In this, our third week of our prayer series, we are going to look at how to pray. I don’t know about you, but when I first started my relationship with Jesus, this was something I struggled with. I would hear people pray and think, “Wow, I’ll never be able to pray like that. I don’t know the right words or the right way to do it.” You know things like “traveling mercies”, “hedge of protection”, or “stay the hand of the enemy”. None of it made sense to me, and I really struggled. 

And those fears kept me from praying with anyone for far too long. I was so afraid of what they would think of how I prayed or that I would do it wrong, I never stepped out in courage to give it a shot. And what a travesty that was. You see I was so focused on me, that I missed Him. 

Let me explain…I was so caught up in the mechanics of prayer, I missed the heart of prayer – GOD. God has called us into His kingdom work, and a big part of that is worshiping through prayer. He has called us into relationship with Him through Jesus. Relationship involves communicating. Communicating with the Almighty is called prayer.  

Sometimes we get so caught up in all the flowery talk and eloquent speech, we begin to be inauthentic. We put on a show with the “right” words and the “right” tone, that we really become someone we are not.  

Our scripture today says, “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Do you see this? Truth. Authentic. Genuine. Be you!! In Luke 18:10-14, Jesus shows us a stark contrast of prayer, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tox collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  

“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” 

I don’t believe pride was the only issue here. The Pharisee exalting himself was likely not 100% truthful. Sure, he probably did some of the things some of the time, but we all fall short. The tax collector however, humbled himself in the truth of who he was and cried out for help. Nothing fancy, no pretense about who he was. Just straight forward, honest, real.