Day 6: Hello Monday! Let's Pray...

Hello Monday! I trust that you all had a good weekend. I know ours flew by entirely too quickly! It was jam-packed with some intriguing insight regarding prayer for those who attend our church here in the 'Boro. Our pastor offered some very useful tools and steps to making sure we are praying correctly. I will pull some of these into the blog posts this week, but the first is a major one on which I could probably write for days!

When we pray, we have to ask, first and foremost, "Who is God?" When we pray, are we creating an accurate image of God in our prayer lives? Not sure? Well, let's do a quick check....

When you pray, are you running through "God's Grocery Line" as you quickly pass off your "I wanna" list as he scans them in and bags them up? Does it sound something like this:

God, I would like you to bless my family. (:::beep:::)

God I need a new car. (::::beep:::)

Please turn all the lights green on my way to work. (::::beep:::)

....and so on as we run down the long grocery list of wants and needs?

So, here is the deal. I am guilty of turning my prayers into one liners at the lights on the way to work, but it hit home in a big way yesterday with a simple question from Pastor Mike. Here you go:

If  others were to form an image of God based off of your prayer life, what image would be formed?

Let that sink in for a minute.

Would others be forming an image of an Almighty checkout cashier? Yes, it would look as incredibly silly as it sounds out loud! Or would they form an image of a giant genie God in a bottle that simply blinks and grants wishes upon command? A Santa God? I send a list and he picks the top 3 things on my list to approve...

Before you check out of this blog forever because you are feeling a bit guilty, look at what the Bible does for us. Remember it is not a book of rules, but tools. Jesus shows us how to pray as do many folks in this Book. We'll dive a little deeper into some of them this week, but today I want you to look at Jesus in Matthew 6:5-13. His prayer is one of TRUST and simplicity. He begins his prayer by telling God how amazing he thinks he is. "Hallowed be your name..." That means his name is on his tongue with respect and reverence. He is speaking as though this is a conversation, but he is addressing God as his Father in heaven whom he regards with the highest of honor. 

God just wants our heart this morning. This week we'll dive in to how to pray a little bit more, but we're starting there. Who is God to you when you pray? Do you revere and honor his name? Make it a point when you pray this week to begin with letting God know you know his role. He is Almighty and powerful. He is capable of creating a vast universe as well as the most intricate and delicate flower. That never ceases to amaze me.

Tomorrow we'll discuss to mortal men, Moses and Abraham, who both changed the mind of God simply by praying. What a legacy to leave, right?! Prayer is powerful if you do it correctly. Let's do.

I am praying for you this morning that your morning has started off on the right note with prayer and diving into the word. Maybe a little exercise to boot?!