What does God want us to Pray?

“What does God want us to pray?” That was a question that Brenton Brown was asking in an interview we watched last night at worship practice.

Jesus’ disciples asked a similar question, they asked Him to teach them how to pray.  As a worship team, we have the responsibility of putting sung prayers in people’s mouths, and that same question is a great question to ask.

What kinds of conversations am I having with God?  Is it all “Gimme this”?  I’m sure many of us are familiar with the ACTS method (Adore, Confess, Thanksgiving, Supplication)  I think all those same truths that apply to our personal prayer lives, are most definitely applicable to our public prayer/worship lives.  I challenge us all to take a look at our prayer lives, both personal and public, and see if they represent a well rounded, mature relationship with our Father in heaven.  If not, like Jesus’ disciples, we should ask God to teach us how to pray.

Matthew Stinson led part of practice last night, and he had a related question as his main thrust:  How can we step out of the way and provide a worshipful atmosphere?  We can’t make people pray.  We can’t make people engage with God.  We can, however, try to not be a distraction and make sure that our hearts are truly focused on bringing attention to God.

God wants his house to be “a house of prayer” (Matt. 21).  Are we as worship team members in the way, or helpful in that cause?

What do you think?