As children, we learn simple prayers that stay with us thoughout our lives. The first prayers most of us remember praying are the God bless Mommy and Daddy ones. Next usually comes the now I lay me down to sleep, praying for the Lord our soul to keep. A few years later it is the please let me pass this test and please let him call me tonight. We all learned the "Lord's prayer" but never really thought about it's meaning. It wasn't until many years later I learned that the prayer was not really the "Lord's" prayer but ours. Jesus was trying to show us how we should pray to Him.

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power,
the glory, forever, amen.

We quote this prayer without ever actually thinking about what we are saying. It tells us we should pray to God in heaven whose name is holy. We should ask whatever he wills to be done in heaven to also be done here on this earth. We should look to Him to supply our bread, our daily needs. As we ask Him to forgive all our sins we must in turn forgive all those who sin against us. We are asking him to keep us out of tempting situations and to keep evil things away from us. Then we declare that He and His kingdom mean everything to us forever and ever.

When we grow up in church, praying just comes natural. Children learn easily how they should communicate with God. I am finding it is harder for adults who come to Christ later in life to learn how they should pray. We lead someone to Christ and they are usually led in the praying of the "sinner's prayer". They are told to stay in church, read their Bible and pray daily. The thing is, some just don't know how to pray. Pride gets in the way and they are ashamed to tell anyone. As adults we make things more complicated than they really are. We think for God to hear our prayers there have to be a lot of "Thees" and "Thous" involved. God knows the desires of our hearts and He hears our prayers even if we think they are just not theological enough for Him. The Bible teaches to enter into the kingdom of heaven we must become as a little child. I think we also need to become as little children to learn how to enter into His presence while we are here on earth. When we are saved, living a Christian life is not automatic. We must grow in Christ a little every day. We must learn to pray, learn to follow, learn discipline. Pride must be laid aside as we admit there are things we just don't know and even though we are adults we need to learn just as we did when we were children.

Someone very close to me came to know Christ as as adult. I saw the frustration in trying to learn things that would have been so much easier if they had been learned as a child. He asked if I would write some simple prayers to help him and others learn how they should talk to God as friend to friend. It is my prayer for these pages to help someone learn to communicate with God. I want them to find the comfort and peace only He can give as we enter into His presence through prayer. If we can look at prayer as simply having a conversation with God, it doesn't seem nearly so complicated as some try to make it.