Do you take prayer personally? I think we should.
Isn’t it during times of prayer that we fix our attention on and enter into conversation with the almighty, all knowing, and everywhere present God?
Does that frighten anyone else? Think about it—prayer is an activity where we open ourselves up in dialogue with the one God who knows everything, is everywhere, and can do anything.
Prayer is deeply personal. Henri Nouwen wrote:
Praying is no easy matter. It demands a relationship in which you allow someone other than yourself to enter into the very centre of your person, to see there what you would rather leave in darkness, and to touch there what you would rather leave untouched.1
And prayer can be profoundly transformational. I suggest you stay away from prayer, imagining the risk involved, unless of course you want to be changed. Our engagement with God in prayer is personal, but His purpose is not to lord His knowledge over us, adding fuel to the fire of guilt. Prayer accesses the power of God to change things, primarily to change us.
If we desire our circumstances to change we must often first address a need for personal change. Our conversation with Him allows His power to work in and through us in miraculous ways, revealing His nature, revealing His character, and ultimately revealing His grace and power to change us.
If we are honest, much of our time in prayer is spent hoping to get. Perhaps more time ought to be spent desiring to be.
Prayer is personal. It ought to be personal. Prayer is an intimate interaction that not only provides us a means to communicate with God, but also reciprocally demands our response. What we risk is very personal, what we risk is God’s desire for change.
Prayer changes us.
Just a thought…
