A recent devotion listed 10 short, simple prayers. Pause for a few moments and say each prayer out loud. Can you picture yourself using each prayer at one time or another? 

The are: Help; please; don’t; show me; guide me; change me; are you there?; Why’d you do that?; Oh; and thank you.

The devotion continued: “When the pressure mounts, when the body aches, when your heart breaks, when the world seems unfair or cruel or chaotic, we are likely to use one of these ten simple prayers.”

Max Lucado wrote a book about a simple but heartfelt prayer: “Father, you are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me. They need help. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, amen.”  

Prayer is an essential part of spiritual discipline. How you pray is also significant: Simple rather than wordy, sincerity more than elegance, humility over proud and practical over lavish.

Jesus said: “When you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production. Find a quiet secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God and you will begin to sense his grace.”

After years of ministry, hours in study and more hours in prayer, I believe God prefers simple, sincere, humble and practical. Here is a prayer, I use frequently: God, I love you. I need you.

You have a purpose for me. Give me courage to follow. Help me to help others.

Forgive me when I miss opportunities. Thank you for everything. Amen.

As a pastor, my temptation is to make everything including prayers creative and complicated.

But I am called to help others connect with God, to discover their purpose and enable them to carry out that purpose as individuals and as faith communities. Can it be that simple yet also that difficult? Yes!  

James Moore wrote: “We were never meant to bear our burdens alone. We were never meant to suffer in isolation. It is the genius of the Christian faith that it recognizes this truth. We in the church family are a community of love sharing the joys and sorrows of life together from the cradle to the grave. The anthem ‘No Man Is an Island’ is based on John Donne’s famous words and it reminds us powerfully that we all need one another, that not one of us is an island, that none of us stand alone, that we are all brothers and sisters with God as our Father.”  

“We in the church family are a community of love sharing the joys and sorrows of life together from the cradle to the grave … We all need one another.” Doesn’t get much simpler than that.

REV. LARRY E. DAVIES can be reached at larrydavies@sowingseedsoffaith.com.