Let me begin with an chilling observation: there are people in this world who really don't want to pray. What I have observed, however, is that people who have no openness to prayer at all don't even bother to ask this question. We need to pray for these people in a special way, that they might awaken (or reawaken) to the seriousness of their own lives and their urgent need for God.
If we are asking this question in any way, however, then it means that somewhere within us there is a desire to find God, to reach out to Him, to connect with Him. That place, however fragile or remote, is a place from which prayer can begin.
So wherever we find ourselves, let us begin. Let us begin to ask with trust.
Someone might say, "I have nothing, no trust, no desire to pray--I don't want to ask for anything."
"Nothing"? God has no problem with "nothing"--He created from nothing. Give Him your "nothing." Say, "Jesus I don't want to pray, give me the grace to pray...." That's a prayer. A great prayer.
Ask Him to change your life. And keep asking. He will change your life. He will. He will empower you to change by His grace, and to live according to His will.
"But I don't want to change," some will say.
Do you wish, somewhere, that you did have the desire to change? Start there. "Jesus, give me the desire and the will to change, and to allow my life to be changed by you." Or even, "give me the desire of the desire...etc." Every person who is alive has a "place" from which they can start to ask.
Remember Jesus is God. Give Him a crumb and He will feed you with bread, and feed the multitudes besides. You have nothing? Then just stretch out your hand.
Can't even do that? Then cry out, "Lord, I'm sinking!" and let Him reach out and grab you. We must remember that God is looking at us always with infinitely greater tenderness and attention than we have for our own children. If one of our children cries out, "help!" we will go and we will do everything we can to help.
What can God do? God can do anything. If I ask for help, He will help. If I keep asking for help, He will keep helping. Where will it all end? Glory.
"Help!" What a beautiful prayer.
And we must never forget the incredible fact: God has entered history. He has a face. He has a name: Jesus. Before I even realized I needed "help," He had already come. He came into history so that He could come into my life with a special presence, so that He could amaze me by His Love....
Jesus. This is how much God the Almighty, the Lord of all Creation, wants to win my heart and your heart.
So wherever we find ourselves, let us begin. Let us begin to ask with trust.
Someone might say, "I have nothing, no trust, no desire to pray--I don't want to ask for anything."
"Nothing"? God has no problem with "nothing"--He created from nothing. Give Him your "nothing." Say, "Jesus I don't want to pray, give me the grace to pray...." That's a prayer. A great prayer.
Ask Him to change your life. And keep asking. He will change your life. He will. He will empower you to change by His grace, and to live according to His will.
"But I don't want to change," some will say.
Do you wish, somewhere, that you did have the desire to change? Start there. "Jesus, give me the desire and the will to change, and to allow my life to be changed by you." Or even, "give me the desire of the desire...etc." Every person who is alive has a "place" from which they can start to ask.
Remember Jesus is God. Give Him a crumb and He will feed you with bread, and feed the multitudes besides. You have nothing? Then just stretch out your hand.
Can't even do that? Then cry out, "Lord, I'm sinking!" and let Him reach out and grab you. We must remember that God is looking at us always with infinitely greater tenderness and attention than we have for our own children. If one of our children cries out, "help!" we will go and we will do everything we can to help.
What can God do? God can do anything. If I ask for help, He will help. If I keep asking for help, He will keep helping. Where will it all end? Glory.
"Help!" What a beautiful prayer.
And we must never forget the incredible fact: God has entered history. He has a face. He has a name: Jesus. Before I even realized I needed "help," He had already come. He came into history so that He could come into my life with a special presence, so that He could amaze me by His Love....
Jesus. This is how much God the Almighty, the Lord of all Creation, wants to win my heart and your heart.
