Prayers can be informal, but they must be honest

Andrew Clemow

" There is no single right way of praying. Prayer is communication, and communication should not be uniform."

What do you think of this prayer? “O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath. Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am faint;

O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony.

My soul is in anguish.

How long, O Lord, how long?”

Or what about this one? “Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”

Does it surprise you that both these prayers are from the primary “book of prayer” in the Bible? Both are from the New International version of Psalm 6:1-3 and Psalm 10:1.

If you have the idea that prayers to God are supposed to be overtly pious or nice, reading the Psalms in a modern translation should make you think again.

I love the following from a man named John, quoted in Philip Yancey’s book Prayer:

“I’ve been working around street people, mainly homeless, for twenty-five years now. I help run a coffee house where they can drop in, and then on Sunday we run a small urban church service upstairs. We never know what will happen there. Some of the people smell bad, disturbed people pray too long, and visitors wander in and out of the service. The other week one person prayed ‘Thank you, Lord, for Metamusil’, and another chimed in ‘That’s a 10-4, God.’” I wonder when is the last time you prayed, honestly, from the heart? Who did you pray to? What did you say?

When I was young, I prayed in times of desperation; usually when I was in big trouble with my mother for coming home after school without my shoes or sandals. I prayed with great fervour “Please, please, please God, let me find my sandals! May they still be lying there on that field. Please come through for me on this!”

I am not one to knock such prayers. God cares for us and welcomes emergency prayers. In psalm 50:15 God says “Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you will honour me.”

There are all kinds of prayers in the

Bible. Short prayers. Long prayers. Prayers of anger. Prayers of serenity. Prayers of desperation. Prayers of resignation.

There is no single right way of praying. Prayer is communication, and communication should not be uniform.

It is essential in prayer to be honest. Jesus said “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites” (Matthew 6:5).

The word hypocrite in that context refers to a play-actor, someone who puts on a mask to appear super spiritual. CS Lewis wrote: “The prayer preceding all prayer is ‘May it be the real I who speaks. May it be the real Thou that I speak to.’” (Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer).

I make no claim to any expertise in prayer. As a leaner, I can say that I am coming to know the “real I” (my true identity) and the real Thou, in God’s revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ, as set forth in the New Testament.

Andrew Clemow, Pastor/Teacher at Clark Road Chapel.