Casual Prayer
I’m guilty of this, and by no means, am I proud of it. I have done it and probably will do it again. I could, indeed, shake it off as “non-essential,” color it as “not in my job description,” or laugh it off “as a good intention,” but, ultimately, when examined by a holy God, it would be counted as sin. You may not see it. You may not hear it. What is it? The sin of casual prayer.
Do a word search in Google for the phrase, “casual prayer.” You will find very little information on this subject. It’s almost as if bloggers don’t want to talk about; they don’t want to admit this practice permeates through the church’s life. I feel as if it is very prevalent today, however, in and around the church. I believe the writer of Hebrews had this in mind when he warned, “that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:7). The sin of casual prayer seeps into our life slowly, and before long, it pollutes our own rational thinking. Before we begin, we must define just what casual prayer is. What is casual prayer?
1. Praying to be seen. In Matthew 6, Jesus is teaching on the important of prayer. However, in Matthew 6:5, He pauses to warn about the dangers of casual prayer - prayers uttered the way the “hypocrites” pray. He states, “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.”
2. Praying by repetition. These casual prayers are uttered out of a feeling of responsibility or out of habit. These are utterances filled with normal phrases, and almost identical words. They are not the whispers of our heart, but are uttered out of a sense of obligation. We do not have the “time” to think and use different words/emotions, so we power through hoping that the same phrase uttered repeatedly will change the situation.
3. Praying by changing the way we talk. Have you ever talked with someone using the same normal, grammatical structure only to begin praying and speaking in the language of “King James?” There is no sin in praying the way King James did in the 1600’s. However, God desire us to pray using our inward thoughts and feelings. Don’t change the way you speak/pray to try and impress God!
Having written on how not to pray, let us look at how we are supposed to pray. Prayer is simply an open communication between God and man. It is God revealing Himself through His Word and Spirit, and, conversely, man responding to God through praise and petitions. Prayer always starts and ends with God. We think back to how Jeremiah repeatedly wrote concerning prayer. In Jeremiah 4:19, he writes, “I cannot keep silent.” Prayer was like a burning fire within him. He could not contain it. Later in 29:13, he declares, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” This is a promise made by God: when we earnestly seek Him, we will find Him!
In the New Testament, Jesus’ life is an example to us of the importance of prayer. Repeatedly, Jesus was brought to His knees in prayer. We are blessed to hear the words of Jesus’ prayer, but even more so, to hear the heart of Jesus’ prayer. Through the message of the “Sermon on the Mount” to Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, we sense God’s heart for communication with and through mankind.
In James 5:16, we read, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Poured out of us, are effective prayers (i.e. working prayers) and fervent prayers (i.e. intense, passionate) all for the glory of God. The chief way of negating prayerlessness in the Believer’s life is to balance God’s holiness with man’s sinfulness in our thought life. In Romans 15:30, Paul encourages the church to “strive together with me in prayers.” By giving our complete effort in prayer, we will see God reveling Himself to us and instructing us in the every day issues of life.
In Isaiah 1:15 we read, “When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.” Let us use this as a motivation to pray and as a warning against prayerlessness. Let’s turn our casual prayers into prayers which beat for the heart of God. Let’s give it our all, not through prayerful monotony, but through an open communication between God and man.