Simple Prayer

Oct 28, 2022

There are more than plenty of biblical passages on prayer.

Due to that fact, there’s also no shortage of places to grapple with the sacred mysteries of prayer. That being said though, it probably can’t get more concise or straightforward than Paul’s direction to the church at Philippi:

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 4:5-7

One of the potentially frustrating aspects of scripture is that it rarely reads like IKEA instructions. We can frequently find ourselves thinking: “If God would only lay it out, step by step, then I’d do it!”

This passage is direct proof that it’s not that simple of an excuse. Right here, it’s spelled out for us, step-by-step; but generally speaking, we just don’t follow the steps.

Do not be anxious about anything. Pray about everything. Most of us desire to live by these words, but most of us end up spending way too much of our precious time swimming within anxious thoughts than we spend surrendering them in prayer. If it’s spelled out right there, so clear and direct, why don’t we take God up on such a sweet and satisfying exchange?

The short answer, I think, is that we just don’t buy it.

We might find ourselves thinking: “Come on, it can’t just be that simple.”

In a world where anxiety can frequently be the soundtrack humming under the current of modern life, this is beyond necessary to address and assess within our hearts.

I can say, just being honest here, that I’m way more familiar with anxiety than I am with peace. I’m beyond better acquainted with a “beneath the surface” drive to take hold of the circumstances overwhelming my life than I am with finding peace in the lack of control that comes with the freedom that our Father promises we’ll find in prayer. I’m definitely not a “prayer master” on the opposite side of this great divide, offering you a miracle phrase or idea. I’m right there with you.

God promises us peace - a supernatural, unexplainable kind of peace that can’t be reasoned out by logic - that meets us in a place of, at times, crippling anxiety.

That all being said, these are three reasons why I believe, especially in this age of ruling anxiety, we should be praying more than ever:

**First off - pray because you’re overwhelmed.**

The greatest “social sin” of the modern, secularized world, is being naive. It can at times feel like belief is out, and cynicism is in.

Many of us have been groomed by the post-Enlightenment world of deconstruction that doesn’t trust God anymore, and also has plenty of reasons not to trust people either. The result of this is a multitude of generations of people who find more safety in pretending they don’t need either one: I can trust only myself, so I will guide myself and be enough for myself.

Jesus tells us that we’ll know a tree by its fruit. What’s the fruit of that idea of self-sufficiency found in the modern person? We’re overwhelmed. So many people I meet I know are “drowning” in “their thing”. And it doesn’t matter if “your thing” is an artistic movement, profit margins, clients, or raising a family. We often can’t see past “our thing” because, whatever it may happen to be, is all-consuming.

We’ve avoided the practice of becoming naive, but at the cost of becoming overwhelmed. The lie that we thought would free us - really just swapped our jail cell.

Our prayers are meant to exchange our overwhelmed lives for transcendent peace. We aren’t meant to shrink God down and drag Him into our cramped cell, but to raise the expectation of who He is and the power that can be found in prayer.

Lives that are constantly overwhelmed should push us towards prayer in its purest and rawest form, rather than direct us towards safe, calculated prayers that keep us from potential disappointment and potential freedom.

The second reason we should pray is because trust comes before faith.

The thing that calms fear is trust. Faith is the assurance of what we may be hoping for. Trust is confidence in the character of who God is.

Before any of us can have faith that God will provide an answer to a question or request, we simply have to learn to trust Him. Trust gives us the room to say: “I may not understand what You’re doing right here and now, but I do trust that You’re good.”

Without trust, we build a wall to protect our lives from the very God we’re supposed to pray to. We might carefully nuance our prayers in an effort to guard ourselves against potential disappointment. With trust, we can come fully to the God whose character sometimes doesn't’ seem to match His silence, saying with an honesty that may feel uncomfortable: “Where are You?”

Jesus didn’t reveal a God we can fully understand, but he did reveal a God we can perfectly trust.

Trust is the assurance that our God hears and He cares. We can trust our God who doesn’t always make the pain go away… but holds it alongside us.

The third reason to pray is this: The only way to get it wrong is by trying to get it right.

Another way to put this: The only way to mess it up is to try to not mess it up.

At the heart of it, prayer is simple. We’re called to bring the needs we feel to God, and talk to Him about them. The most straightforward way I can put it is to just talk with God about what’s on your life, mind and heart. You can talk to God like your closest friend, because that’s what He wants you to do. You can show up angry. You can ask wild questions. You can find joy! You can just listen. You can unload all your baggage from that week or month or year or lifetime.

There’s no need to try to sound holy or pure or spiritual. Prayer isn’t a formulated monologue, it’s a true conversation.