Are we afraid to pray?

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

Last night I was reading “Fresh Wind Fresh Fire,” again, and the idea hit me that maybe some of us are afraid to pray. Sure we pray at church or even at home by ourselves, but is it a mechanical prayer or is it a deep down, pour your heart out, fall to your knees, passionate prayer. In this book Cymbala quotes Charles Spurgeon saying, “ The best style of prayer is that which cannot be called anything else but a cry.” When I read this it hit me that I suppress my prayers. I cannot count the number of times I will be praying at church or even at home and the tears start forming in my eyes and I stop praying immediately so I can get my emotions under control. I don’t want to make a scene at church, have someone wonder if I am all right, have another think something is wrong, and me be embarrassed. Who wants all that especially when it isn’t true. In reality it is far from the truth. The tears are just the result of letting myself go with the prayer and letting the passion of God take over. I had never thought about what I was doing before, that I was the one inhibiting the prayer to God by not letting the emotion come out. I told Rick this last night and his words to me were “let it rip.” So if you see me at church crying, dancing, shouting, or something crazy, know that I am just letting it rip and letting the passion flow into my prayer (just bring me a tissue ☺). So to those in the same boat as me in suppressing your passion in prayer, I will quote my husband in saying “LET IT RIP.”

Love Steph S