Dear Faith Family,
On Sunday, we concluded our yearly Kingdom Epiphanies with Jesus teaching us to pray. His prayer/parable/pronouncement response to a disciple's question on the most common and commonly frustrating endeavor of kingdom life was, Lord willing, quite freeing.
In thirteen quick verses, Jesus removes all preparations for prayer and simply invites us into communion with Father, Son, and Spirit. Without pretense telling us to "ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be open to you" (Lk. 11:9). It seems nothing is prohibiting us from engaging God for our most fundamental and necessary needs and desires, and the joy of satisfaction found in His generous Spirit.
But let's be honest for a moment, prayer is something we all struggle with. It may be true that we are invited into a candid, caring, and personal conversation with God as the basic means of abiding in Him, yet we (myself included) often confess that "Prayer is dry," that "Prayer is difficult," and even "I don't know how to pray."
Usually, when we make such confessions, we do so longing for something different and hoping that there is a solution to satisfy. Usually, too, the solution comes in the form of a book, program, or principles on prayer. None of which are bad, by the way. Well, some of the books and programs and principles are a bit silly, and a few are disgraceful, but generally, our go-to resources are not completely unhelpful!
But here is the thing, we don't learn to pray through resources and tools; rather, we learn to pray through praying together. The best way to learn to pray, and to improve your prayer life, is not to get a book but get a prayer partner.
"Prayer partner" may sound too traditional for some of us, but the reality is, we learn and remain fresh in prayer when we pray with other people. While prayer is personal, it's also relational, and we learn how to relate by doing things like living, playing, and praying with others.
I remember when I learned to pray. I had at that point been praying for years on my own; in quiet times and on occasion praying as I listened to parents and pastors pray. Even so, I wouldn't say prayer was natural for me, though it was routine. I had many of the words but not much of a relationship. Then I met a guy named Mike Fechner.
Mike didn't begin to follow Jesus until later in life, at which point he left the business world and entered the church world, but his worldly (i.e., non-churchy) ease of relating never really wore off. Every Wednesday afternoon, Mike invited me and a handful of other young men to his office to pray with him. No lesson, no agenda, no formula, just inviting awareness of God-With-Us and then start talking...i.e., praying.
Usually, Mike would start things off. I think he did so purposely, not intending to control but to cultivate. And Mike would pray for anything and everything, anyone, and everyone. Nothing was too big or too small. And the crazy thing was, as Mike prayed, you got the idea that he was bringing us into a conversation that had been going on a long time, and that he was glad to have us jump into with him.
I am sure we (myself more than the other guys!) prayed some pretty silly prayers. Timid prayers. Self-centered prayers. Self-righteous prayers. Naïve prayers, and the like. But Mike never "corrected" our prayers; he just simply kept praying with us. Over time we began to pray with similar freedom and richness from the relationship Mike invited us into.
For nearly a year of Wednesday afternoons, we learned to pray by praying together. We learned and experienced the lavishness of what Jesus said as truth, "For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened" (Lk. 11:10), all because Mike invited us to pray with him.
So, faith family, here is my challenge to you: find someone to pray with. Maybe you are like me and in need of someone like Mike. There are several "Mikes" in our faith family; women and men who we can learn a lot from by simply praying with them. So ask them. If you don't know who they are, ask me, and I'll point you in the right direction.
Maybe you're like Mike, and prayer (though it has its struggles) is more natural for you; well, be like Mike and invite others to pray with you. And maybe, just maybe, we'll all get to "Be like Mike" in the depth and ease of our relationship with Jesus and one another.
Love you, faith family! God bless.