Really?! The Most Important Work

My malarkey meter went up a couple notches as I read what I was so convinced of just a few hours ago. I mean, I wrote the words…

Really, Matt? Is that true? Is that simply rhetorical flourish to make a point?

I have to ask myself, yet again, “Is prayer the most important work of the church? Aren’t there many other worthy competitors for our work? Surely. Reading the Bible. Studying the Bible. Evangelizing. Caring for One Another.

I am very careful not to overstate everything. Because then everything becomes the most important. Thus resulting in a malaise of what our priority ought to be. In an effort to not do that, I sat down to write either a defense or an apology for such overstatement. Which will this be?

I’m not sure. I’ve gone back and forth on this question all last night and this morning. I will post a series of reflections and see where we end up!

Before I answer the question, however, it is important to know what prayer is. I wrote in my email to the church that I define prayer as simply “seeking the face of God.” Put another way, it is a communion with God. Put yet another way, it is a fellowship of our souls with the divine. It is an open-ness to his work and his ways.

Too often prayer is equated with a list of to-dos for God. It is considered as nothing more than words.

BUT prayer is more than words. It is a posture. After all, how could Paul admonish us to pray without ceasing if prayer is only talking to God. To be sure, it is talking with God. But it is not merely talking with God.

Consider Jesus’ parable of tax collector and the Pharisee.

9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer[a]: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18.9-14, NLT).

Both men prayed…or did they? The Pharisee (who had great confidence in his own righteousness) definitely uttered words. But his words were not directed toward God. They are uttered so that his neighbor might be made small and he might boast. Surely, this is not the kind of prayer we are to do without ceasing. Therefore, prayer is more than words.

Rather, it is a posture. Notice the tax collector who did not feign to commend himself to God. His first words “Be merciful to me, for I am a sinner” stems from his conviction. It comes from a place of submission and trust. It is the fruit of self-awareness and disappointment. It places the person praying in a place of dependency. Surely this is the commended prayer.

Therefore, prayer is a posture.