Prayer is not a one-sided conversation. A conversation cannot be sustained if only one person is talking. Do you ever catch yourself rattling off a list of praises and/or requests then wrapping things up with a quick "Amen" before the Lord is even allowed time to respond? I do this daily. It's a bad habit! Prayer is an intimate exchange between the Divine and His creation. Henri Nouwen puts it well: "Let's break out of our isolation and realize that Someone who dwells in the center of our beings wants to listen with love to all that occupies and preoccupies our minds."

Prayer is not an occasional impulse. I have this vision of a 14 year old girl before her father, hand open, palm up, saying, "Can I have ten bucks to go see a movie, dad--please? I know I used up all my allowance, but I promise I won't ask again." Are we like this? Do we go to our Father, expectant, with urgency, but with [spiritual] immaturity, only during those times of greatest need? Walter A. Mueller says this, "Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble: prayer is a life attitude." Trouble or quick convenience, prayer was not designed to be our last ditch effort. (Of course, out of God's grace and goodness, he STILL hears and responds to these prayers.)

As you engage the Creator, keep in conversation with him throughout your day. Acknowledge him when you wake, when you are in deep discussion with your spouse, when you are found frustrated with your children, when you are amongst non-believers in the work place, when you are weary, and when you are filled with joy. Prayer is not a single strand loose from the fabric of life, but is woven throughout, adding strength, beauty, and utility to what God has created for you.

Prayer is not a waste of time. As mentioned in the previous blog post, we are a culture of give me, show me, and tell me -- AND, DO IT NOW! We, for the most part, aren't a people who like to wait. Perhaps it's not the discipline of praying itself that causes such difficulty; maybe it is the discipline of waiting that trips us up all of the time. We don't have the time to wait on an answer, we don't have the time to wait on a Divine Intervention, we don't have the time to sit and speak to someone who may take his sweet time responding, ultimately, we don't have the time for prayer. It's interesting: time seems to evolved to become overvalued, yet grossly under appreciated.

Well, let's set the ol' record straight. In any given 24 hour time period, you do not have any more time than I do. Conversely, I do not have any more time than you do. Funny how that works? Friends, each morning when you wake, you've been given the promise of a new day. How you choose to live out each moment is entirely up to you. Know that God desires to bring order to your day and to the difficult decisions you are faced with. Prayer is not a waste of time. Moments spent in sweet communion and conversation with your Savior-- never a waste. He has good things in store for you (& me).

This list of "nots" could wane on and on. But, how productive would we be in our pursuit of the "how to" of prayer if we focus entirely on what prayer isn't. Coming up in our next post, we'll discuss the practice of prayer.

Coming next: The Practice of Prayer