Goodbye Stale Prayers

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (New Oxford Bible)  

While driving to an appointment, I was listening to the Bott (Christian) radio network.  The pastor was teaching on the topic of prayer.  He caught my attention when he asked the following two questions:  1) “Are your prayers becoming stale”?  2) “Do you find yourself praying for the same things and using the same words over and over”?  

If the answer was yes, he suggested we try praying the scriptures.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to listen anymore as that idea had been introduced to me several years ago and after trying it for a week or so I went back to praying in my own words.  Somehow praying scripture made me feel I had lost the intimacy I feel when talking to God in my own words. 

However, the next morning, I decided to give it a try.  I did as the pastor suggested and prayed from the book of Psalms because as he said the whole book of Psalms is a book of praise.  I started with Psalm 23 because the words are familiar and I am comfortable saying them. 

After I prayed the first line:  “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” I stopped.  Then in my own words I praised Jesus for shepherding me through a difficult time.  I moved on to the next sentence:  “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters; he restores my soul.”  Then I thanked Him for the necessities of life especially a home in which to find solace. 

With each line of the 23^rd Psalm, I found that I could stop and add my own words of praise, thanks or petition.  This was definitely a new way for me to pray.  It allowed me to maintain that closeness that I had missed in my previous attempts to pray the scriptures. 

My long range plan is to choose each morning one of the many names there are for Jesus and the scripture describing that name, i.e.,  Shepherd, Light of the World, Savior, etc.  Now I’ve said good-bye to stale, repetitive prayers. 

If you find that your prayers have become stale and repetitive, perhaps praying the scriptures would be of help to you, too.  

Prayer: Father, we praise you for the beautiful words in the Holy Bible, and we thank you for hearing our prayers in whatever words we say them when they come from our hearts.  In your Son Jesus’ holy name we pray.   Amen.

Judy Welch (reprinted from the 2017 Lenten devotional)