GOOD PRAYER

"God is great, God is good, let us thank him for this food..." We learn this prayer at a young age and we pray it ritualistically until we are about 6 at which time we decide it is uncool to pray and we get shy in front of the adults when they ask us to bless the food. I found myself praying over my lunch, and this is what I said "Dear God thank you for this day, thank you for everything I've done today, bless this food and help it to be good." I stopped. Help it to be good? What was I saying. I prayed that prayer over my food in my head since I was about 10. This was my chance to thank God for the food I was about to eat and I was praying a prayer I'd been praying since I was 10.
While sitting at the kitchen table I realized that a lot of times we pray because we have been praying our entire life, we pray before bed, before meals, and in church. The idea of prayer has been lost in religious rituals and cookie cutter christian ideals. I believe the greatest example of prayer is that of the Psalmist (for example Psalm 123, go read it.) If we prayed with this kind of fervor who's to say God wouldn't lift a mountain out of the ground and place it in a new location, who's to say we couldn't walk on water, or end world hunger, or bring peace to the world. If we prayed like God was listening, and we truly believed that God would be faithful, we would see how our prayer is effecting our lives.
I think that when we pray with intent and have faith, God will open our eyes and he shows us his intervention in our lives. Prayer is always answered it's just not always the answer you would like. I've often heard God will answer "yes, no, or maybe" but I believe God is much smarter than three words. My challenge to you is to (for at least a week) pray like you've never prayed before whether it be at the dinner table, in church, or before you go to bed, and trust that God will show himself while you are praying and in his answer. I believe that if you do this the term "answer to prayer" will take on a whole new meaning.