“Dad, I need help!” This is a phrase I hear about 100 times a day in my house, and I would venture to guess that my wife hears the phrase “Help, Mom!” about 1000 times a day. This cry for help from my children inevitably comes just as I have sat down to rest or have an important task to attend to. I wish I could say that I patiently get up from my seat every time and quickly go find the source of the cry for help - to lovingly meet whatever need my child has at the moment, whether it be an injury that needs a bandage, a dispute that needs to be settled, a tear that needs to be wiped, or a toy that needs to be fixed. But, dear reader, I must admit there is a limit to the number of times I can hear “Dad, I need help!” before I start to grumble a little bit if my rest time is being interrupted. There is a limit to my patience. Once I reach that limit, I start to get out of my seat a little slower or even stay in my comfortable chair relaxing, hoping that my children will be able to solve whatever problem they have on their own.
I have been thinking about this lately because, during the spring semester, the middle school and high school students spent several weeks studying the question: “How do I grow in Christ?” We read what Scripture says about how we can grow in our personal devotions and develop habits that help us know and love God in a deeper way. One of the main things we discussed in our small groups was the vital importance of prayer in the Christian life. This is a fairly common truth that most Christians know: prayer is essential to growing in godliness. Yet, I wanted our students not only to understand that prayer is important but also to understand what prayer is. So I had all of our small group leaders ask the students: “How would you define prayer?” After some discussion most of the groups came to a simple, yet profound conclusion: “Prayer is talking to God.” Prayer is relational and personal. Prayer is as basic as people relating to each other, conversing. It’s a child having a conversation with his Father. Indeed, when Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He told them to address God as Father. Prayer in its simplest form is simply saying, “Dad, I need help!”
One of the passages that was especially meaningful to me as I was preparing these lessons was Psalm 18.6 – “In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.” I realized that I often take prayer for granted, yet this psalm reminded me of the wonderful and profound truth that the Creator of the universe hears our prayers. Like a loving father, He hears the prayers of His children. Not only does God want us to hear His voice, but He wants to hear ours. The speaking God not only has spoken, but He also listens. The Creator of the universe wants to hear from you. We should not be discouraged by our struggles with prayer, but rather we should refocus on the character of God and be encouraged that God stands ready to hear our voice. He delights in the prayers of His children.
