Prayer: What is it?

Prayer: just what is it?


P. T. Forsyth says in Prayer and Worship , "Prayer is an act, indeed the act, of fellowship" In the same book, Douglas V. Steere says "...prayer is awakeness, attention, intense inward openness." H. A. Ironside says, "Prayer is first of all, communion with God."

In scripture, there are several Greek words translated prayer, all with different nuances meaning everything from prayer addressed to God, a place set aside where there is plenty of water for washing of hands before prayer, to seeking, entreaty, a coming together, that for which an interview is held, a petition or supplication...well, you get the idea.

In Scripture, prayer always refers to a communication between God and a person, the content of that communication varying, sometimes praise and thanksgiving, sometimes personal requests and sometimes intercession for other people. But it always refers to a coming together, as Forsyth says, "the act of fellowship."

What a different perspective, at least for me. I feel like I was taught that prayer was more done from a kneeling submissive posture, with the emphasis on the distance between me and God.  It was a place where I had to warm God up with praise and thanksgiving. Then, and only then, I could tell him what I wanted or needed.

And maybe there is truth to some of what I said here. However, as I reflect on the character of God, and as I rehearse that He loved me first, that he sought me out to bring me to himself, that kind of love, I am not so sure that He cares as much about form as I thought.

Considering prayer as an act of fellowship gives me an entirely different perspective. Certainly prayer and thanksgiving should be part of that fellowship, just as I would tell anyone who had ministered to me that I appreciated their kindness and mercy, but prayer is so much more - that slowing down of life to an awareness that I am in God's company.

It makes me think of what happens when someone stands in my doorway or comes into my office. There is no fellowship until I stop tapping away on the computer, stop reading letters on the screen, stop attending to phone calls, my to-do list or calendar. No fellowship can come until I look into that person's face and attend to them - really taking time to listen and read between the lines, considering our history and all that I know about them - because every conversation brings with it a context.

So is prayer - a conversation, communion, communication between two people in the context of relationship. God loves me, he cares about what matters to me, and he wants fellowship with me, and you.