Why and How Should I Pray?

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Title - Why and How Should I Pray?
Church - Living Word Lutheran in Katy, Texas (ELCA)
Author - Pastor Mike Widner
Citations - Romans 8:26, Matthew 7:7
Quality - Low Volume

The church's spiritual growth campaign for this season of Lent involves discussing the core beliefs and questions of Christianity in small groups. The third part of the series involves the importance of praying. C.S. Lewis said that "My prayers do not change God. They change me.” The essence of prayer is trying to communicate with God. What we say isn't as important as our desire to speak to God. As Martin Luther said, "The fewer the words, the better the prayer."

The Lord tells us how to pray in the Lord's Prayer. It is a group prayer that defines our spiritual community. We ask us for forgiveness for "our" sins as a group, not as an individual.

Prayer is being in the presence of God. Though it doesn't mean that God will change things for us, but it reminds us that God is there with us, listening to us. It doesn't matter how we pray, but that we pray.

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Section on our beliefs about prayer was adapted/quoted from an article in The Lutheran Magazine, “Preparing your heart for prayer” in the September 2005 issue.

For more information on the “Jesus Prayer” and the ”Centering Prayer”, check out “Soul Shaper” by Tony Jones, Zondervan Publishing.

For more prayer ideas, check out “Heart Ignite: 166 Engaging Prayer Experiences for All Ages” by Lyle Griner / Diane Monroe, Youth and Family Institute.