Who Are We Praying to Anyway?

One of the greatest weights holding us back from a thriving prayer life is simply forgetting who we are praying to. It almost sounds too basic to spend a day talking about, but the reality of it is actually earth-shattering.

What you believe about God determines how you will pray.

Do we think God is weak and powerless? We won’t pray.

Do we think he’s mean or uncaring? We certainly won’t think our prayers would matter to him.

Do we think he’s too busy for our little ole life? We’d never carve out time in our busy schedules for something that wouldn’t matter.

If you desire to grow your prayer life, spend time considering what you believe about God.

If you know him to be a good, powerful God but often forget, spend time priming your prayers before you pray. Open the Word and reflect on who it is you’re having a conversation with. Let your mind really wander as you think about who God is, and don’t cut it short thinking you need to quickly get to the praying part. The time spent meditating on God will shape your prayers in ways far greater than more words can.

As we recognize the fact that we have the ear of the God of the universe, the God who created us, we will begin to see prayer as a privilege and not an obligation. As we begin to know God’s love for us, we will pray without filters and without trying to clean up our mess first.

If you still aren’t sure who God is, read Scripture and ask God to increase your faith as you read, just like the disciples asked Jesus to do for them (Luke 17:5). If men who walked with Jesus asked for increased faith, we can confidently do the same with no shame. 

Pray: Father, increase our faith. Remind us who you are. And answer the doubts we have with your gentle spirit. Make us so aware of your might and majesty that we can no longer pray boring prayers, but, instead, sit enthralled by the King who calls us his own. What a gift prayer is. In Jesus’ name, amen.