“Prayer is either a sheer illusion or a personal contact between embryonic, incomplete persons (ourselves) and the utterly concrete Person. Prayer, in the sense of petition, asking for things, is a small part of it; confession and penitence are its threshold, adoration its sanctuary, the presence and vision and enjoyment of God its bread and wine. In it God shows Himself to us” (C. S. Lewis, The World’s Last Night).

I love the idea of prayer connected with worship and communion. It really does help me visualize the real meaning and goal of prayer.

Most of the time, we stop short of entering into the sanctuary of prayer when all we do is make petitions before God. It can almost become like a child sitting in Santa’s lap laying out a long list of what he or she wants for Christmas.

We get further in when we make confession before God. It’s more than just saying sorry for our sins. It’s agreeing with God not just that we sinned but about God being God and us not being God. It’s about agreeing not just with the bad we’ve done but also the good God has done to make it right. That leads to repenting, which is more than feeling bad. It’s a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior. It’s doing a 180 from going my own way to going God’s way.

The best part of prayer that we often neglect the most is adoration — not so much thanking God for what He’s done for us but mostly for who He is. It’s saying He’s worthy of worship and praise even if He never did one thing more for us because of who He is and what He’s already done for us.

I confess that my prayers often start and end with me. It’s more of my laundry list of wishes and wants to God where I’m in too much of a hurry to wait for a response. But when it becomes more than that, it’s less about me trying to change God’s mind and more about God changing me to want what He wants. That’s when the best kind of prayer happens.