Struggling with Prayer: Talking with Buddy Christ

Prayer has always been a central part of the Christian life. Unfortunately, it has also been the most difficult part to practice in my own faith.

Yesterday I looked at the ways a request-centered form of prayer raises all sorts of questions for me, which have often hindered my prayer life. Today I continue to struggle with prayer from a different angle.

“Dear Jesus, [wait, why would I start like that? Am I applying for a job or something?] I know I’m supposed to have a personal relationship with you [though I’m not sure how we’ve come to see that as so key to the Biblical message] but I really don’t know what that means.

For one thing my other personal relationships involve quite a bit of conversation, but even though I talk to you the dialogue usually feels a bit one sided. Besides, what does it even look like to have a personal relationship with the creator and redeemer of all things?

Sure you’re a person [in the Trinitarian sense, and as reveled in the Incarnation] but a relationship with you isn’t like a relationship with Steve who’s in that one class with me. So why should I treat it like it is? You are the Messiah, the rescuer of your people, the conqueror of sin and death. Asking you if you want to “hang out” is a bit trite really, isn’t it?”

That not-quite-serious prayer sums up as I best I can my struggles with another way of approaching God. Not the request-centered approach, but the “hanging out with Buddy Christ” [pictured above] approach.

This sort of prayer isn’t about what you can get from God, but about talking to Jesus like he’s your best friend and maybe wearing “Jesus is my homeboy” t-shirts.

Now, I’m not opposed to the idea of a personal relationship with God, provided we define that correctly. The biblical story certainly portrays a God who pursues us as individuals, who is concerned for people as people. That’s a beautiful reality, and was revolutionary in comparison to the detached gods of the ancient world. We need that part of the story, it’s to be celebrated and embraced.

But still, the ‘just talk to Jesus’ mode of prayer has always felt off to me. It feels like it makes God smaller than God truly is, less transcendent than the Scriptures make the Divine out to be. It’s not that I’m condemning you if you can pray like that, it’s more that, as much as I may try, that has always been very difficult for me to wrap my mind around.

___________________________

So, what does it mean to have a personal relationship with God?

Does that come easily for you?

What questions does it raise when it comes to the way we pray?