Recently I was visiting a Bible Study and the topic for the evening was prayer.  As participants were discussing prayer, success stories of answered prayers, hindrances to a more effective prayer life I became increasingly disturbed and saddened. 

I was disturbed because of the realization that you could have cut and pasted the words  “texting” or “toasters” for the word prayer in the discussion and it would have made perfect sense.  “Texting” is an inanimate activity we engage in to communicate with in cyberspace.  A “toaster” is an inanimate object that most use from time to time and with varying degrees of success in accomplishing our obvious objective. 

I was saddened because the very best part of “prayer” is interacting with the one I a praying to – The Lord.  He is my inheritance, He is my hope, He is my Shepherd, my refuge, my strength, my Bridegroom, my protector, my joy, my promise maker and promise keeper and soul-satisfier.  Intimacy with THE LORD GOD is the very best that it can get. 

We do the people of God a disservice when teach and preach about “prayer” disconnected to Holy One we are praying to.  Many believers struggle in prayer because they have somehow lost focus of the one whom they are to pray to. 

Show me someone who struggles to pray out loud in a small group or large group, and I will show you someone who is more aware of their human “audience” than their divine “audience.”  Our divine audience isn’t concerned with flowery words or our use of “thee” and “thous.”    What impresses God is a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17).

Prayer is not some inanimate noun, it is a divine verb.  Prayer is the activity of talking with and listening to our Heavenly Daddy.

What made me thirsty 35 years ago to turn to God was a conversation I overheard from some very ordinary teenagers.  I overheard them talking about how the God of the universe was involved in their day to day lives.  I concluded that evening that if having a relationship with God was possible, I wanted some of that for myself.  The activity of prayer facilitates  my interaction with that God.