“Okay, ladies!” the women’s leader called us to order. “I’ll pray real quick and then we can get started.”

The small group leader glanced at his watch. “Our time’s up. Let’s pray real quick, and I’ll let you go.”

The ministry leader finished up the last agenda item. “I suppose we should pray real quick before we go.”

The pastor stepped up at the start of the church potluck. “Good to see you all here,” he smiled. “Let me pray real quick so we can eat.”

Does this sound as familiar to you as it does to me? Too often, we make prayer a rushed obligation instead of a meaningful interaction. How is it that we can spend an hour or more talking about God and find it an inconvenience to talk to Him?

We tag prayer onto our beginnings and endings as quick bookends to our gatherings, rather than humbly seek Him as the source of all wisdom and mercy. We toss a quick acknowledgment His way because we are at church, after all, and it’s the proper thing to do. But our petitions are feeble and awkward, because prayer is not our native language, even here.

This, then, is how you should pray: “ Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,”

Matthew 6:9

The Emmaus travelers said that their hearts burned in his presence, as they walked and discussed the Scriptures together. How much more should we set our hearts alight in prayer as we gather in His house?

“Wherever two or three gather in my name,” Jesus said, “there I am with them.” Should we just greet Him politely, then, and quickly turn to more important things? Or thrill to His presence, seeking His wisdom and love as we push back the darkness around us?

I’ll be honest. Unless it’s a prayer meeting, saying a “quick prayer” is the routine at the vast majority of church functions I’ve been to. Sadly, it’s also a common occurrence in many of the worship services I’ve been in.

We, who are so much in need of His wisdom and mercy, should be offering Him a seat at our table instead of hurriedly ushering Him out the door with our shopping lists.

I’m not advocating lengthy prayers using fancy words. Jesus Himself warned against that. I’m just wondering if, when we enter God’s throne room together, we might take seriously that great privilege, and stop treating it like an afterthought.

If you’ve been in church culture long enough, like I have, it’s easy to rattle off a quick prayer when necessary. But oh, the sweetness of a simple, humble prayer spoken by one whose heart is tender towards their Savior! A short, heartfelt prayer changes the atmosphere of a room, reorienting our hearts to worship and gratitude.

We have been given the immense privilege of being welcomed into God’s throne room as His beloved children. Let’s stop brushing it off like it’s unimportant.

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Acts 4:31