The Quintessential Human Act

It has been said that the most elemental form of human speech is prayer...that prayer is "the quintessential human act"(Dr. Victor Shepherd). Considering that God created humankind in His image - designed us with an innate capacity for a relationship with our Creator - this makes perfect sense. But why is prayer so often a last resort, when it should be our first response?

Countless answers could be given to this question, with varying degrees of depth...but as i consider my own prayer life (or lack thereof), the conclusion i come to relates to a lack of dependence on God. Let's be honest. Though we may truly believe that God hears/answers our prayers, how often do we neglect setting time aside to pray because it appears unproductive? In our independence, so often we're driven by what we perceive to be tangible/visible/measurable, aren't we? And prayer may or may not factor into the process. We're self-reliant. We want to be completely self-sufficient. We'd rather do things on our own, without God's help.

But if prayer truly is the "quintessetial human act" - the essence of life in its purest form - then the majority of people in the world aren't really acting very human (myself included). Therefore, against all of our inclinations to be independent, we need to re-learn dependence...and i'm pretty sure it's no accident that prayer is often referred to as a spiritual discipline. Learning to depend fully and completely on the Lord is a life-long struggle, especially in a culture that values independence and considering our sinful nature that is thoroughly self-centred.

Therefore, may we un-learn complete self-reliance, and re-learn dependence on God by devoting ourselves to prayer.

MP