Simple Prayer

As part of my desire to revive a prayer life that I once had early in my Christian walk, I bought a book called "Prayer" by Richard Foster (the same author who wrote "The Celebration of Discipline", which is one of my all time favorite books). I was already reading a different book for my devotional time when this book arrived but I couldn't wait to dive into it, so I put the other book aside and started the book about Prayer. I'm reading it slowly and deliberately because I want to consume this book and taste every morsel of wisdom. So far, I've learned that prayer doesn't have to be polished, shined, and perfect. Prayer can be exactly where we are and how we feel. We can complain, gripe, whine, celebrate, plead, grovel, and share our inmost troubles, worries, sorrows, and joys. I think one of the reasons why I had such a great prayer life early in my Christian walk is because I didn't have any rules to go by. I came to God as a child. Unpolished. Real. I talked to God...conversationally...like a friend. I think that now that I've had 20+ years of being a Christian, I've heard too many sermons and/or read too many books that like to put rules on prayer and put it in a box. I think this might have stifled me in my prayer life. I became self-conscious. I began to think that I couldn't talk to God unless I had some lofty request for peace on earth or the salvation of an unbeliever. I felt foolish talking to God about trivial things. But, this is exactly where God wants to meet us. Yes, there is a place for lofty requests, but God is also interested in our normal life. Our likes, our desires, our wants, our grievances. He wants to know how we're doing. Like a good friend, He wants to know about our day. He loves us and wants to hear our dreams. And like a good Dad, He delights in giving us the desires of our heart. I don't need to be spotless and sin free before I come to God. I can come to Him with the grime and dirt of a sinful man and just talk to Him. And like a good Dad, he'll wash me clean, make me feel safe, and will listen to me. I am thankful for prayer. I get to talk to the creator of the Universe. And He will listen...and talk back. How amazing is that? Join me in removing the box that so many people like to build around prayer and go back to the dirty, gritty, and real conversational prayer life with the God who loves us more than we can ever imagine.