Prayer Revisited

By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life     Psalm 42:8

I was having a discussion with a friend recently about prayer. Through the course of that discussion, we shared our thoughts on what prayer really is. We agreed that often we focus too much on a somewhat transactional understanding of prayer. That is, I ask something of God on behalf of myself or another person. Certainly, there are many aspects to prayer- adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication- the ACTS model- and supplication is only one part.

However, I think that prayer is really about personal spiritual formation. That is, the role of prayer is conforming me into what God has created me to be. Prayer is not about changing God’s mind about anything; it is about changing my mind about everything.

To the extent that I can conform my thinking closer to the way God sees the world, I am being transformed into who he made me to be.

Just a few musings on a cold winter day my friends, be well!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the opportunity to become closer to you in prayer, Amen.