I confess I usually do when I'm saying grace.
Francis Chan, a very engaging speaker and author of Crazy Love, touches on this in a short video which I'm attaching to this post below. He tells how he used the same words throughout his childhood and teen years while saying grace at the family table.
This rote praying spilled over into other areas of his prayer life. It wasn't until adulthood that his prayer life changed. He started praying as if he was in God's presence.
It seems so obvious. Jesus said he would always be with us. So of course, God is present when we pray.
But often we pray as if we are talking to a blank wall. And our hearts are not in our prayers.
Francis Chan's imagination was fired by the picture of God on his throne in Revelation 4. He began to pray as if he were speaking to God on his throne. His prayer life gained new vigour and meaning. He was talking to a God of power and might.
The writer of Hebrews touches on this picture of the throne of God in Hebrews chapter 4. He says that Jesus understands us because he faced all the trials and temptations we have on earth. Now, he is our high priest intervening for us before God the Father. He concludes:
"So let us come boldly before the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."
I love that image. The God of Revelation 4 is also the God of Hebrews 4. He is a God of power and might and he is a God of mercy.
When we open our eyes to God's presence, we pray with more intensity and confidence.
He really does listen. He is sympathetic to our struggles. He wants to pour out his grace on our needy hearts.
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