College Union

By Julie Robertson, Auburn Wesley Foundation

The bad news is there is nothing you can do to make your prayer life better.

There is no resource out there that will make you a better pray-er.  Read all you want on the subject.  In fact, I would encourage you to do so.  I’ll even offer you a bibliography on the subject at the end of this article.  I must warn you, though; none of these books will propel you into the perfect prayer life.

The good news is there is nothing you can do to make your prayer life better.

This is because, contrary to popular belief, prayer is not about you.  In the book Prayer:  Finding the Heart’s True Home, Richard Foster reminds us that “the work of prayer does not depend on us” (98).  Prayer is about God and allowing God to shape you.  You need not come to prayer with everything in order.  You need not write or speak the grandest of prayers.  God receives you with your mess of pure and impure motives and makes sense of it all.  God’s grace covers all and the Spirit comes and “reshapes, refines, and reinterprets our feeble, ego-driven prayers” (99).  There is immeasurable comfort and freedom in these words!

When we release ourselves from the burden of perfection in prayer, we find ourselves truly freed to pray.  When we let go, we discover that we are “perfectly free to complain to God, or argue with God, or yell at God” or shout out our praise, adoration, and gratitude to Him (12).  If you need proof, just look at the Psalms.  Right there in the Word is the definitive book on prayer.  It is not a formula for prayer, but it contains beautiful, raw, and authentic prayers from a people living in the tension of sorrow and praise, belief and unbelief, rage and rejoicing.  These are a people not unlike you and me.

The Lord has awakened my soul to freedom in prayer over the past few years.  I am far from living in constant communion, but closer than ever before.  I am praying, really praying these days.  Imperfect, glorious prayers!  Some of them are my own feeble prayers, some are from the Word, and some of them are without words.  There are days when all I can muster is the motion of my hands or a word or two of gratitude or frustration.  But they are prayers and they are bringing me into contact with God daily.

If you read this article with the hope of walking away with the perfect formula or method for prayer, I am sorry to disappoint you.  No methods or formulas here. I do hope it has challenged your thinking on this sacred art and provided you with something worth thinking (and praying!) about today.

Suggested resources for Prayer:

The Meaning of Prayer by Harry Emerson Fosdick

Power through Prayer by E.M. Bounds (and anything else he has written)

Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection

Prayer:  Finding the Heart’s True Home by Richard Foster

A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie

…and countless others!

Categories: Nurturing the Soul of the Campus Minister
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