Its Just Not That Complicated

Last night I had the joy of teaching our prayer 101 class at church. There is a possibility I might be posting the audio of text of the class in the coming months. I love teaching the basics classes in churches, for me that means two introductory Bible classed and two introductory prayer classes. In all of these classes and others for that matter, people come with a lot of anxiety about the topic. They are not sure they are qualified to engage in such activities.

For centuries the church has excelled at helping to reinforce people's insecurities. In the enlightenment age of specialization the church and the Christian tradition was not able to be the exception. It seems as though there are to be experts in certain areas, or disciplines of the church, and the rest of us are to just let them do what they do. While this may be true in an area such as counseling, when it comes to prayer this is just not true. Yet, many feel they are not good enough, or do not know enough, or will not do it right, so they leave prayer to the trained specialists.

It is not that complicated. Talking with God does not require anything more than a willingness. It could be seen as simple as having a conversation with a friend. The words, form and physical posture really do not matter. The only thing that matters is us taking time to yield our lives and hearts to God.

If there were one thing I wish I could help more people understand is walking with God is not that complicated. The church and other followers have done their best to make things complicated, but God has made it quite simple. It is not always easy, and it requires commitment, but it is not complicated.

One last note. I think we like to chalk it up as complicated because it leaves us an out. We can simply state we tried it didn't work because these things are complicated. No, it is quite simple, we are often not willing to put in the effort.