Pray The Simple Prayer

Every day as we go through our daily routine, we will either have a phenomenal day, an average day, or a rotten day. Life comes to us in pieces and sometimes it falls to pieces - it’s like a toy, with instructions that say ‘some assembly required.’ Our instruction manual doesn’t come in a plastic baggy attached to us as we enter the world. But, there is a written set of instructions over 2000 years old that we can look to.

Giving Him the Wheel

It’s a stormy world out there, and we all need an expert pilot to help us navigate it. Who is your pilot? What is your assembly process? With all of my imperfections, vices, and trials and tribulations, I absolutely have to have an expert pilot. Someone who has been there and done that; someone that knows the course and can keep me from harm. Without that pilot, I would be lost in a world of evil. For me, my pilot is God. He hasn’t always been in the cockpit, though, as I went through college with him shoved in the cargo bin. But that was a turbulent time of my life, and things go much smoother with him at the wheel. Similarly, my assembly process for putting all these pieces together is found in the power of prayer. I hadn’t really taken up that torch until struggles in my business consumed my thoughts, and the birth of our premature twins drew me to my knees. I knew there was only one person that knew their destiny and would keep them healthy and safe - so I turned to God and He showed up.

Vices are Human Nature - But God Has More

We all need help in our time of need. When we are hurting, or when challenging times and tornadoes of life are closing in, or when we need wisdom or growth it can be tempting to turn to our vices instead. But God is there waiting to help us, to open doors, to provide wisdom, and to calm our nerves. Those vices may bring short-term pain relief or distraction, but they won’t provide long-term wisdom or growth the way that God can. What could our lives transform into if we went to Him more often?

Prayer may seem odd or peculiar because we may feel like we are talking to ourselves, or just saying words into space. If you are like me, praying at bedtime often ends early with me falling asleep. God begs us to pray more often. He doesn’t need impressive words - just questions, thoughts, and requests. It’s a simple, heartfelt conversation between God and his child (YOU). He wants us to come to him as we would with our earthly father; to crawl up on his lap and tell him what we are thinking about. And just like we do as earthly fathers, He listens to us intently and craves to hear our thoughts and worries and to provide reassurance and wisdom from a higher perspective.

Just talk to Him and tell Him what is on your heart. Pray the simple prayer as Max Lucado teaches, with your internal voice that is commanding and requesting external action if you like. That prayer is, “God you are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me. They need help. Thank you. In Jesus name, Amen.”

Don’t complicate it, just do it. If you’re also like me, it can be easy to get distracted. Start a prayer board at home or at work. Develop a prayer chain of people or friends that can be signaled to start at any request. Recruit a prayer partner. Make a prayer list for your vehicle or for your nightstand or bathroom mirror. The quickest and best way to fight a fire is with a fire engine of prayer.