(II)The Personal Dimension of Prayer
As we have previously established, the advice to pray for one another includes two essential aspects that can satisfy, to some extent, the human need for socialization:
1. Personal prayer as a form of socialization with the divinity;
2. Prayer made for others that involves socializing with others as a preliminary process to the actual prayer.
Analyzing the personal dimension of prayer, it is necessary to mention, first of all, that prayer is an essential aspect of Christianity, being a specific practice of authentic Christians. Whether we are talking about ‘Our Father’s prayer’ or we are talking about free prayers that everyone does as they feel and in their own words, Christians are constantly urged to pray. The important aspect that must be emphasized is this constant need of prayer in their lives.
It is true that if we refer to different religions, free prayers are or are not encouraged (see, for example, the fact that Orthodox priests encourage the use of prayer books, while neo-Protestants consider free and individual prayer a generally accepted and adopted practice).
Which of these two types of prayer is more effective from different perspectives is not the subject of this discussion. But I want to emphasize that regardless of form, prayer is without a doubt a specific practice for all true Christians.
Regarding the role of prayer, that is to encourage a personal relationship of the common man with the divinity. In other words, I pray out of a desire to communicate freely with a God who is in control of everything in my life, whether or not I am aware of His omnipotent character. Basically, through prayer I tell him, among other things, the successes and failures of my life just as I do with a close friend.
Obviously, I prefer to believe that people pray by giving God the opportunity to answer them, because otherwise prayer would become a form of madness in which one speaks alone. In other words, I like to consider prayer a form of socialization with Christ in which I tell Him what hurts me, what makes me happy, what saddens me, what encourages or discourages me, what confuses or motivates me, and He comes back to me and He listens to me, agrees with me or contradicts me, caresses or quarrels with me, encourages me or proposes different changes to me. However, one thing is certain: prayer reflects a bilateral relationship with God, a two-way street – from me to Him and vice versa.
Benefiting from this personal dimension of prayer, I can only note that God gives us, in the context that we globally live in today, the option to respect the rule of social distance imposed by people, while not leaving us completely deprived of the social component that is so vital to our lives.
The big problem of contemporary generations is that this form of socialization is extremely difficult to accept because people, even the most part of Christians, are not familiar with it. If we look at how much time we spend talking to other people about trivial and pointless things, and make a comparison with the time we spend with God in prayer, surely the conclusion is a sad one. Unfortunately, short, shallow, unburdened prayers have become a generally accepted practice.
What would be the solution to this problem? There is certainly a solution, but we will discuss it in a future post.
Until then, be blessed and always covered in the Father’s love!
Xoxo,
The Father’s Love Team