Seriously, what IS prayer?

Given what my family has recently gone through, I have done a lot of praying.

Now, that isn't to say I don't pray everyday; I do!  But during the time of my father's illness, I prayed more than I usually did.  Heck, I think some days I was in nothing BUT prayer, just to get through the day!

Now that my father has passed, and things are "relatively" getting back to normal - or as I tell my clients: there is no normal, only average.

But back to prayer.

At first, I was praying that my Dad would be healed.  That he would gain his strength, be able to have surgery, and get to have him with us for a few more years.  Eventually, my prayers were not so....grand.  They were down to the point of just asking that my Dad have a good night sleep.

As the days passed, after Dad died...I continued to pray...but I didn't know exactly what to pray for.

After all, God knows what's going on.  I'm not telling him anything new.  I'm not giving him any information that he isn't privy to.

Given this, I reverted back to what I do in real times of stress and worry: I pray the prayer Jesus taught us.

"Our Father, who art in heaven..."

You know the rest.

I figure, if Jesus said to pray it - there must be a reason!

But what is that reason?

What is the reason for prayer in the first place?

I know we are supposed to - but why?  Because God wants to hear a bunch of us complain about our lives and ask for help?

I hope not!

I'm sure he'll hear any prayer that we offer to him, but is that truly the purpose?

According to the words of the Lord's prayer that doesn't seem to be the case.

I have heard other teachers say that the Lord's prayer isn't so much a word-by-word prayer we should say, but a guide to prayer.

I believe this to be true - however, I don't see a problem with the word-by-word part.  If it was good enough for Jesus, it should be good enough for me! And it usually is.

But what is the breakdown of the prayer?  How is it a guide?

I don't exactly know, I have forgotten the sermons I listened to that spoke about it, but I have some ideas of my own.

In the next post I'll take a look at the first part of the prayer.

"Our Father, who art in Heaven.....on earth as it is in Heaven."

If you have any ideas, or opinions or beliefs, or input on how you pray, please share!