Prayer?

Prayer is weird.  Right?

Every faith (or even professed lack of faith) includes some kind of element of prayer in theory and in practice.  And yet... how many of us really have a conscious understanding of what prayer is, how we practice it, and have a sense of it's significance?  Less than we'd hope, I think.

Why do we pray?  Because we have an unfulfilled desire to commune with God, like we are unwilling to be mere spectators in sovereignty?  I think of sports fans (of which I am one), and how we find new ways to commune with the game, it's players, it's teams, and it's happenings--Fantasy Sports, Brackets, rocking apparel, to name a few.  It isn't enough for us to sit, watch, enjoy the thrill of the game, find joy in the game, and sorrow in unfulfilled expectations.  Is this a similar model for our drive to pray?

Or is it so much more, as many people would claim?  Many inspiring men & women in history are said to have prayed for hours a day.  Like breathing--if they didn't, they'd cease to be alive.  How does that work?  I've seen power in prayer.  I've been both the pray-er and the prayed-for, and been shocked by the power of those experiences.  When confronted with this, we have no choice but to turn back to the God we believe in, right?

Well, I have a short memory.  And even though I've been devastated by the power of prayer, I still spend far more time wondering about why and how to pray than actually praying.  As a Christian, I wonder when I hear fellow Christians pray to God, pray to Jesus, and pray to the Spirit.  What's going on there?  Being a Christian, like prayer, is weird.
 
 Seems to me that most of the Christians I've encountered have some distinct "prayer styles."  Humor my indulgence, if you have a few minutes.

1.) Prayers of Petition aka "Letters to Santa"
 

  
- These are most often the prayers I hear from others.  A brief, scripted Thanks is offered first, and then a lace-and-doily wishlist--prayers for new jobs, financial help, prayers for plans to be fulfilled, prayers for blessings (the most ambiguously-used word in prayer) for loved ones, and prayers for "God's will."  The last petition is ironic, because the entirety of the earlier prayers were asking for God to carry out our wills.
** My thoughts when hearing these prayers are all over the place.  Do we really think that bringing these wishlists to God, who we claim to believe to be sovereign, Creator of All, is the best offering in prayer we can bring?  If we do not think that the things we prayed for (asked for) were delivered, does that mean God was unfaithful?  Were those prayers unanswered?  Is there such thing as an unanswered prayer?  Why are these prayers and the following events the gauge by which to determine whether a prayer was answered?

2.) Prayers of Healing aka "Lucy's Narnia Potion"

 
- These prayers are tied to the Letters to Santa.  They usually come about when someone has been injured, or is undergoing surgery, or has fallen ill, or has been diagnosed with some major disease.
Now, I don't want to discount the power of healing prayer--I believe whole-heartedly that I have seen healing come through this with my own eyes!  I guess what I wonder about here is what we specifically pray for.  Healing?  Speedy recoveries?  Favorable test results?  For the Lord to guide the hands of surgeons?  For actual warfare against cancerous or diseased cells?
** Are we honestly open to God's sovereignty over our health, or are we so wrapped up in the idea that God wants us all to be healthy all the time that we expect a drop of Lucy's potion upon receipt of our prayers of healing?  Is it even wrong or misguided to believe that?
- On the one hand, we claim to believe that we are at peace because "God is in control," but then we pray for our wills to be done.  Health is the primary subject of these wishlist/healing prayers, and I wonder why.  If we are healthy, are we "more blessed" than someone who has cancer?  Have we some sort of favor over them?
** This is fresh on my mind, because a friend of mine has recently discovered she has breast cancer.  She's 26 years old.  Can anyone honestly believe that she has any less favor or has any less faith than the rest of us, who are not living with cancer in our bodies?  Has anyone read John 9 recently?

3.) Prayers of Protection aka "Suit of Armor"

- As we travel, we are often prayed for by the pastors or other hosts.  This is basically a prayer for safe travel, for safe play, for all-around safety.  Sometimes we even hear the borderline-ridiculous "hedge of protection" prayer, which always makes me bury my snickering face in my chest.  What is a hedge of protection?  Why not a moat of lions on trampolines?  <regards: Jonathan Acuff>
** I don't have any beef about these prayers.  Why wouldn't we pray against unforeseen accidents?  But then again... without those prayers, would we be any less safe?

There are many more prayers that we hear that I think are quite powerful and authentic, and bring true worship to God.  I kind of hate that I'm always criticizing the way people worship, but I hope that it will process and morph in to some Socratic questioning, and in to more pure offering and service.

I'm processing now what I've seen in prayer that has really inspired me, and maybe I'll follow this rambling post with one that outlines some of those.

Most importantly, though: What do YOU think????
I want to know what YOU think about prayer, and what I've just written about prayer.  Why do YOU pray?  How do YOU pray?  Is it meaningful?  How do you think GOD receives your offerings in prayer?

Go nuts.  I'm really curious.