In an earlier blog I said, “Prayer is how we approach God.” Well, what you believe about God often determines how you approach. 

People tend to think that prayer is asking God for things. And to be fair in the old Shakespearean English “I pray thee . . .” did mean: “I’m making the following request  of you.” The verb “to pray” means “to ask.” It is different from the verb “to ask,” in that the thing asked for is not just information, but an action. 

As such in most churches when you hear mention of prayer, it is in connection with prayer requests. There is often a little card to write down your prayer request, and someone will pray for you. In our Bible studies and Sunday school classes, we spend an hour gathering prayer requests and 10 minutes praying them.

Then there is God’s supposed side of the conversation: I prayed, immediately went back to my daily routine, and if I see things go as I hoped, then God said “yes.” If I don’t see things go my way, then it wasn’t His will and He said “no.”

I think many people picture an audience with a king when they pray. They are granted the opportunity to go into His throne room and state their case.  But He’s a busy man, other people are waiting, so get straight to the point and then move along. When the king has made his decision you will receive notification by official memorandum, or not.  It’s an uncomfortable experience, and a vague form of communication. And worst of all! It suggests that God is distant, uninterested, and that I am unimportant to Him, which simply isn’t true.

Jesus prayed for hours. Sometimes all night. Joshua only left Moses side, so that He could remain in the tent of meeting with the Lord. David delighted in the courts of the Lord, he wanted to live there, and he established 24/7 worship in an open tabernacle so that the people could dwell with God!

In my blog post “Litmus Test” I talked about an hour with God as a measure of our growing love for God. Today I want to build on that and encourage you with a different relationship to God that opens prayer up to a completely different experience.

Jesus taught us to pray intimately with God, “Our Father.” The above picture of a throne room full of important people, officials, dignitaries, and throngs of subjects. All that grandeur and majesty and power is true. God is all those things and His royal court is impressive, beyond Buckingham, or Versaille or the Forbidden City can hope. But we don’t get in line and wait hours for our two minute interview. We run to the front of the line, hop in His lap and tell Him everything. We are His children. He looks forward to our “interruptions.” And often He is hoping that we will linger. 

It’s ok to sit with Him awhile, even if you say nothing at all. It’s ok to ask a question, and then just let your mind wander a little. Slow down, relax, browse through the day, through your bible or other devotional material, even the newspaper in conversation with Him, ask questions, and let them hang there in the air awhile. I promise, you’ll enjoy it! And over time you’ll learn to hear something you didn’t before. It probably won’t be an audible voice, but it will be something special!