So I have something to admit.
I know the Bible says to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
But, folks, to be honest,
I am so sick of praying.
We pray a lot here on The World Race.
And I mean a lot.
We pray for each other.
We pray for other people.
We pray for healing.
We pray for prophecy.
We pray for protection.
We pray for salvation.
We pray for the small things.
And sometimes we even pray for fried chicken instead of tortillas.
But I find myself actually getting tired of prayer.
Before you freak out, hear me out, though.
After spending some time on it, I realize I’m not sick of praying
so much as I am exhausted with the religion I have allowed
my prayer life to be so corrupted with.
And this is a problem, Church, that I believe has roots
deeper than we know.
I’ve been asking a lot of questions, lately.
Like can anyone please tell me why the hell
we have to close our eyes when we pray?
Or bow our head?
Or stand up?
Why, when praying, does every person’s vocabulary
immediately expand and they’re voice change to become…what?
Passionate?
Concerned?
Godly?
You know what I mean.
I’ve been searching the Bible to see how people prayed back then.
And, honestly, it doesn’t sound anything like what I hear in the church.
I always thought the verse Matthew 6:7 was funny.
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Read Matthew 6:5-8 for more on prayer.)
Sound familiar?
I mean, prayer is just talking to God, right?
What if we actually talked to our Daddy the same way
we talk to our friends or a family member.
Would I close my eyes? Nope.
Would I bow my head? Nope.
Would I stand up just to initiate a conversation? Nope.
I mean, its ridiculous right?
Everyone is so wild about God being right here with us.
But nobody truly acts like He is.
I just want to have a conversation with my Father for once in my life!
I don’t want to worry about how good it sounds
or whether or not my eyes are open
or even if I’m doing what everyone else is.
God doesn’t, anyhow.
Church, I have a request to make. (And, yes, I’m talking to you.)
Stop telling me what to do when I pray.
It’s between me and my Dad. So stay out of it.
If I want to sit down and look around while I do it,
Let me.
If I start laughing in the middle because
God reminded me of something funny,
Let it be.
If I pause in the middle of my prayer because
I don’t want to waste time speaking useless words
just to sound better to the people around me,
Wait for me.
Maybe God’s been standing right next to us,
waiting for us to talk to Him this whole time.
But we’ve been too busy casting our prayers
to some Deity far far away who sits on top of clouds
with his legs crossed and just listens to everyone
and never bothers to answer back.
Maybe, just maybe, God is tired of being ignored through our prayers
and is ready to sit down, eyes open and have a conversation with us.
Crazy thought, I know.
Well, Daddy, my ears are open.
So, how are you doing today, God?
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The World Race
Catch me on Twitter at NinjaZachWR
or see my pictures on Instagram at NinjaZach.
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If you would like to check out my new blog, with everything from the World Race and all my missions since then and even now in Japan, please click on this link for my blog The Vagabond Missionary. Thank you always for your support!
