When I was younger, my uncle thought he was hilarious. Actually he still thinks he is, but I want to focus on something he said to my aunt about 10 years ago.
My aunt and I were going out quickly and my aunt said;
“I love you Vince!”
My uncle responded with;
“Thank you!”
So she asked,
“Vince, why don’t you say ‘I love you’ back to me?”
His response wasn’t anything I expected to hear. He responded ever so cleverly with;
“Honey, I told you I loved you on the day we got married. If anything changes, I’ll let you know!”
Beautifully enough, my aunt knew who she had married and just laughed it off.
Imagine hearing the words “I love you” one last time when you’re around 20, 30, 40, 50 years old -whatever age you might be when you decide to get married- and then never hearing it again until the day death do you part. Or imagine coming out of your mother’s womb all over again, her saying those three beautiful words to your newborn heart, and then never hearing those words again for the rest of your childhood until your husband says it once at the alter of your wedding and then that’s all!
Unpleasant? I think so.
When I was talking to someone about my prayer life one time, I made the mistake of speaking complete Christianese (the language Christians are raised with that the rest of the world doesn’t understand yet) and I said the most complicated thing:
“God already knows everything in your heart! He knows us better than we know ourselves. But because my life with Christ is all about relationship, I love chatting with Him, which can also be known as praying to Him.”
And the person I was talking to said;
“If He already knows everything in your heart, then why bother praying if He already knows what you’re going to say anyways?”
Good question.
My answer is this:
Is it more encouraging for my aunt to hear the words “I love you” once for the rest of her life and then my uncle will just let her know if one day he stops loving her? Or is it better for them to have constant communication of where their hearts are so that they can spend the time of their relationship encouraging one another and building each other up with words of affirmation?
Logical and reasonable answer: it’s so much easier for the peace of our hearts to live with encouragement rather than live in constant silence where love could be filling the empty spaces.
So then, why is a strong prayer life important?
Yes, God knows we love him because He already knows everything in our hearts. Obviously we know God loves us because well, you know, His only son died on the cross for us…
So why do we keep communicating with God through prayer?
Well God has written us an entire love letter called the Bible which we are called to read so that we can continue to grow with Him. Do you ever doubt about God’s love for you? Yeah, it happens to me too sometimes when I feel really lost or really hurt. So here are some God-whispered writings so that we remember His love for us:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Galatians 2:20 “I live by faith in the Son of God. who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—”
1 John 4:7-11 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
There is more than enough proof in God’s Word and the story of Jesus for us to know that God loves us. But how does God know we love Him? We’re not supernatural beings that can shoot up messages in bottles to Heaven. We don’t get to visit Heaven just yet. We’re not angels that get access to Heaven whenever we want (I don’t even think it works that way). Sometimes it seems so complicated…
But guess what? It is SO easy. How do we prove to God we love Him too?
Just tell Him.
There’s no “right way” to pray. God manifests Himself differently in each of us, so try out the ways that work for you. You wouldn’t let someone run your relationship with your spouse would you? So don’t let people try to tell you how YOU love God! Whether it be a 30 second prayer or 4 straight hours in prayer (yes, it is possible), God will hear you. No one will understand the value of your prayer better than God will.
So the question isn’t if God already knows our heart, then why should we bother praying? The statement now becomes because God knows my heart, I will bother to pray!
P.S:
Prayer is ENCOURAGEMENT. Pray for other people! Pray for your friends! Pray for your enemies! (Matthew 5:44) Praying for other people not only tells God we love Him, it also tells people we want to love them. And work on not being ashamed to say the name ‘Jesus’ in public! The picture on the left is a picture of 11 people praying over 1 guy at the movie theatre. I’m not saying this happens everywhere I go, but I am saying it is incredibly encouraging to see a group of people pray over a brother that is suffering through something so publicly and boldly! Like I said, don’t let anyone tell you how to run your prayer/relationship with God. Some people prefer praying publicly like this, whereas others prefer doing it in private. ALL WAYS ARE OKAY! Prayer works, and is encouraging either way! Do not be discouraged.
*If you have any questions about prayer, ask a spiritual professional. I could also reference you to Mike Bickle’s book: Growing In Prayer.