Welcome to the PWA

At church Sunday, Max Lucado confessed to being a recovering member of PWA (Prayer Wimps Anonymous.) You can see the video of the entire message at  http://oakhillschurch.com/media-2/ . The crowd chuckled, and as the laughter died down, you could see it on every face. It was as if the entire crowd wanted to admit....."So Am I!"

The Christian discipline of prayer has been talked about, written about, studied, memorized, and even prayed about, and for the most part, we Christians don't get it.  Prayer is mentioned in the writings of those chosen to be led by the Spirit to write scripture. It is apparent from the New Testament writers that prayer was a vital part of the Christian's existence. They got that idea from Jesus himself who not only taught his disciples to pray, but also spent time in prayer himself. 

We have had several blog articles in the past on the subject, we've heard sermons on it, we have even marveled at some of our Christian brothers and sisters at how much their prayer life means to them.  Yet when we are honest about it, we join Max in the PWA.   I must tell you Max was quick to point out he was a recovering member of the "tongue-in-cheek" group, so join me in saying the same thing. It's a sign that we do not wish to be a prayer wimp forever, so we can join those determined that we are going to learn more about prayer, and utilize the power of prayer in our lives. 

Another thought crossed my mind when I was thinking about prayer. In the entire scheme of things from creation to the return of Jesus, God desires his people to communicate with him.  It is a simple task for our hearts and minds to become focused on conversation with the God of the universe.  He has established in scripture that we are much more important and valuable than the birds that fly, and yet he knows every detail about every one of them. He clothes the lilies of the field and knows everything about each one so it stands to reason if he considers us more valuable than them, he is going to take care of us. 

So it boils down to this:  In times of praise, times of worship, and in our day to day activities, God is interested in us and desires that we talk to him about everything. Maybe this is why Paul thought prayer was so important for the Philippians when he told them, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

It's also interesting to note when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, there were no classes or courses they needed to take. He just prayed what we know as "The Lord's Prayer" as an example. I think Jesus was teaching them prayer is not the difficult duty we make it out to be. It is an acknowledgement of God, a time to express thanksgiving, a time to ask for our needs, and a time for us to anticipate answers.  

Give it a try. Let's join together in becoming more diligent in prayer and watch God change us from a prayer wimp to a prayer warrior. 

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