Prayer.

The single most important tool in my life. Through prayer I can talk to my Father in Heaven, and He can hear me and answer back. Through prayer I can release my heartache, my anguish, or express my joy and love and gratitude. Through unspoken prayers, I can release my most inner desires and feelings, ones that I can’t figure out how to put into words. And the miraculous part? God listens, God hears, and then He speaks back and answers.

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In Before Amen, Max Lucado guides us through the simple parts of prayer, and helps us to see that prayer is easy and natural, not something to be feared or to find difficult. And he helps us see that even if we are scared or are not sure where to begin — God will teach us to pray.

When we pray, we first pray to the Father — our Father. He doesn’t ask us to call him Ruler or King or Creator, he asks us to call Him Father, Dad, Daddy, Papa. We are His children. His arms are outstretched, He wants us to come to Him. When we talk to our earthly parents, do we worry about the words we’re using or if we’re able to use the absolute correct figure of speech? No, we trip over our words as we try to build our relationship, we run to them in hours of joy or sorrow, and that is what God wants for us. Max tells us, “just as a happy child cannot mis-hug, the sincere heart cannot mis-pray” (page 18). We should “just be honest… Climb into his lap. Tell him everything that is on your heart. Or tell him nothing at all. Just lift your heart to heaven and declare, Father… Daddy…” (page 19). No matter how or when or why we pray, we pray to our Father, and He hears all and He will wrap us in His loving arms.

We pray to God in gratitude, to give thanks for all He’s given us. To recognize that He is good. We also pray to Him for help in our lives. No problem is too big or too small for God. If we but take our problems to Him, lay them at His feet, He can help us. “God keeps his word. We just need to ask” (page 39).We also pray for healing, and no matter what kind — God can help. Does He always answer the way we hope? No. But He will still answer. “He will heal you — instantly or gradually or ultimately” (page 52). We pray for forgiveness. Sometimes we may find it hard to come before God, to confess our sins, but Max, again in his wisdom shares, “confession, you see, is not a punishment for sin; it is an isolation of sin so it can be exposed and extracted” (page 64). We are all imperfect, we all make mistakes, but through repentance, the Atonement, and grace, God can help us become clean once again. And confessing, and praying for forgiveness, is the first step. Lastly, remember to pray for others. We can be others advocates, we can offer prayers in their behalf. Simply put, “you are never more like Jesus than when you pray for others” (page 79).

And of course, we close in Jesus’ name. He has authority, and the Devil fears Him, and he fears prayer. We are stating that Jesus and God are in charge. They can and will answer. All you have to do is ask.

Prayer is the most powerful tool we have in this life. It is how we communicate to God. Prayer works. It is real. And He will answer back. All we have to do is listen. We will have pain, we will have suffering — we live in a mortal world. But, as Max so simply states in the first chapter of his book:

Family Christian so kindly sent me a copy of Before Amen to read and review, but all opinions are my own. I loved this book. It was simple and right on the mark. And it was chosen for Family Christian’s 2015 Book of the Year! You can pick it up right now for 50% HERE. And I suggest you do.