reading book "Breakaway: 28 Steps To A More Prayerful Life"

Hello, companion Mustard Seed Library book readers,

On page 32 of the "Breakaway" book there is this statement:

Our human efforts in prayer
may be likened to the efforts of a fisherman
casting a net into the sea.
Unless the net has been cast carefully,
the hope of success is small.

I've been struggling with this statement. It's such a fearful proposition that our prayers might be evaluated by God or something, given a grade-- big fat F, if we don't pray carefully and then He won't answer our prayers. And yet the thing is that our faith teachers and the Bible and the church do teach us about praying with a great amount of thought and consideration for Whom we are praying to. There are some pages in the "Breakaway" book of reflections on the manners of prayer, sort of thinking about the how-to's of prayer which will be the focus of this week's blog entries.

Pastor Freed had an interesting Song/Prayer by Mary Brown on his blog:

It may not be on the mountain's height, or over the stormy sea;
It may not be at the battle's front my Lord will have need of me;
But if by a still small voice He calls to paths I do not know,
I'll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in Yours,
I'll go where You want me to go.

I'll go where You want me to go, dear Lord,
O'er mountain, or plain, or sea;
I'll say what You want me to say, dear Lord,
I'll be what You want me to be.


That part "I'll say what You want me to say, dear Lord," is pertinent. It must mean what the Lord want us to say to others, in witnessing, in caring, etc., etc., but it seems like it could also be what the Lord wants to hear from us to in authentic conversation, deep down in our souls dialogue with Him. Is "I'll say (pray even) what You want me to say (pray even), dear Lord, something the Lord is trying to put into us, telling us what to do, or is it what's in us that he wants us to truthfully say (pray even) to Him and others? Even with all the questions above, think seriously enough about the subject of prayer that paying careful attention to how to pray seems relevant. Do you think this is too structured thinking and not natural and spontaneous enough? Should prayer be a subject of analysis at all?

God bless,
Sharon