Prayer. In Christian contexts, prayer is often mentioned but rarely practiced. Sure there is that whole prayer-during-the-church-service-to-look-religious kind of thing, but far too few of us actually engage in prayer as if our lives depended on it, which they do. I am speaking about our spiritual lives of course, but then again, when has it ever been possible to totally separate one area of life from another?

Prayer is the means by which we communicate with God, our Master, our King, and most incredibly, our beloved Father. Prayer is never less than communication, but it is almost always more than that.

Prayer is Trinitarian in shape: often we pray to God the Father, through the help of God the Spirit, in the name of God the Son. That means that through prayer, we commune with God, interacting with the very Spirit of love that empowered Jesus in his ministry, enjoying the sweetness and beauty of an immeasurably delightful Savior, and drawing near to the heart of an infinitely holy yet infinitely loving Father.

Prayer situates us in the awesome, terrifying presence of the Almighty. As people marred by sin, this reality would be horrifying if it were not for the fact that we have been united with Christ. Because of our relationship with Jesus, instead of cowering in fear at the feet of a Deity who could flatten us with one exhale of His breath, we can boldly (yet with reverence) enter into the Most Holy Place to convene and converse with an Advocate, a Counselor, and a Friend [Eph. 4:12].

Prayer glorifies God as well. Not only does prayer strengthen our spiritual health and bring us vitality, it also honors God by revealing our complete and utter dependence upon Him who alone can sustain us and grant us the deepest needs and desires of our souls.

It is as if, in prayer, we are crying out on the midst of a battlefield for help from the only allied soldier left standing, the only one who can rescue us. In our desperate pleas, our weakness is magnified while the soldier we are crying out to is elevated and esteemed to a position of great honor. He is placed into the limelight; he becomes the hero, the star, the one on whom everyone fixes their eyes. When he rescues us, he will receive the recognition, the medal, and the glory; similarly, when God answers our prayers, His power is magnified, His grace is exemplified, and He is worthily glorified.

Lastly, prayer is a privilege. How unworthy are we, sinners rightfully condemned of cosmic treason against an incalculably righteous King, to have such wondrous access to the omnipotent, omniscience Almighty! We no more deserve such lavish treatment than does a cockroach deserve a castle! Our motivation to pray should not stem from a sense of perceived duty, but from an uncontrollable upwelling of delight in the unbelievable reality that we have been placed on intimate terms with the most exclusive, most exotic, most illustrious person in the universe!

Let us pray then, in spirit and in truth, with passion and with joy, with boldness and with reverence, with thoughts illumined by Scripture and guided by the Spirit, to our majestic Father, knowing that we have been clothed by the righteousness of Christ, in whose name we pray.