A group of Christians gather together.  They exchange pleasantries, inquire about each others families, and spend several minutes in general conversation.  When it is time to start the meeting, the pastor says:  Who would like to pray?  Suddenly the room becomes very quiet.  People begin to shift in their seats, stare at the floor, shuffle their papers, or begin searching for a pen.   No one . . . absolutely no one . . . wants to pray!

Why is this?  Why are so many otherwise committed Christians so reluctant or unwilling to pray?  After all, we talk about it all the time.  There are study groups on prayer, sermons on prayer, prayer chains, prayer meetings and even prayer vigils.  Yet despite all our talk, prayer is still one of the most underutilized and misunderstood components in our spiritual lives.  It something we reserve for dire emergencies and significant needs.

It will continue to be so until we realize that prayer is about doing God’s will, not getting our way.  The secret of its power lies not in telling God what we need but in surrendering our lives and our wills to the Living Lord.  And the first step we must take is simply trusting the One who created us and who loves us.   Or, in the words of the Catechism of the United Church of Canada, prayer is laying our lives open to God . . . casting ourselves on the mercy of God . . . and accepting God’s way in our lives. 

The power of prayer becomes a reality in our lives when we decide to get real with God!