Recently I had a conversation with a good friend of mine who bluntly expressed his sentiments towards prayer – that it may or may not work. Although I’d probably never say anything like this, how often have I lived these very words? How often have I prayed with the quiet thought – “This may or may not work…”
What does that show about my thought process and approach to prayer?
I could think of plenty to say about it, but the one thing that comes to mind is – It’s manipulative. Instead of prayer being a time of communication with God, at times I’ve treated it as one more tool in my bag o’ tricks to control the world around me. 
“Oh Lord, please don’t let it rain today; the inconvenience of it all..!”
I’m not suggesting we stop taking small things up in prayer. No, not at all. What I’m saying is instead of approaching God as some genie in a bottle, we should enjoy every occasion of prayer as a privilege to communicate and grow in relationship with the God of the Universe.
Many times I find myself “praying” like so: I throw my ideas into the sky, give God a chance to get on board with the goal I have, then I walk away and move on to the next steps to achieve said goal. It’s actually pretty ridiculous when you think about it. How many of us would walk up to someone we love, say a bunch of stuff, then immediately walk away, completely unbothered for so much as acknowledgement, much less opinion? My actions and approach to prayer say loud and clear something my mouth may never admit – I think “prayer may or may not work.” And to further unpack that, by “work” I mean God will work to do what I want to have done in the way that I have specifically envisioned it. I mean that He will put special cosmic blessing dust on everything that I do in my own enhanced strength, to ensure that my unilateral decisions thrive unhampered. Yes, pen to paper (or whatever the cyber equivalent of that might be) it's ridiculous.
I’m pretty sure that while I’m on the WR, I’ll encounter situations for which I have no tools. And standing there with my empty bag o' tricks, I’m going to find out what it actually means to pray in earnest. But why wait? Trust hinges strongly on relationship, and prayer is one of the main ways we find God offering relationship. It’s prudent that I start building that trust now; not waiting for disaster to strike, but being cognizant of my motives, approach and my heart in prayer right now today.
What do you think prayer looks like when you’re not trying to “work” God?
