Kay >> Hi. I am Kay Daigle. I’d like to welcome you to this episode of the Beyond Ordinary Women Podcast. Today I’m talking with Claudia McGuire. Welcome, Claudia.

Claudia >> Thank you.

Kay >> Claudia spent years on staff at a church in Plano, Texas, at Chase Oaks, and she now still does Bible teaching, and she speaks at retreats, leadership, training, conferences—whatever. And we are so glad that she is one of our BOW Ministry Team members. So she’s not really a guest, but she is a co-worker in this ministry. And it’s been a privilege to know Claudia since we were in seminary together.

Claudia >> Thank you. You, too. I feel the same.

Kay >> Yes. So today we’re going to talk about prayer. We’ve talked about prayer previously, and we’re going to talk a little bit about prayer today. We’re going to talk about your Prayer Questions Answered. So if you have had a question, possibly Claudia will answer that question today because I think she’s come up with some general questions that a lot of people ask.

Is that right, Claudia?

Claudia >> I think so. I’ve heard these questions. And then I’ve also just thought through these seem like logical questions to me. Some of them are kind of seem harder than others, but I think they’re all relevant. Right?

Kay >> Right. I totally agree.

Claudia >> So I just have observed that over the years, as I’ve been in Bible study or led Bible study or been in small groups, or mission groups or, you know, all kinds of situations like that with I should say, fellow Christians, fellow Christ followers, I’ve just observed that there are people who seem to be uncomfortable with praying, right?

Kay >> Yes.

Claudia >> So just praying, just uncomfortable with it. Even if maybe they’ve been a part of your group for quite a while. Or even if maybe they’ve known the Lord for quite a while, there’s this uncomfortable thing that happens. And, you know, not to call on them when it’s prayer time and whatever situation you’re in. Some don’t like to pray aloud.

I’m not saying that they don’t pray. That some don’t like to pray aloud. They just don’t like that.

Kay >> Yep.

Claudia >> And some people are uncomfortable when other people pray. Like, I just kind of sense that sometimes from people. And then some others don’t. We kind of touched on this in another recording that we did, but some others don’t want to share requests because they feel God’s not going to hear me, this isn’t worth his time. Nobody wants to hear this or it’s just something that I’m not ready to put out there before people, which is I understand that.

So maybe we can address some of this mystery that seems to surround prayer or at least have a discussion of things that might keep us from praying in all kinds of situations. And hopefully as a result of this, that we who pray out loud or don’t have a problem with prayer might discover a more vibrant prayer life from knowing more about why and how we pray.

And it might even help others engage in the act of prayer, public prayer, private prayer, prayer request, those kind of things. So that’s how I came to do this, to just delve into these questions. So again, I just hope it’s helpful.

Kay >> I’m sure it will be. I’m sure it will be. Well, let’s just kind of start with the basic why pray? You know, we believe that God knows everything anyway. So why in the world does he call us to pray?

Claudia >> Yeah, you know, it’s interesting because I wasn’t raised in a particular well, I guess I was. I was raised in a religious family. And although my family started falling apart, there was divorce in my family when I was about 21 years old. We went to church, but we prayed. I mean, prayer was—I don’t remember my mom, like, coming into my room at night praying about a situation I was involved in, although she might have. My memory isn’t as wonderful as it used to be.

But, you know, we prayed for people and we prayed about our meals, and we prayed. You know, we prayed. We knew what prayer was. And I think that what you just mentioned, that people are like, why do this? God knows what I want anyway. Or God knows I’m thankful. God knows my heart well.

Prayer is actually encouraged and commanded, both in the Bible. So it’s a practice that we see throughout the Bible. It’s modeled for us as being this deepening, really ongoing relationship with our Heavenly Father. And I do believe that if we are Jesus followers, then we need to follow Jesus, and Jesus prayed.

Jesus actually appears to me that he speaks a lot less about prayer than he does actually praying when you read through the New Testament. It’s kind of like, Oh, well, he didn’t talk a whole lot about prayer, but he prayed. You know, you see him going off. It’s interesting. Yeah. So in Philippians 4:6, we’re told. (Many of us are so familiar with this verse.)

“Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.” And this leads to God’s peace, right? It’s a peace that the world can’t give. Only God can give it. That’s a major reason to pray. Peace is something we all need in all situations. We need peace. So that’s a good reason to pray.

And then in Luke, 21:36 , Jesus tells us as he’s talking about his coming again, he tells us to be on alert be on alert, and to pray at all times to pray for strength as life gets harder and as stranger things begin to take place.

He tells us, You know what? You’re going to need to pray about this. And so even though prayer is encouraged and commanded and we know what it’s for, to just solidify and keep open that relationship with our father, Jesus also told us to do it. We’ve had there’s lots of examples of it throughout the Bible. We are supposed to pray.

Again I wouldn’t call you and ask you to go to lunch. And we sit down at lunch and I just don’t ever I don’t ever ask you about you. I’m just there talking, talking, talking. And then I get up and leave. You know, that’s not going to do a lot for our relationship. So a relationship is this communication.

It’s a reciprocal thing. It’s us communing with one another, me and God. And I love that. So that’s why we pray. There are million reasons you could probably find throughout the Bible, but those are a few.

Kay >> Yeah. I mean, our relationship with God is a big one. And I don’t know about you, but I have actually sat down with people who only talked about themselves and never asked about me. So I know exactly what you’re talking about. And that is too often how I’ve prayed in the past, and some days I pray that way anyway.

Claudia >> Yes.

Kay >> Even though I know better.

Claudia >> Yes. True.

Kay >> Yeah. So that’s great. So is there a specific way we’re supposed t