Take It to the Lord in Prayer

As I reflect upon the words of this beloved hymn, I cannot help but think I have had it all wrong! If you had asked me just a few weeks ago to interpret the meaning of this hymn, I might have tried to draw a parallel between these words and relationship — or friendship– with Christ. While I do believe that every person must cultivate a growing, personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I’m not sure that description would fully exemplify the essence of this sacred text. I believe this hymn highlights one of the essential spiritual disciplines of every Christian — prayer!

The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:6–7:

Prayer is our line of communication with God! Throughout the New Testament, there are hundreds of Scriptures which emphasize the need for prayer and the power of prayer. In the Gospels, Jesus instructs us to pray, and he even leaves us a model, which we call The Lord’s Prayer, to use when we pray. The protestant reformer Martin Luther once wrote: “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” Prayer is immensely important!

One aspect of prayer which is evident in the passage from Philippians is the act of presenting prayer requests to God. Many of us can probably think back to a time in church, at a Bible study, or some other small gathering when somebody asked if anyone in the group had a prayer request. Perhaps you keep a prayer list or a journal where you keep track of things you have prayed about. I have even heard of people keeping a separate list of answered prayers!

Sometimes we go to the Lord in prayer when we are desperately in need. The truth is, most of us will inevitably face circumstances in our lives that are beyond our control. We will have problems to which there are seemingly no solutions and questions to which there are no answers. The paralyzing fear of a bad medical prognosis, an acute illness, the death of a loved one, the stress of unexpected financial obligations, and the list could go on and on. In these times when the unexpected becomes reality, prayer is our BEST response!

For believers, prayer is more than just a few sentences we recite as a family meal. Prayer is a powerful spiritual exercise of submitting ourselves to God! Taking “it” to the Lord in prayer, as the hymn suggests, does not mean that you are admitting defeat. It does not mean that life is never going to get any better. We pray believing God will answer, and we pray knowing that His answer may not be the one we expect. The next time a Christian tells you that you are in their “thoughts and prayers,” receive it as a bold proclamation of confidence in God’s divine ability to care for you as only HE can!

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