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It is strange for me to think about how prayer does and does not work. I believe prayer is the words, thoughts, and emotions of our mind and hearts to a higher being who is able to help us. With regards to these prayers to a higher power.. I believe the God of our Bibles is the only true God and all other prayers don't even reach the ceiling.

I also believe prayers make a difference. Our God is NOT indifferent to His creation and has been personally involved since Genesis 1. Our prayers are all heard by our Heavenly Father and His answers make a difference in this life and the life that is to follow.

So how does a person pray? How should we address God when we pray God?  

• "YO Mr. Big!" no.
•  "Is this is to the man upstairs?" please no.
• "Hey you!".. probably not.  

Truth is we do not have to be clever, or high church/high brow, or the above noted overly casual salutations. Instead Jesus taught us all how to pray in the gospels by sharing what is now known as.. The Lord's Prayer.

Our Father who is in Heaven,
Great is your Name.
Your kingdom come,
your world be done,
on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us debts as we forgive
those who are indebted to us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For your is the power and the glory
                            Forever and Ever.. AMEN!  

No special club handshake required, but instead this one simple prayer outlines everything we should consider when we talk to God.  1. Acknowledging Him as God  2. Praying for His will above all else.  3. A request for our needs.  4. A request for forgiveness.  5. A prayer to be forgiving.  6. Protection and victory over temptation.  7. The Amen acknowledgment that God is the source of all power and true glory.

Ok, in between the "Our Father" and the "Forever and Ever" we can expand our requests to include the details of our life and this world, but even simply reciting this prayer from the heart would change the world if every Christian did this every day.  And.. OBTW.. we are NOT too busy.

Next to be honest, we find the dilemma of speaking or thinking prayers which appear to be going into THIN AIR. Let's be honest here, God does not exist on this physical plane and so speaking outloud into what appears to be THIN AIR not only may feel strange, but most certainly will get the neighbors talking.  This is not as natural as it should be for those raised in the church so for those outside the church attending routinely.  

But none of this matters though as learning to pray and develop a relationship with God is cornerstone to having a personal faith. 

With this rambling outline from the Man who colors inside the lines for a living.. let me share more with my pictoral collection of prayer.  What it is.. What it is not.. and a few of those funny moments found in our high-tech post modern culture.

PRAYER.. How it works

I think the book of Psalms to me most expresses the heart of prayer. I like to call this.. Couch Time with God. Some days worshiping, other times crying for HELP. One day "Lord save me from my enemies!", and the next "The sun is shining and today it's not even in my eyes." 

Psalms to me runs the gamut of our very real expressions to our creator.  The Psalms marvel and the grandness of God's creation without losing sight that our Heavenly Father loves us with a personal love.  We are truly his own, and no matter if you are on top of the world, in a rut or hitting bottom our God cares and answers our prayers.

So, PRAY BIG! Why put a lid on what is possible when our Heavenly Father created the world in 7 days is in the business of 'Supersized' blessings for his children.

Once we can embrace prayer in our lives it can and should be as natural as breathing. Our words are not left hanging in the air when they are spoken to our Heavenly Father. He is neither indifferent or incapable of answering our requests.

Please keep in mind our God is not a Genie in a Lamp, and his answers will often be be NO, or wait. Just like any good father will not give his children whatever they ask for if it is not good for them.. then why would our Heavenly Father give us whatever we ask for.

It is important to TRUST our Heavenly Father to do what is best for us. The Lord is our Shepherd, and in Him we have everything we need.

The Prayer of Jabez is a great prayer to remind us again to PRAY BIG! I believe we often put a lid on what is possible by not asking God to bless and use us in BIG ways. I am not eluding to what I
would call a true prospertiy gospel prayer direction as God will bless us as He chooses, BUT I do believe in prayers that consider what is possible when God answers as He chooses.

Of course in the Back Pew the Prayer of Jabez takes on a different look of a Kentucky believer
 aka JebEZ, and then for you Star Wars fans we have the Prayer of.. Jabba the Hut. Of course neither a biblical but they were simply my smirky tributes to the Prayer of Jabez.

Family prayers are special moments too helping out kids become comfortable with prayer and with God. Family prayers and devotions do take a bit of effort. When the kids are little it is a challenge to get them all to focus and when they are older they tend to get so busy where devotions and family prayer are even more challenging.  My kids are all grown now, but I do have fond memories of all of us praying together in a hand holding method that I called the Twister Prayer.  It was a bit amusing and distracting, but a special memory.

In our separation of church and state society we find PRAYER in schools is frowned on.  But who are do they think they are kidding.  As long as there are tests AND drivers education there will be PRAYER IS SCHOOL.

So there you have it.. more spiritual advice from a man with a doctorate from the Crayola Theological Seminary of Cable Wisconsin.

Let me leave you all with a few links to a few other prayer cartoons.. or cartoons that need prayer.

I hope you have enjoyed.. no wait.. I PRAY you have enjoyed my ramblings and toons regarding the pursuit of the one True God featuring the critical and personal component of prayer.

Blessings 

Jeff (Praying in the Back Pew) Larson

misc prayer toons...

- A Simple Prayer Flow Chart , - Pray BIG , - Panic Prayers , - Prayer of a Sleeping Man , - 1-900y_YOUPRAY , - The Check is in the Mail prayer , - Proud versus Humble Prayers