The Christian's Need to Pray

Having been blessed to work with a number of college-age students for many years, I got to meet a lot of different parents. It was not unusual to get a call from one of them (mainly mom) asking me to please check on her son or daughter. Many times what precipitated the call from Mom was the unexpected phone call home from her child which appeared to be for no reason at all -- at least no reason to which any self-respecting 18-year-old college freshman (who had been clamoring all through high school that he couldn't wait to get out of the house and be independent) was going to admit. Many times the student's unexpected call home was due to homesickness. There is no question in my mind that when loneliness hits us, or some crisis takes us by storm, we all (whether 18 or 80) want to retreat to that place of shelter and refuge where we felt most secure. Whether he admits it or not, home was the place of shelter and refuge from his loneliness, or the momentary crisis, for the 18 year-old freshman.

Jesus found the need to pray whether in the midst of the multitudes or in withdrawing from them to a desert place. In fact, he found it necessary at times to withdraw from his inner circle of loyal disciples, "rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark...and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed." (Mark 1:35) Prayer was the natural expression of Jesus' dependence on God but it was an equally clear indicator of His longing to be at home with His Father.

If prayer is to be an expression of our heart's longing for and dependence on God (Romans 10:1, Acts 4:23-30) but our prayer-life is not what it should be, perhaps we would do well to ask ourselves what are we longing for and on whom or what are we depending? God will neither be surprised nor concerned by genuine prayer that expresses our desire and longing to be with Him, in fact He is expecting it. The truth is we will be surprised by how much He cares for and comforts us, as He delights in answering the prayers of those who long for and depend on Him. Prayer keeps our light shining.