Thanks for tuning in to the Sandals church podcast.
Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God and others.
We're glad you're here, and we hope you enjoy this message.
Here we go.
We are all becoming someone.
In fact, one of the best questions that you can ask yourself is, who am I becoming?
And to consider that the things that you do the most and what most has your tension, it's
very much shaping the kind of person that you are becoming.
For those of us who follow Jesus, we refer to this process as spiritual formation, which is
another way for us to think about that.
If we want to become like Jesus, then we need to do the things that Jesus himself did.
And so today I want to talk to you about the practice of prayer.
Now, I would define prayer as the practice of communion with God that is rooted in love.
I say rooted in love because oftentimes this is a practice for a lot of christians and even
religious people in general, that feels like a duty.
But when you have a basis and a foundation that prayer is ultimately rooted and grounded in
love, it radically changes your starting point with God.
And it's communion.
So, yes, it's a conversation.
Yes, there's maybe some back and forth, but it's also just a presence.
There's a kind of relationship that is very active and real in the practice of prayer.
Ronald Rollheiser actually just described prayer as relaxing into the goodness of God.
I have loved that quote.
That quote has set me free in so many ways.
And in scripture you see this model, psalm 65.
The psalmist describes God as the God who hears and answers prayer so much as you take in.
The story of scripture is ultimately about a God who pursues communion with people.
Then you get Jesus on the scene, and one of the best questions he's given is, Lord, would
you teach us how to pray?
And then we get the famous Lord's prayer that is recited by thousands of people, millions
of people, every single day.
Then you fast forward into the book of acts.
You see the apostles modeling a prayer life of morning, afternoon, and evening.
Prayer is very much this kind of communion with God, and here's why I think we need it.
Number one, life is too complex and simply too heavy for us to carry on our own.
Prayer then becomes a way for us to outsource that weight and to outsource that complexity.
Because if we don't practice this, here's where many of us find ourselves.
Because of the weightiness of life, we outsource our pain, our issues, our relationships to
our phones.
We outsource them to work.
We outsource them to addictions and to addictive habits that we have and patterns that we
form.
Right.
And so I would imagine that Jesus, as a better teacher for us in our lives, offers us this
practice as a way to outsource who we actually are before God.
Secondly, prayer is something that we were designed to do.
We are relational beings, and at the center of prayer is communion with God.
And so you, in engaging in this practice, are actually doing what you were designed to do,
both in body and soul, to belong to God at any moment of your day in life.
And lastly, prayer, I think, is one of the primary ways that we become a more loving
person.
You and I do not become more loving by simply being told how to love better or by just
learning it, or simply just being say, hey, yo, you better start loving.
Prayer is a way for us to actually receive the love of God to the degree that we can
actually offer it to other people.
It very much shapes us into people of love who model and look a lot like Jesus.
And so here's how I think you can begin to practice prayer.
First of all, I want you to consider just imperfectly showing up for it.
One of the biggest barriers for so many of us, myself included, when it comes to this
practice is, I'm not doing it right.
I don't know what to say.
I don't know if I'm worthy enough.
And so I would encourage you, just imperfectly show up for it.
Roberta Bondi talks about the concern that people have in prayer.
They think, man, did I do this right?
And she says, if you're already praying, you're already doing it right.
So just imperfectly show up.
You're not sure what to say, just say whatever comes to your mind.
And when you imperfectly show up, do that very thing.
Just speak honestly.
The psalms are filled with prayers, with sayings and things that you and I would be baffled
at that people say before God.
Like, are you allowed to say that?
And the reason why I think those kinds of prayers were preserved for us in scripture is
because they give us permission to be human in our prayer life.
So speak honestly before God as you practice this.
And then lastly, I would encourage you to pray whatever you can, whenever you can, and
however you can.
What do I mean by that?
Whatever comes to mind.
Say those things either verbally or in the quietness of your own soul, whenever you can.
Morning, afternoon, evening, when you're getting ready, when you're driving, when you're on
your way into the door after a long day at work wherever you find yourself, pray and then
however you can standing, sitting, walking, exercising, there are so many places and the
world is filled with the presence of God and if this practice at the heart of it is
communion with him then that means you can have that wherever you are at and so pray
whatever you can whenever you can.
And however I would encourage you, like every other practice it's that it's a practice, it
takes time.
And so give yourself grace and know that the school of prayer is a place where you and I
never graduate.
None of us become masters, none of us become experts.
This is something we are always learning collectively.
And so breathe in and breathe out and receive this as a gift not as a duty, not as an
ought, not as a should but as something we get to do.
Why?
Because God longs to be in communion with us.
Grace and peace.
Good you.
But.