Hi First Presbyterian,
It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! In the Wednesday night Bible study, we’ve been reading and talking about the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. I wanted to share some thoughts with you that we’ve discussed in Bible study. In the 2014 Religious Landscape Study, one of the questions that the Pew Research Center asked respondents was: Outside of attending religious services, do you pray several times a day, once a day, a few times a week, once a week, a few times a month, seldom, or never? Of the respondents who identified as Protestant, 54% said they prayed at least daily, 23% said they prayed weekly, 7% said they prayed monthly, and 15% said they seldom or never prayed. (You can see those results here.) I have often sat with this data and pondered how to interpret it. However, I cannot help feeling a little discouraged that only 54% of Protestants say they pray daily and 15% say they seldom or never pray.
Think about someone in your life that you love dearly. It could be anyone – a spouse or significant other, another relative, or a friend. I assume you talk to that person every day, or, if you don’t talk to them on a certain day, you are aware of that fact and you miss talking to them. If this dearly loved one I’m asking you to think about is no longer living, I’m sure there isn’t a day that goes by that you wish you could talk with them. We long to be with the people with whom we have our most important relationships. It should be no different in our relationship to God.
The point of our salvation is to be reconciled to one another and to God. Being reconciled to God means we are able to have a relationship with God. You can be with God, talk to God, and listen for God. Prayer is the lifeblood of our relationship to God. When Jesus is approached by his disciples with the request: “Teach us to pray,” his response begins with, “When you pray…” (Luke 11:1-2). He didn’t say, “If you pray….” He said “when,” because he assumed that prayer would be a regular rhythm of our faith practice.
If we claim to love someone, yet rarely spend any time with them, rarely talk to them, and rarely listen to them, I think onlookers would be scratching their heads, wondering if our love is true or not. It is through prayer that we learn what God’s voice sounds like. It is through prayer that we are able to share our joy and grief with God. It is through prayer that we receive comfort and strength from the Holy Spirit. It is through prayer that our status as God’s beloved children is confirmed to us. It is through prayer that we discern God’s calling to send us out into the world.
I wish 100% of Protestants said they prayed at least daily. But here’s some good news: increasing the frequency and faithfulness of our communication with God can happen at any moment. As far as I can see, now is as good a time as any. Do you have 5 minutes to tell God what’s in your heart or to stop and listen for that still, small voice? I promise the Lord will be waiting to greet you with love.
Peace to you,
Pastor Neff