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From Lowering Stress Naturally

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Do you ever feel like we make things harder than they need to be?  I can think of a great example of this.  I probably don’t have this story right, but let me give it a try. When my son was in elementary school he and his peers were invited to a sort of an engineering competition.  Their team and other teams were to remove balls from the center of a circle without touching anything else in the circle.  You couldn’t walk in.  You had to get the balls without touching the ground inside the circle.  My son had a programmable module from the Lego people.  He and his buddies built a Lego MindStorms robot and programmed it to enter the circle, collect balls and return.  In the trial runs it worked very well. But when they arrived at the competition, they had all kinds of problems.  The Lego parts didn’t hold together well for the long haul.  The balls kept falling out.  The wheels came lose.  The belts slipped.  Their impressive robot collected some balls, but they didn’t win.
The people who won took a simpler approach.  They brought a cement block and a 12 foot 2”x6” board.  They used it as a see-saw, placing two big kids on one end, and one skinny kid on the other – hanging over the circle picking up balls with his hands and putting them in a sack.  The kids who made it easy won.
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==We often make things harder than they need to be -- and prayer is no exception.==
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gives us a simple model of prayer.  

<blockquote>''Matthew 6:9b-13 (KJV) Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.''</blockquote>

===This model prayer teaches us what prayer is not.===
====It's not a public show.====
Earlier in this passage Jesus said: 
<blockquote>''But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.''</blockquote>
Don’t you hate it when you see someone spouting off about how spiritual they are when you know better?  The guy who talks about how much he witnesses, when he’s never shared his faith in his life.  Or the husband who talks about how much he loves his wife and how wonderful their marriage is when in reality he treats her like trash when they are together.
That kind of hypocrisy is ugly to the onlooker.  But put yourself in the shoes of that wife for a moment – think how hurtful it is to her to hear him speak those words when she knows better – she knows that he neglects to show her kindness privately. That’s how God must feel when a person prays in public but never bothers to speak to God in private.
Jesus teaches us that prayer is not a public show.
====It’s not a marathon.====
That's what Jesus wants you to know when he says:
<blockquote>''And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.''</blockquote>
That doesn’t mean you should not pray with any length.  It means you should not think that you’re impressing God with long prayers.
====It’s not a time to inform God on what he needs to know.====
Jesus says that your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  I would guess this is the biggest mistake people make in praying – telling God what you need as though you’re informing him.
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===So what is prayer?===
====It’s talking to your Father.====
I have a good friend who, when he prays publicly (and I assume privately) prays like this:  ''Dear Dad in heaven.''  Some people have told me that bothers them.  I understand.  It’s very untraditional.  But my friend teaches Greek on the seminary level.  He knows the text better than I ever will.  And what I like about what he is doing is that it shocks me into grasping what Jesus says here.  God is your ''Father.''  From what I have read, it was uncommon, in Jesus’ day, to pray this way – to call God your Father.   So the disciples were as shocked when Jesus said this as you or I might be the hearing someone pray, ''Dear Dad in heaven.''

Another friend, Sam, was in a men's room recently and he heard a father and son talking in the stall.  The son said, "Daddy -- I love you."  The dad replied, "I love you too, son."  Then the son said, "Daddy -- I wish I could love you as much as you love me."  Sam said to me, "That's the way it is with us and our Father in heaven.  He loves us deeply.  Like a dad loves a son." That's why prayer is talking to someone you should regard as your Father -- your dad.
====Prayer is acknowledging that God is holy.====
The words ''Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,'' mean that Jesus wants us to approach God with a sense of reverence.  In the sixties there was this tendency among young people to pray like this: ''Yo, Daddy-o, how goes it. This is Steve here – just wanted to let ya know you’re doin’ OK!  Over-and-out.''  That kind of prayer fails to note that God’s holy and we’re not.

Now don’t misunderstand me.  I am not saying prayer needs to be some formal speech.  I don’t believe that at all.  But when Jesus models prayer for us, he reminds us to express our reverence for God.

====Prayer is acknowledging that you want what he wants.====
''Thy will be done'' are words that can lower stress immensely.  I have heard that a child has an inborn desire and need for someone who cares about him or her to discipline him or her.  If a child has parents who never set limits, that child will suffer unnecessary stress.  Having a parent who is in charge actually lowers stress in the life of the child.  It's the same way with us and God.  If we let our Father in heaven be in charge, then stress is reduced.  Surrendering to God's good will for your life is healthy.

====Prayer is resting in him for your every need.====
Even the casual biblical scholar can wonder why Jesus, in an earlier chapter of Matthew would say, ''Man does not live by bread alone'' and then in his model prayer say, ''Give us today our daily bread.''  That's a good question.  Most likely, the answer is because it’s important for us to understand that our most basic needs must come from the hand of God.  With those words we simply acknowledge that everything we need must come from God.

====Prayer is relying on him for forgiveness.====
''Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.'' Don’t get mixed up here.  Jesus isn’t saying that we are forgiven because we forgive.  Our sins can only be forgiven by his grace.  Jesus is letting us know that if we claim to be one of his disciples we need to forgive.  And forgiving others lowers stress dramatically.

====Prayer is relying on him to help us live decent lives.====
Living an evil life brings the stress of guilt, shame, and working hard not to get caught.  That's only one reason it's good to be good.  Yet the fact is that no one can live the kind of life that Jesus lived.  He was and is the Son of God.  But with his help, we can live lives that are above what we could naturally live.  To have his help in doing so, we simply pray ''...lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.''

==So how do you pray?==
Use Jesus’ model.
====Be conversational====
''Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 
Talk to him as though you are talking to a loving Father.'
====Be respectful====
'Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.'' 
====Let him know you're surrendered to his will.====
''Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.'' 
====Let him know you are relying on him…====
=====For your most basic needs.=====
''Give us this day our daily bread.'' 
=====For forgiveness of your sin.=====
''And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.'' 
=====And for power to live as he wants you to live.=====
''And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:''

==Prayer isn't rocket science==
It takes about 25 seconds to recite The Lord's Prayer.  Jesus used only 57 Greek words.  So don’t make prayer harder than it has to be.  Just do it. And enjoy the God who loves you.
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