Praying is one those things that, if we are honest, most of us feel or have felt very uncomfortable about doing, especially in public.

 

I remember the first time I prayed with my wife Trina; it felt about as natural as square dancing did in junior high. Perhaps this is because we’re not exactly sure what prayer is really for or how it is supposed to be done.

I mean, if God knows everything, then why do we need to pray? And if He doesn’t, then does He really have the power to do anything anyway? What are we allowed to pray for? Do we need to include certain words to make the prayer valid? All these questions are common and they keep most of us from enjoying one of the greatest gifts God has graced us with.

Paul writes in His letter to the Romans, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26 NIV). The truth is that our “weakness” is our tendency to be self-concerned. It isn’t natural for us to genuinely care about the rest of humanity; at least not with a passion that drives our lives.

Sure, we can feel bad or sorry for others but in our naturally weak state we easily excuse ourselves from actually getting involved. And so Paul reminds us that the Spirit of God sanctifies us with His love so that we will love the rest of humanity as He does, with a passion for every one of their lives.

It is not easy to love humanity in our world today; at least not the way God drives us to love. This is simply because of how big the problem of pain has become and how dark the world is for so many people. When we see this—when we feel the pain of our fellow man, it can be overwhelming. How do we even begin to bring hope into this world? And so the Holy Spirit groans within us, He groans with us so that our broken hearts are in harmony with God’s and without ever speaking a word, God knows exactly what we ask of Him for others.

Prayer is not some magic spell we say in order to make our food more nutritious or to coerce God into giving us what we think we want. Prayer is not so that we can show off to others or prove that we are righteous and sanctified. Prayer, at its deepest level, is about being filled with the Holy Spirit so that you are not alone as His love drives you to change the world. It is being in constant communication with the Father through the Holy Spirit as you seek to reflect Jesus into world.

Yes, pray out loud; yes, ask God to bless all the things of your life; yes, pray privately and pray corporately. Yes pray! But if you are not driven by a passion to bring hope into the world, pray first for that gift of perfect love that comes only from God. That is what it means to be genuinely, gloriously, freely and prayerfully human.

Practice prayer, it’s good for the soul; and practice love, it’s good for the prayer.

To find out more about La Vista Church, or to hear this and other messages, visit our website at www.lavistanaz.org or email me at raul@lavistanaz.org. Please come join us as we fix our eyes on Jesus. Sundays, we meet at 9 a.m. for Sunday school and at 10 a.m. for worship. Everyone is welcome!