I’ve been in many groups who have agreed upon the importance of prayer while struggling to determine best ways to lead others into a healthy prayer life. Prayer is about posture, not content or timing or results. And posture is more challenging to pass along than structure or steps. We want to be able to duplicate healthy prayer lives. Perhaps it’s better to help others develop healthy relationship with God. And to have that impact on others, we need to foster healthy, trustworthy relationships with others. We need to be willing to share our lives, not just answers but our questions as well. Not just the results and highlights but the process of the dips and twists.
God answers prayers, and we should share those stories, but we should also share God’s prevision and presence when we don’t get answers. Prayers aren’t about a result God gives us. Prayers connect us to God. They’re about his presence and our experience of him, not only in our lives but all around us. Prayer helps us focus on the character of God.
God is always at the core. It is because of his character that anything happens at all. Only he has the insight to know the best what and when. If we’re praying in private or encouraging others to pray well, unless we position him in the center of our hearts, minds, and words, we’ll miss out—and might lead others to miss out, too.
Let’s invite instead.
Pure Purpose 