are all in our hearts and are open before God and are seen by God. The key is that we bring them to God only if we have found a deep trust in Him. When our prayers are rooted in that trust, they become a meaningful act of reliance. But without that trust, our prayers get distorted.
True prayer is not about using God for our benefit; not a like customer making a demand on the number of prayers invested. Prayer is not a magic spell that changes things as we desire. Prayer is also not a success mantra where we can get immediate success and victories. The situations we mentioned before are brought to God, not because God may have a magical walk and everything will be alright for us, but is a sign of our freedom and hope in God. Prayer seeks goodness for all, life for all; the desire for our good is not granted by the destruction of any others, even of so called evil-doers. God desires the good of all.
Often many of us struggle with a reality that God has not answered our prayers. Sometime, we might have even prayed for many years and have not seen any answer. Is there something wrong with our prayers or our lives? We may have got many answers from many people – faith was not enough, may be there are some sin bondages, perhaps there needs more purifications, God’s time has not come etc. These explanations present the effect of prayer as a scientific definition or mathematical equation where something is wrong or not fitting well. These explanations have made us feel ashamed, guilty, or fearful or more worried or anxious. Jesus would never do that. He did not equate prayer like that. His prayer, and his teaching on prayer encouraged us to ‘pray unceasingly,’ deepening our trust still talking to God with the confidence that God is good.
Very often we hear about the ‘power’ of prayer and about powerful prayers. These expressions have not touched the heart of prayer. Prayer is not a formula for a perfect, easy life. Prayer does not guarantee for a tension-free, victorious life where everything goes smoothly and we never struggle. Prayer doesn't remove these struggles. Prayer is the total openness of ourselves and our life with all that it contains. We present them before the abundance of life. It’s in those moments of vulnerability and trust that we find strength, peace, and the courage to face whatever comes our way.
Though being in the arms of the father, the child of God continues to hunger and asks for daily bread. We do fail and are in need to be forgiven. We still have to find the grace to forgive others. We still struggle with temptations and go through hardships. And yes, we still suffer because of the evil and pain that bitterness of humanity has created in the world.
Prayer is a conversation with God, Prayer is a trusting relationship with God, Prayer is the total openness of ourselves, and prayer is an active responsibility of the children of God. Like our expectations that God listens to our prayers, it is our Christian duty to compassionately listen with our hearts to the cry of the world. There, the unanswered prayers could be heard or supported, or consoled if the children of God absorb the nature of God and actively respond. Then, the prayer and worship become a living relationship after the heart of God.
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