Prayer has been portrayed as a glamorous and prestigious aspect of the Christian faith. Some may even go as far as studying others on how a prayer should sound. With all of the advancements of modern day technology, we have stunningly forgotten that Jesus has already instructed us on how to pray, how it should look, and how it sounds. So, this frees us from thinking that we need to buy several books and watch countless YouTube videos when what we need is freely found in God’s Word. The danger of outsourcing the fundamentals of prayer is that we may start to believe that prayer is to be modeled through a man made version and forget that its origin is from God alone. This is not to say we can’t read books on prayer but it shouldn’t act as a substitute for the Bible.

Prayer has been a means for God to communicate with His people for centuries. As we communicate, we learn that what we may go to God in prayer about may not always align with what He desires for us. There are times where we could be asking for a way out of something to avoid dealing with people when God is desiring for His Love to be made perfect in us by staying in that situation. We know that we should have a heart of prayer for other believers in the same faith, our government, the poor, the world, and even our enemies. Sometimes, it is easier to pick and choose who we will pray for because we are hurt by what people may have done to us. God understands that we hurt but He told us to show mercy and praying for people who hurt you on the job, in your family, and even in church is what we are called to do. There is no better person to study in regards to that kind of prayer other than Jesus.

Jesus said Father, “Forgive them…” regarding a crowd of people who found enjoyment in crucifying Jesus. He basically said that they lack understanding of the deed they are doing towards Me. So, forgive them! That is a prayer of Mercy that we rarely see being demonstrated in our own lives. Yes, this is something we grow and mature into doing and the only way to do that is to ask God to search our hearts about our prayer life.

Lord, show me where I have my heart closed towards a brother or sister in Christ. Help me pray for the person that continuously mistreats me at work. Heavenly Father, show me where I have allowed my feelings to keep me from praying for my government leaders. These are just a few suggestions but let your time with God allow Him to lead you to go deeper in prayer for others. We don’t want to be that Christian that has a form of godliness but denies His Power. This looks like being selective in who we pray for and not remembering that God’s Mercy selected us. Let this be in the forefront of our minds when we are bowing to God in prayer.