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How much time do you spend praying? Why do you pray? If God is omniscient, do your prayers even matter? Do you expect God to answer your prayers? If He does, do you thank Him and give Him praise? If He doesn't, do you doubt He heard you? Do you curse Him for not answering your prayer the way you wanted it answered?

I find myself asking lots of questions lately like the ones above. Have you ever prayed so much for something, you thought, surely, God will answer this prayer? I have… but that still doesn't mean He's answered my prayer. At least He's not answered it how I wanted Him to.
Isn't that what it boils down to? We pray but most of the time we're praying for a certain outcome to a need or desire we have. "Lord, help me find the right job." "Lord, help me find a husband." "Lord, help me stop drinking." Do you see the same pattern here I'm seeing? It's all about me, me, me, me.

Guess what? It's not about me. It's not about you. It's about HIM.

It's not about what you want or I want. It's about who He is.

I think it would honor God more if we spent less of our prayer time asking for things and more of our prayer time worshiping God. It sounds simple enough… but prayer can be confusing for many people. Here's what I think about prayer.

Prayer is the thing that puts us in touch with the heart of Almighty God at any time and any place. Prayer is an act of humble worship in which we seek God with all our heart. Prayer is where we profess our need of Jesus Christ and His solution to our problems. It is the place where we learn to worship Him and grow spiritually in His loving presence. Prayer often begins with a confession of sin. Prayer is asking God for guidance and waiting for His direction and leading. Through prayer we praise our mighty God. Prayer is consistent and persistent (Luke 18:1) or it can be spontaneous (Nehemiah 2:4) Prayer is an expression of an intimate relationship with our Father in heaven, who makes His own love and resources available to us.

Does God want to hear us pray?

Yes! God wants us to call to Him. So, what do I say, how do I pray? Don't worry about what to say to the Lord. The Holy Spirit will show you. (Romans 8:26) Talk to Him. Listen to Him. If there is a need, tell Him, "Lord, I need You." Even if there are no words…tears can be just as effective. God is sensitive to every tear you cry. (Psalms 56:8) Just as He listens to the hurt you feel, He also knows how to deal with and guide you through any anger that has invaded your life.

Prayer gives us an opportunity to tell God that we have been offended but that we are willing to give the entire matter to Him and allow Him to deal with it accordingly. In Psalms, He promises to do just that: "I will contend with those who contend with you" (Psalms 35:1).

God is bigger than any problem you are facing. He knows the way before you, and only He can guide you through the difficulty. Always let your first response to trial and disappointment be to go to Him in prayer. This is where hope invades your life and fills you with the reassurance of His unfailing presence.

So what happens when we pray? I believe we can go back to the passage of scripture in 2 Chronicles 7:14. If we will humble ourselves, turn from our sins and pray… God will listen, He will forgive us of our sins and He will heal us – sometimes that means He changes the situation and yes, we might possible get the answer we wanted to our prayer. But I think more often than naught, it's more likely that He changes us to conform to His will. Either way, it's still an answered prayer.

"Word from Scotland" from Sandy Shaw

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