“Be faithful in prayer,” Romans 12:12
“Devote yourselves to prayer,” Colossians 4:2
“Pray continually,” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

In her classic book on Christian spirituality, Steps to Christ, Ellen White defines prayer in the most personal terms: “prayer is the opening of the heart of God as to a friend.” *

In the dialogue of faith between human beings and God, prayer is our turn to talk. We hear God’s voice in the wonders of creation and the councils of His Word, in the whisperings of the spirit and the encouraging words of others. In prayer we respond to God and open our innermost thoughts to Him. “Through nature and revelation, through His providence, and by the influence of His spirit, God Speaks to us. But these are not enough: we need also to pour out our hearts to Him.” **

When we pray, we are accepting God’s gracious invitation to come immediately into His welcoming presence. We are not to be afraid of censure or disapproval. We are not to worry about being rejected or made to stand in line (God doesn’t put us on hold with a shallow assurance of getting back to us in the order our call was received). We are not to be nervous about saying the right words. Prayer is coming to God’ Just as we are, and saying exactly what’s on our heart.

What can we talk to God about?

“Keep your wants, your joys your sorrows, your cares, and your fears, before God. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too small for him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His Children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest.” ***

Just speak to God from your heart. “The Task is not preparing your heart for prayer, but speaking from your heart as it is. We can easily get this backward in the religious life, assuming that our primary spiritual assignment is to make ourselves presentable to God instead of presenting ourselves to God as we are.” ****

Three Questions To Open a Discussion On Prayer

1. What can we learn from the following biblical prayers?

• David’s Prayer (“Create in me a clean heart.”) See Psalm 51.
• Jehoshaphat’s Prayer (“We don’t know what to do,”) See the full story in 2 Chronicles 20.
• Daniel’s Prayer (“We have sinned.) See Daniel 9.
• Jesus’ Prayer (“Father, forgive them.”) Luke 23:34

2. Discuss the following important purposes of prayer. Make a list of prayer topics you would place in each category. What other purposes would you add?

• Praise (See the quotation below.)
• Confession
• Thanksgiving
• Petition  

“Our devotional exercises should not consist wholly in asking and receiving. Let us not be always thinking of our wants, and never of the benefits we receive. We do not pray any too much, but we are too sparing of giving thanks. We are the constant recipients of God’s mercies, and yet how little gratitude we express, how little we praise Him for what He has done for us.” *****

3. If our focus is primarily on receiving “answers” to prayer, we, probably think of prayer mostly as petition, as asking God for favors or blessings or miracles. We may not be incorporating the other aspects of prayer (praise, confession and thanks-giving) into our prayer life. Consider the following statement:

“Prayer isn’t bending God’s arms in order to get things, or talking God into things. God is already totally given ... It’s not that we pray and God answers; our praying is already God answering. Your desire to pray is God in your heart. Your reaching out to enter into dialogue with the Lord is already the answer of God. It is grace that makes us desire grace.” ******


* Ellen White, Steps to Christ 93.
** Ibid.  
*** Ibid., 100.
**** James P. Carse, The Silence of God; Meditations on Prayer (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1985),
***** Ellen White, Ibid., 102, 103.  
****** Richard Rohr, Radical Grace (Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1993), 172.