Why have we made prayer out to be a chore?

Why have we made prayer out to be a chore?

Prayer has become a chore, a ritual, a bore and sometimes a punishment. We’re to have a relationship with God by prayer. We owe Him THAT much, since he died for us and loved us first.

prayer [práir]

(plural prayers)

n

1. communication with God or other being: a spoken or unspoken communication with God, a deity, or a saint.

It may express praise, thanksgiving, confession or a request for something such as help or somebody’s wellbeing.

.

2. communicating with God or other being: the act or practice of making spoken or unspoken communication with God, a deity, or a saint

.

3. religious service with prayers: a religious service at which prayers are said (often used in the plural)

.

4. earnest request: an earnest request for something

1. communication with God or other being: a spoken or unspoken communication with God, a deity, or a saint.

[communicate: vi understand one another: to share a good personal understanding]

Many times, we (I admit, including me) use prayer for only things we want. Or maybe we advise ourselves and other people to pray every day. Like as if it’s a chore we have to do every day.

We shouldn’t be praying because we HAVE to; We should be praying (to) (communicating and having a personal understanding with) God cause we want to! He’s not going to force you to talk to Him. He won’t hold a threat over you if you forget one day.

Okay, it’s like this, EXAMPLE Aaron Tay and Jeremy Duke are the best of friends (example k? even though they are good friends, this is just an example). Why should Aaron or Jeremy get all bored talking to each other? Don’t they meet up and start talking to each other? Don’t they like act all buddy-buddy-ish? I mean, if you’re really best of friends with Jesus, when someone asks you to pray for something or someone or maybe just pray, why should you act like that person is so annoying, asking you to do something you really don’t want to do?

Or, maybe like me and jinyin or me and amelia, or me and carissa (EXAMPLE), we won't get together on Sunday after service cause we're forced by our parents to talk. We get together cause we WANT to chat with each other, (RIGHT jinyin? right amelia? right carissa?)
We talk cause we want to! I mean, prayer to God should just be talking and sharing your thoughts, dreams, aspirations and goals with our bestest friend in the world!

RIGHT? say amen if you agree!

3. religious service with prayers: a religious service at which prayers are said (often used in the plural)

Many people have made prayer a punishment too. Maybe if a child is naughty, and makes noise in Sunday school, they will have to be the one who prays for the food. That would put in to their heads that “if I’m naughty I will pray, so if I’m good, I won’t have to pray anymore!”

Also sometimes prayers after a while, get very fixed. e.g.:

“Lord Jesus, I pray for the food, bless it to our bodies. In Jesus name amen.”

“Lord Jesus, thank you for today, bless the Sunday service. Amen.”
After a while, we pray that for EVERY mealtime and EVERY event. It becomes something you say to get prayer over and done with.

4. earnest request: an earnest request for something

This is the all too famous reason why people pray. JUST to ask God for stuff; to make you better looking, to give you a bigger house than your friend, to have a PSP like your friend, to have a nicer Bible…It’s not all bad! Don’t take me wrong (I’ve always wanted to say that!), but be careful. That’s not what prayer is ALL about…

Another danger is that (sometimes) some people may compliment you about your prayer, as if it was a prayer to them. The way they tell you how good your prayer was, makes us want to pray using bigger words or add a few scriptures in there and make it sound so overdramatized or something like that. Prayer ends up being a thing to show-off. Which of course, isn’t right. We must all remember WHO we’re praying to.

In conclusion, don’t make prayer out to be a chore, a punishment or a thing you HAVE to do so God won’t throw you into hell. Prayer is communication with the ONLY being that will love you no matter what, and who died for you and who WANTS to talk to you!

Now how many of you can say you know someone else who is like that?

Definitions taken from Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved..