I begin with a story about a drought. It had not rained for weeks and the crops were slowly dying. The response of the local churches was varied. Some simply accepted that it was all predestined and asked the Lord to show them clearly what they needed to learn. Some started to form a committee to look at what practical measures could be taken. Some decided to hold a prayer vigil and pray for rain, however it was noted that only one lady brought an umbrella 😆

• Do we believe in prayer?
• What does God do when we pray?
• Does praying make a difference?

The lady who brought her umbrella to the prayer meeting either had faith that her prayers for rain would be answered....or she liked a laugh!

Today we are focusing on the Holy Habit of prayer and we read in the book of Acts that the early Christian community devoted themselves to prayer.

Often, when there is something that we need to do, we first need to be persuaded on why we should do it. Popular thought is that ‘if the why is big enough then we will just naturally do it’. The Habit is easy to form, as we know why we do need to do it. Like we understand the implications if we don’t brush our teeth. The why is big enough.

So why do we pray?

We could take the simplistic approach that we pray because Jesus told us to or because Jesus prayed. If even the Son of God had to pray, how much more then do we!

But that is such a dogmatic approach. We only pray because we have to. Jesus told us to and we have to follow his example.

But Jesus revealed God’s true nature of love, grace and reconciliation. Not a dogmatic God – ‘You must do his, you must do that’. If we focus on an instruction then it is like focusing on the stick and not the carrot on why we pray.

When I started reflecting on this service back in the summer, don’t worry I don’t normally prep that far ahead! I wanted to find out the answers to the big questions on prayer. Honest questions which we ask, not to find a perfect philosophical explanation but to be motivated and energised to pray.

I wrote down three questions:

• Do we believe that prayer makes a difference?
• Do we fear relinquishing control?
• Do we fear the disappointment of unanswered prayers or answers that we do not like?

I would never pretend to know all the answers, so back in the summer I put a post on the Facebook group called ‘Methodists online’. Quite a chatty group. I asked this question:

‘Can anyone recommend a good book or article that addresses the big questions about intercessory prayer? Questions such as - What difference does it make? Does it ‘work’?

I’m leading a session on the Holy Habit of Prayer and unless we believe that ‘the why is big enough’ then (no matter how many prayer journals we may buy!) we have little hope in making it a Holy Habit.’

A number of books were recommended but I narrowed it down to two. Next slide please.

‘When I pray what does God do?’ by David Wilkinson and ‘Prayer: Does it make any difference’ by Philip Yancey. I have listed those books on the handout in case you would like to read them yourselves and reflect deeper on this subject.

I also went on a prayer retreat for a day with the URC, organised by Andrew and Sandra Murison as part of the Mission & Care group. The book that was available there was 'How do I pray? By John Pritchard. A quick and concise little read that a number of us enjoyed. I have some copies of the book on the side which you are welcome to take.

Personal testimony can be powerful so I will share with you that, to me, those three questions were like the elephant in the corner of the room that I could no longer ignore and were preventing me from making prayer a holy habit. To feel at ease and at home with prayer I needed to address the difficult questions, particularly around unanswered prayer.

So three books and one prayer retreat day later, what have a learnt that I can share with you today?

My greatest learning was for us to ‘Pray just as we are’.

It was such a relief to find that other Christian, writers of well-known books on prayer, still struggle with understanding prayer. With questions on 'What we should pray for? How should we pray? How do we carry on praying if we feel God is silent?'

So many questions with lots of suggested theological thought but most of all it was a wonderful feeling that we are not alone in our search for answers.

I thought, if I just read one more book then I will know the special formula on how to ask God for something and then I can confidently ask for something in prayer, knowing that it will be answered because I knew how and what to ask for was correct in the first place.

My tip on how to make the holy habit of prayer habitual is to not wait until you read yet another book on prayer.

We pray as we can, not as we can't!

We are not called to be magicians and so, despite all this reading, I have not discovered the magic formula on how to confidently ask God for something and know that it will be answered.

So we pray just as we are.

Yes exploring prayer can help us on our journey to Christian maturity but let’s not trouble ourselves so much that we don’t feel ready to pray or we don't feel worthy to pray. Thankfully the Spirit helps us in our weakness. God is aware of our difficulties and gives us the help of the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us. For we have the promise that when we do not know how to pray or what to pray, she intercedes with sighs too deep for words.