Prayer is fundamentally a personal conversation with God. In it, we share our thanksgiving, adoration, and praise, along with requests for ourselves and others.

True prayer isn’t meant to be a public performance designed to impress onlookers. It shouldn’t be filled with empty phrases or meaningless repetition, as Jesus himself cautioned against in Matthew 6:5-8.

I recently attended a worship service where I observed a man praying in a manner that seemed more focused on impressing the congregation with his spirituality than on communicating with God. He adopted an unnatural vocabulary and even incorporated archaic King James English expressions into his prayer.

The essence of prayer isn’t about crafting eloquent, impressive words but about expressing genuine thoughts to God. When you begin to worry about how others perceive your prayer, you’ve already lost sight of its purpose. The opinions of others should not matter in the context of prayer; our sole focus in prayer should be God.

Immediately following every significant event in the Church, such as Easter, there will be a cooling-off period. It takes about 24-48 hours for me to work through the emotions of the event, follow up, pray for people, debrief on what went right or wrong, and then breathe deeply in the satisfaction that the big day is over.

Then, well, I shift my focus to the next event on the horizon. There will be a “Graduation Sunday” baccalaureate program, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, a youth conference, and Vacation Bible School in the next twelve weeks. As soon as one program is done, my focus must shift to the next big thing.

The future for me is one of more prayer, planning, preparation, and preaching. There is no downtime to coast after a big experience; the next thing is coming, and I know God will use these next twelve weeks just like he has used the last twelve weeks.

As I ponder the future, I am always excited to see what God will do next. Just because Easter is over, the work of the Lord is not done until he returns.

Yesterday, the Church celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus. The Church was packed with people who rarely attended or had never attended a worship program before. If you were there, you saw them, even if you didn’t get a chance to talk to them. You saw them and were filled with delight that they were in Church for that day.

Now, I would like you to do two things as a post-Easter exercise.

First, drop those people that you saw a message and thank them for coming. Express your delight at seeing them and your eagerness to have them join you again.

Second, take five minutes every day this week and pray for that person or those people. Ask God to touch their heart and use Easter as a catalyst toward growth and change.

Getting people to attend a worship program on a special day is a great start, but God has so much more for them. Perhaps your contact and prayers will help them move forward on their spiritual journey. Don’t let the opportunities from this big day go to waste.

It’s Friday but Sunday’s Coming by SM Lockridge.

As we head into Easter weekend, I have seen numerous posts, blogs, and comments from people saying things like, “We don’t call it Easter.” Others have said, “It is based on a pagan goddess, so I do not celebrate this day.” Still, some boast, “Our Church avoids these traditions because they are not in the Bible.”

I get it. And in part, I agree with some of the things they are saying.

My problem is the attitude in which it is often said. There is this attitude that appears to imply, “I don’t do these things, so I am a better Christian than you.” Others will give the feeling of “Our Church is more Godly than other Churches.” Some think they are more mature believers with better Churches because of the days they choose to observe or not observe.

The Apostle Paul, in Romans chapter 14, walks the Christians in the city of Rome through a discussion of this type of issue. In verse 5, he writes, “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.” Then, in the next verse, he adds, “Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.”

Whenever someone celebrates a day as special, as long as he is doing it to the Lord, there is no issue. And whoever does not celebrate that day, as long as they are doing it to the Lord, there is no issue. Whether you set aside a day as special does not matter as long as Jesus is praised.

To anyone who has an attitude over this Sunday, know that your observation of it or lack of it is not an indication of your spiritual maturity or your Church’s godliness. Paul says in verse 13, “Let us stop passing judgment on one another.”

His point is simple: A spiritually mature Christian lives for the glory of Jesus in everything they do, no matter what days they celebrate.

“I don’t care about your eternity. I only care about mine.”

No one in Church says those statements.

But quite often, we show it through our actions. When we fail to share the message of Jesus as our Lord and Savior with other people. When we do not invite the people we know to join us for Easter. When we fail to park far away on Sunday, so guests can park close and feel welcome. When we take the back row of seats first, and we make guests walk to the front if they are a few minutes late. When we only talk to people we know before and after worship, making guests feel like outsiders. When we fail to smile, open the door, be friendly, and ask questions of others.

When we do these things, we show people who are lost and don’t know Jesus, “I don’t care about you. I am only here for me.”

I must admit that when I said it, I felt a little embarrassed. This man was walking through a dark season of his life, and all I could do after hearing his story was say, “I’m praying for you.” Then I sheepishly added, “It is the least I can do.”

After all these years, I would like to rescind that statement. Whenever I pray for someone or when a person prays for me, it is not the least we can do; it is the most we can do.

I tend to minimize prayer and the power of addressing God, but I have come to believe it is the most effective thing we can do for one another.

Thanks to everyone who prays for me and know this, “I’m praying for you too.”

We have seven days until we gather to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. Let’s pray wisely.  

Monday – Pray that this week, people will invite everyone they know to join them on Easter. Pray for the cards that have been handed out and that the social media posts will reach someone who will attend worship this year for the first time.

Tuesday – Pray for our Easter offering. At the Church I lead, we will be giving half of our collection to the Show Me Christian Youth Home. The amount climbs every year, and we pray that people will be more generous than ever. Please help us make an impact in our community and across the state in the lives of others for Jesus.

Wednesday – Pray for everyone involved in worship this weekend: the person preparing a communion devotion, those reading scripture, those running the slides and sound, greeters, the security team, children’s ministry, and even those preparing the building.

Thursday – Pray for the Worship Team. Pray that their hearts will be ready for Sunday, their voice will be clear, and they will stay healthy through the weekend.

Friday – Pray for people to have open hearts, minds, and schedules to attend this weekend. Pray that new people will come to hear about Jesus. Pray that those who have not been to Church in a while will desire to return.

Saturday – Pray for the Pastor, any final adjustments to the sermon, his spiritual readiness, his rest tonight, and God’s mightily using him as he preaches.

Sunday – Pray for everyone who will be present in worship. Pray that their hearts will be open and that the Word of God will penetrate them. Pray that this day will be a step in a new direction in their walk of faith.

We are a little over a week away until the Christian world celebrates Resurrection Sunday, or as many call it, Easter.

For some Christians, this is just another Sunday. They can tell you about pagan connections or their hatred of eggs and chocolate bunnies. Some very devout religious people will not celebrate this day as an act of devotion to Jesus.

For other Christians, this day will be filled with worship attendance, a celebration of the resurrection, family time together, and perhaps a big family dinner. They will enjoy this day and its emphasis on the resurrection of Jesus as an act of worship.

Neither of these two groups is my concern during this time of year. What weighs heavy on my mind are those who will miss Easter because no Christian shared their faith with them. No one invited them to join in worship on this day. No one connected with them with the hopes of telling them about Jesus’ resurrection. They will neither find faith nor joy during this holiday season.

I don’t want anyone to miss Easter because of Christian neglect. Maybe we can work together as believers to make sure that doesn’t happen this year. We have a week, so let’s get inviting.

Often, the things you really want in life do not come easily. Weight loss, knowledge of a topic, relationships, and financial freedom do not come to us naturally. All of them take work. We have to force ourselves to get up early, study, have uncomfortable conversations, and make difficult decisions. And yet, they all feel amazing once we accomplish them.

The same is true if you want a life with strong faith. If you want to be someone who loves the Lord, which overflows into a love for others, then it will also take effort. You will have to get up early or stay up late, read, listen, learn, have open discussions about things that matter, and make decisions that require you to deny your instincts. You will have to get used to being uncomfortable, feeling a lack of control, and not seeing immediate results.

I wish I could tell you that being a growing follower of Jesus is a life of certainty, and everything will be easy, but that is simply not true. It is a life of work, just like most things worth having.