Prayer as Reverent Conversation

It is often very helpful for some Christians who struggle with prayer to think of it in terms of “talking to Dad.” This can help take some of the burden off of thinking our prayers have to be expressed a certain way or use a certain kind of terminology in order to be heard. Some people have a mistaken idea that we must only be positive in our prayers or never ask for things we want. Christians are great at coming up with rules for prayer that the Bible never actually gives us.

If you look through the Psalms, for instance, you will see how David and the other psalmists showed their true selves to God in prayer. They were honest about their fears, their confusion, their hurts, their doubts, their discouragements, and even their anger and their depression. They understood that we can’t hide that stuff from God anyway. It isn’t as if he wouldn’t know we feel those ways if we just didn’t tell him. No, when we pray, we can bring our real selves to the real God to get real help for our real lives. Read More

For some woman who have been abused by their father, physically, emotionally, or sexually, it may be easier for them to thinking of praying as talking to Mum or to a friend, a friend who is infinitely wiser and loving than any other friend that we have had.