Meaning It

I was reading a book to my girls tonight, and it used a verse from the translation of the Bible called "The Message." I'm not that familiar with "The Message" but this verse really jumped out at me. It said "God's there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it." I wondered why this verse had never struck me before. I looked it up in my two favorite translations (NIV and ESV) and realized why. In those translations it says God is near to those who call on Him in truth. For whatever reason, calling on God in truth is an abstract, nebulous concept to me. This verse didn't have "teeth" before. I know it should have, but it didn't. Since I've been thinking a lot about prayer lately, there is no doubt in my mind God wanted me to see this verse in this translation. He wanted it to stand out. He wanted me to think about it.

I started thinking about how often I really mean it when I pray. There are definitely times when I have called on God desperately, pleadingly. These times stick out in my mind, and the answers to the prayers stick out in my mind, too. They were clear, obvious answers. But these times are a small percentage of my prayers. Truthfully, there are so many times when my prayers are just an empty recitation. They are "vain repetitions." But how do I remedy this? How do I make sure my prayers are sincere?

I think if I had a constant recognition of who God is and what an awesome thing it is that I can talk to him at any time and he is near and is listening, I'd be on my knees constantly. And I wouldn't be on my knees saying "Lord make me healthy, Lord make me wealthy, and Lord don't let my children ever be hurt." I'd be saying "Lord help me to trust you even if I'm dying. Lord help me be satisfied in you if I have nothing else. Lord save my children's souls. Lord, help them to never turn away from you no matter what happens." These are the prayers that I can pray passionately. These are the prayers that turn vain repetitions into sincerity. These are the prayers I can pray and really mean it.