Four Words. Four Prayers.

Listened to Annie Lamott (my new favorite) this morning.   (See her talk here.) .   She said there are only three prayers.  “Help.”   “Thanks.”   “Wow.”   There is some truth there.   I'll add one more.  "Sorry."

Help
I think we honor God when every day we ask Him for help with everything.   Our asking shows that we really believe He’s that powerful and that kind-hearted.  Our asking shows that we really understand how much we need help.  When we ask for help we exalt Him and we walk in an appropriate humility.

Here’s a great bit of instruction about asking for help all the time in everything from Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

  6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
                Philippians 4:6-7

Thanks
Everything is a gift.  Every new day.  Every bit of sleep.   Every old friend and every new friend.  Every good thing.  And even the tough things are a gift to help us trust and grow and change.

Wow
God does amazing things doesn’t He?    When we trust Him across the years He guides us to places we could have never gotten to on our own and looking back we say, “wow.”   When we let His Spirit and his Word shape us, we become better people than we would have ever become on our own and we say “wow.”  We look at the intricate complexity of this world and the more we see how remarkable it is, we can only say “wow.”

Sorry
Sometimes we will fail.   Everyone reading this has pride issues and selfishness issues.  At times, fear drives all of us to anger and worry and other bad places.   That’s when we can just say, “sorry.”   And we can know that I John 1:9 is true, “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”


Four words. Four prayers for all of us to pray.