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Some Thoughts on Prayer
by Irvin Boudreaux The Lord's Prayer is an expression of faith. It assumes that human beings are not self-sufficient but dependent on God. It is not a sign of weakness to pray but a sign of our humanity. Prayer acknowledges our need for God. Prayer is surrender. In his book, The Reaffirmation of Prayer, E. Glenn Hinson says that "the key to human existence lies in surrender to God, putting one's self and one's affairs utterly and with complete child-like trust in God's hands." The concepts of need and surrender are at the heart of our prayer lives. There is not one among us who would make the outlandish claim of be totally self-sufficient and without any need. Even more outlandish would be to pretend that we have no need of spiritual strength and nourishment. One of the keys to an effective prayer life is to become comfortable with need. This need pushes us toward God, and then He becomes the "go to" person for our deep and simple needs. God can never become our "go to" person until we surrender our valued self-sufficiency. The surrender concept moves us out of ourselves and into the hands of God. When we are in the hands of God, we feel very comfortable to taking our every need to Him. Look again at the words of the Lord's Prayer.- Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen. Irvin is a native of New Orleans having been reared in the Carrollton and Old Jefferson areas of the city. Irvin is a graduate of Southeastern La. University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.. He is Pastor of St. Luke's United Methodist Church of New Orleans. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |