February 2015 – Pastor Eric’s Letter

The early followers of Jesus spent much time in the temple…praising God. (Acts 2:46-47)

This means that one of the things they were doing was praying. We have talked about sharing, rejoicing and fellowshipping, now we want to look at prayer.

God really wants us to pray. It is how we maintain a close relationship with God. And so a lot of our worship is prayer. And so we pray around our meals. And so we pray when we need help, and for our family and friends. And so we pray in the morning and we pray in the evening. James writes, “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them…” (James 5:13-14)

When my dad was getting quite weak from cancer people would come by and visit him. One time one of them was going to pray for him and he told my dad to sit down so he would not get too tired. My dad told him he was going to stay standing and that his friend should remember that God hears short prayers just as good as long ones. This reminds me of what Jesus said right before he taught the disciples how to pray, “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:7-8)

So we don’t need to pray long prayers listing all our needs and requests. On the other hand, Jesus would sometimes go off by himself to pray for hours at a time. “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountain to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” (Luke 6:12) What sort of prayers was Jesus praying? Talking to God, thinking about God, listening to God, daydreaming? Probably all of these things. And, what it did was refresh him, strengthen him, guide him and motivate him. Our lives can be so full, and busy and complicated with so many distractions and commitments how can we possibly spend much time in prayer or even focus or concentrate for very long? And yet, if we don’t, how can we order and prioritize the complexity. How do we get refreshed and motivated? And where do we get guidance and strength?

Lately for my daily prayer time it has been helpful to focus in five areas: 1…confession. 2…people. 3…praise/thanks. 4…church/world. 5…listening in silence, picturing God in my mind, waiting for a word. Each day is different in terms of which subject takes up more of the time, and which subject I start with and end with. And yes, some days (many days) I forget and most days I don’t even make it to the end, but like I used to say to my kids, don’t be like me.

Pastor Eric