"How do I pray?" I sometimes hear this question as a pastor. The disciples once asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."
I once had a seminary professor who would challenge his students to have "El-stop" answers for profound questions. By El-stop answers, he meant that we should be able to answer a question in a quick and concise way. He said that we should pretend that we were waiting for the Elevated-train at a Chicago train stop. If we were having a conversation with someone while waiting for the train, someone might say something like "How do I pray?" He thought we should be able to give a brief but helpful answer.
Here is my El-stop answer to the question, "What is prayer?" Another time, I'll answer the question, "How do I pray?" Prayer is a conversation with God. We talk to God and listen to God. Sometimes we need to say some things to God. Sometimes we just listen. In silence, we might reflect on a few verses of Scripture and apply them to our lives today. But prayer is simply having a conversation.
The second thing I would say about prayer--knowing the train is now very close to the El-stop--is that prayer is not about getting what we want. Rather, it is about discovering what God thinks would be best for us. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't come to God like a child and plead for whatever we need. But, if we are in the habit of asking, we eventually discover that God can help us have a different perpective on our asking.
The last thing about prayer---the train conductor has applied the brakes and the train is coming to a stop. The ultimate prayer is simply to say "thank you" to God. We can thank God for every good gift. We can, even, thank God for God's faithfulness to us on the worst of days. God is a Good Shepherd who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. We are not alone.
Yes! There is so much more to say about prayer, but that's the point of El-stop answers. You only get so much time to answer. If you had only a minute to answer the question, "What is prayer?" What would you say? Feel free to comment below!
