On Sunday I mentioned a few things about prayer, and I thought that I’d take this opportunity to circle back, remind us of them, and throw in a great Paul Miller quote for good measure.  God is honored when we pray.  Prayer honors God because it is an expression of faith that he exists.  It is an expression of faith that says, “God, you’re powerful.”  And it is an expression of faith that says, “God, you care.”  God is honored and glorified just in the act of praying, and we should pray not just so he will answer, but so that he will be glorified. 

Pray in big and bold ways.  Pray faithfully.  Pray regularly.  There are going to be times when you’re offering up prayers to God, you’re praying faithfully and regularly, and yet there’s a part of you that just isn’t sure whether or not God will be pleased to answer your prayer.  Our faith is weak sometimes, but don’t let that stop you from praying regularly, because God loves all faith, he even loves weak faith.  God is pleased to answer our prayers, even though from time to time our faith was weaker than it should have been when offering our prayers.  Paul Miller put it well when he said:

“The gospel, God’s free gift of grace in Jesus, only works when we realize we don’t have it all together. The same is true for prayer. The very thing we are allergic to—our helplessness—is what makes prayer work. It works because we are helpless. We can’t do life on our own. Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of salvation. In prayer, the Father receives us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of help. We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking something is wrong with us. God looks as the adequacy of his Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers.”  Paul Miller, A Praying Life, (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2009), 55

Let’s pray to our great and generous God.