Prayer Ramblings

Prayer Ramblings

Last night as I was praying, I realized how often I was repeating the same points.  I was quickly convicted because I realized that the repetition was an underlying lack of faith.  Using this example, if you can imagine faith within a glass, then my faith only filled up less than the rim.  If my faith were full (although building faith is a process), then putting a request before God should only need to be done once since at that point where my faith is full one request would be sufficient.

And then I also realized my words were many.

“When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” - Proverbs 10:19 (this verse is not specifically referring to prayer, but to all instances in life when you have the opportunity to speak.  Therefore, I used it to refer to prayer.)

I became convicted again.  Because of the verse above, I realized that not only the repetition was a result of sin (lack of faith) but also realized that I am speaking to the God of the universe.  He is in heaven, I am not.  I was not frugal with my words – and this was a lack of sufficient fear.  If my fear of God were full (although building fear is a process that parallels our understanding), then my words would be few since at the point where my words are many, I forget that I am rambling to the God of this universe and sin is bound to be present through my loose tongue (See Fear of the Lord).

So I took a step back and slowed down.  I tried to remember the real reason why I was praying.  It was beyond a request and beyond my redundant ramblings.  God knows my heart before going into prayer.  Unfortunately I took my own route of praying and decided to avoid the recommended prayer framework – the “Our Father”.  And then I realized that all that i want to do is reveal my heart to the Lord so that I can build a better relationship with Him.  But what can I possibly reveal to God that he doesn’t already know?

Since God recognizes that we are in our weak states until the resurrection, maybe he wants us to reveal our hearts to Him not because he needs to know, but because we need to edify our faith.  I’ll admit – the repetition, although not perfect, builds my faith and allows me to rest contently knowing that I spoke all that I had on my heart.  Had I not rambled, my prayers would have seemed unfulfilling due to my lack of faith.

Therefore, I realized that by praying we are strengthening our spirit and building our relationship with God.  Although this may seem obvious, it’s really not so obvious.