Heartfelt prayers…be careful what you pray for

From Eugene Peterson’s The Message,Matthew, Chapter 6
Pray with Simplicity

14"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. 15If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part."

I have a hard time understanding the concept of "quid pro quo" when it comes to prayer. What is my responsibility, what form must my prayers take, what level of faith should I have, in order for God to respond? When it comes to forgiveness it is pretty clear, you have to give it, if you want to get it. But, here’s the question, what are the pre-requisites for effective prayer?

Some people prefer to pray in a very set pattern, perhaps following the Celtic Prayer Book and praying the hours. Others have a kind of formula that keeps them on track during regular prayer times. I wish my prayer life was that organized. I have tried over the years to get better organized. I have written out my prayers, set my alarm for 5 a.m., journaled my prayers on the computer, prayed through the "tabernacle" and the Lord’s prayer and purchased many books that have similar programs. Unfortunately, most of these programs work about as well for me as my New Year’s resolutions about diet and exercise.

For me, the most effective prayers, the one’s that seem to have the greatest "God connection" are those that are "heartfelt" and "simple." To get to the place where my prayers are "heartfelt" I usually have to be in some crisis.

In June of 1999 I was in one of those crises. The previous year I had closed a church and had taken a job in another county that required me to commute by train about an hour and fifteen minutes each way. That was pretty exhausting, but it did give me plenty of time to think and reflect. I had been reading Dallas Willard’s book, The Divine Conspiracy, and if you have read it, you know that it can be kind of disturbing. I know now that I was pretty depressed. I looked out the window of the train and prayed this simple prayer, "Oh God, get me out of this mess…"

Let me assure you, we should be careful of what we pray for! A relatively rapid sequence of events were put in motion from that moment that completely turned my life upside down. I had given God permission to do an Extreme Makeover on my life and he seemed to undertake the first step, demolition, with a certain relish.

With a five year perspective I can see that God has truly answered that prayer. I am happier and more content these days than I ever was in those days.

I know that effective prayers don’t require much faith. Look at the desperate dad in Mark 9. His disturbed son has life-threatening fits that need healing. Jesus asks him if he believes that the boy can be healed. His response, "I believe, help my unbelief." That’s about as little faith as one can have, but in that case it was enough.

++Father, help me to pray effective prayers that draw me closer to you, thank you God, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ? 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group