January 2010

After I posted an article on prayer last week, four young adults responded with comments that showed an unusual degree of honesty.  If you have not read their responses, I strongly urge you to do so.  Those responses, and conversations with other young people with whom I have spoken in recent days, have confirmed my suspicions that (a) members of this generation want to relate to God, and (b) they know that prayer must play a key role in this relationship, but (c) effective prayer is difficult and elusive.  When Christians are asked, “Is prayer essential?” the answer is a resounding, “Yes.”  But when it comes to the practice of prayer – how to actually do it – the evangelical community seems befuddled and bewildered.  It is not an exaggeration to say that Christian prayer is in a state of crisis.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, you guessed it. I’m talking about prayer.

Every Christian I know says that prayer is essential.  They pray every day.  At least they claim that they do. Or they admit that they should. Prayer is, after all, our lifeline to God. But how often are these people actually doing it? And when they do, what are they experiencing?  Are they worrying, daydreaming, or fantasizing? Rattling off long lists of requests?  Arguing with God?  Enjoying an ecstatic, out-of-body experience?  Groveling on an ash heap, filled with a sense of personal failure and shame?

When people pray, are they actually thinking about God?  About themselves?  People they love, people they hate, people they have never met?  Are they orbiting the globe, praying for the nations?  Are they praying in a very generic way, saying “God bless everyone and everything, Amen”?

Read the rest of this entry »