Jesus didn't like prayer

When I first learned to pray as a kid they were things that you recited. 

They rhymed, aka “Come Lord Jesus, be our guest and let thy gifts to us be blessed.”

They used fancy terms: Who says the word “bounty” anymore?  Or what’s up with “thy”?  (my apologies to Shakespeare)

So, naturally, when I prayed on my own before I went to bed (because that’s when God listens best), I created a format to use.  I would ask for certain things, pray for a prescribed list of people and at the end, no kidding, I asked if I could talk with my favorite deceased relative.  I would love to know what I said to those relatives now. 

This is all very innocent, but it seeped into my subconscious that praying requires some mix of formula and a splash of fancy.

Even when my relationship with God truly become mine when I was in high school, I still felt the need to say majestic or ‘spiritual’ terms.  Yet, here’s something funny about Jesus:

Jesus didn’t like prayer…when it was formulaic or fancy.

One time when he was hanging out with his buds, Jesus told them, “When you pray, don’t do it in a really fancy, public way.  And don’t be like the people who babble on and on, because they think they’re heard because of their fancy words.”  (My paraphrase of Matthew 6)

Mrs. Courtney hit it on the head in chapel today.  I love how she said to just be yourself.  Talk to God like your close friend.  He loves to hear you, just like Mrs. Courtney loves to hear her little son. 

And the really crazy news?  Your Friend is a really powerful dude!