Dear Christian,

Are you satisfied with your prayer life? Do you wonder why you do not devote more time to prayer? Are you aware of a profound, yet simple Bible truth that can revolutionize your prayer life?

    Prayer is one of those topics that God's people seem to know a lot about. And most are aware of the importance of prayer in the Christian life. There are many books that have been written on prayer. Many sermons have gone forth on the subject of prayer. So much so, that prayer is perhaps one of the most written about, read about, talked about subjects in God's Word. And yet, if you ask the average Christian if they are they 100% satisfied with their prayer life, or if they know of anyone who is 100% satisfied with their prayer life, they will generally respond in the negative. Why is that?  On a subject that is so talked about and studied, why is it that very few Christians, if any, are 100% happy with their prayer life?

    We often hear that God wants us to be men and women of prayer, and yet when you ask those who say that, if they are a man or a woman of prayer, they will generally say, "No, but I should be, we all should be!" Why, when it comes to prayer, is it always what we should be and never what we are? Why in the Body of Christ does everyone seem to be falling short when it comes to prayer? Could it be that all Christians are hypocrites, preaching the importance of prayer but not living it? Could we all just be lazy when it comes to prayer?  Or maybe, dear Christian something else is happening. Perhaps we are not missing the boat at all when it comes to prayer, but are just holding on to some terrible misconceptions about prayer. Maybe the problem is not with our prayer lives as much as it is with what we've believed about prayer. Maybe we've been embracing man-made views on prayer that are not in tune with God's Word.

    I have been taught a wonderful truth about prayer that has revolutionized my entire prayer life! At its heart is the conclusion that God includes a lot more as prayer than His people generally do. In other words, it seems God's people have placed limits on prayer that God has never intended, and dear believer, it may surprise you to learn, as it did me, that you may be praying a lot more than you recognize.  What is prayer according  to God's  Word? In Hosea chapter 14, the prophet said, "Take with you words and return to the Lord." Prayer is communicating to God through words. Prayer is talking to God as a child would talk to a father in sweet conversation. Prayer is saying words, but is  it more than that?

    In the gospel of Matthew chapter 6, Jesus taught us that the mere repeating of words is not acceptable prayer. He said, "When you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words." Words themselves do not constitute prayer. In Luke 18 Jesus spoke of a man who was "praying to himself." Prayer is deeper than words. Prayer is addressing God with sincere words. In the book of James chapter 4 we read, "You ask and you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives." Prayer is more than just mouthing words, it involves the motives behind the words. We can come to the Lord with all the right words, but if our hearts are not in those words it is not legitimate prayer. Our words in prayer must be driven by pure intentions. But is that prayer?

    Prayer has got to be more than speaking words, even sincere words from the heart, because there are times in all of our lives when we cannot communicate rightly or clearly what is in our hearts. Sometimes we just can't put our feelings into words. Asaph referred to this experience in Psalm 77 when he wrote, "I am so troubled that I cannot speak." If prayer were just words, even sincere words, would prayer be unachievable when we were too distressed to voice our thoughts?  Is it possible, dear Christian, to pray without words? Indeed it is!

    In Exodus 2 we read that God heard the groanings of His people in Egyptian captivity. In Psalm 107 we read that the Lord looked down from heaven and heard the groaning of a prisoner. Sometimes our hearts just groan under the weight of our sin or the burdens of this life, and when they do, God hears those groanings and regards them as prayer. In Psalm 6 we see another form of prayer, in addition to voicing words. David wrote, "The Lord has heard the voice of my weeping." What a wonderful truth to learn that our tears have a language God understands! There is a voice in our weeping, dear Christian. We cry and God hears, and from our tears the Lord discerns a message, and regards that message as a prayer unto Him. Prayer is sincere words, but the Lord also regards groaning and crying as prayers, and there is more. In Isaiah 45, the Lord says, "Look to Me and be saved." I once thought that to be saved we had to literally voice a prayer, but God says if we look to Him and that look communicates our heart's response to His invitation for salvation, we have prayed.

    Somewhere along the way, the Lord's  people have acquired some very narrow views concerning prayer. Prayer is not just something we do when we bow our heads and say words. It is that, but it is bigger than that! Prayer is a matter of the heart, and if it doesn't come out in sincere words, it will come out in tears, or in groanings, or even in a look up to the Lord. Also consider Psalm 10:17, "Lord Thou hast heard the desire of the humble, Thou wilt strengthen their heart, Thou wilt incline Thine ear." What an amazing verse! Even our desires rise up as prayers to God!  The Lord hears our longings. He listens to our hopes and our dreams. Many Christians carry guilt over their prayer life God never intended. Bowing our heads, closing our eyes and voicing words is prayer, but it is only a small part. Prayer can also be groaning and crying and looking and even desiring!

    Dear Christian, you may think you have a lousy prayer life, and that may be true, but do you ever cry in the will of God? Does your heart ever groan under life's sorrows? Do you harbor any desires in your heart for your loved ones that they might come to Christ or grow in their knowledge of the Lord? Did you know that you were praying when you had such thoughts? Prayer is more than something we do at Christian gatherings, or before we eat, or go to bed. It has to be; otherwise we could never obey First Thessalonians 5:17 where God instructs us to, "Pray without ceasing." If prayer were only words, we could never obey that command. We've got  to sleep!  How can  we pray  without ceasing? Easy, if prayer includes the desires of the heart! A desire is something we have with us all the time, whether we're aware of it or not! Heart desires never leave us; they become part of who we are.

    In reality, dear fellow believer, prayer is not some mechanical thing that we can turn on and off like a light switch. It is an attitude of the heart, and it is bigger than we could ever dream! What God considers prayer transcends all the limits we may have put upon it. But not only does the Lord regard sincere words and groans and tears and holy desires as acceptable prayer, He also may regard our  entire person as prayer. In Psalm 104:4 the psalmist wrote, "In return for my love they act as my accusers but I am [in] prayer." In an attempt to clarify, the translators  added the word "in." But in the original language the word does not appear. The psalmist learned a wonderful truth, that God not only hears what comes out of our hearts, He also hears what we are! "I am prayer," David wrote.

    In other words, our very lives lived in union with Christ, pursuing a greater knowledge of Him, rises up to the Lord as a sweet aroma of prayer. We communicate to God with our words, our groans, our tears and our desires, but we also communicate to Him with our very lives! If the general direction of our life is toward Christ; if we are saying "yes" to His Lordship, then our lives become prayer to Him.  There are the times when our whole person speaks volumes to the Lord.

    Babies, for example, by virtue of what they are, communicate to us. Just the presence of a baby tells us things about them, such as their helplessness, and their needs. And as their presence discloses these things to us, we act accordingly. We hold them carefully. We speak softly to them. In like manner, God responds to us just because of what we are. When we live before Him in childlike  dependence we communicate to Him, and He hears and responds to our helplessness. When the desire to know God characterizes our lives, then our  very being  becomes a prayer to Him.

    Many Christians live in frustration thinking they're not praying enough. But if, to all you are in union with Christ, God hears, if everything you think and dream and wish and desire about the Lord, He regards as prayer, then the question is not, do you pray enough? The question is, do you ever not pray? Dear Christian, do not measure your prayer life by how many times a day you bow your head and close your eyes and utter words to God. That is a certainly a part of prayer, but only a small part. How foolish we are to think that God only hears us when we speak to Him with our words. He is bigger than that! His ear is sharper than that! His union with us is sweeter than that!

    Prayer is not prayer just because we say something to God. Prayer is prayer because God listens! And God listens to all that flows out of our lives directed toward Him. May the Lord deliver us from all our anxiety over prayer, that we may be free to enjoy our union with Him unhindered!