Prayer is something we all do. Even those who show no evidence of believing in God will in unguarded moments call out, "God, help me!" Perhaps, it means nothing, but then it may be something which comes from a deep unconscious level. Admit it or not, we are all made with the imprint of the holy upon us. Choosing to delegate the creation story in Genesis to a myth does not change the reality of what the Word of God is declaring to be true. We are all conceived in that eternal light spoken of in Genesis and the gospel of John.
There are surely many things happening in prayer. Some people only pray in moments when life rages out of control. Some seem to have come to a place of praying without ceasing. Prayer has within it the elements of worship, petition, intercession, repentance, forgiveness, and guidance. Sometimes it looks like a laundry list of needs and other times it looks like a love letter being spoken to God. Reading the book of Psalms brings us into a room where the many dimensions of prayer can be seen. The prayers we read in the Psalms are not about artificial expressions of religious ritual, but about the blood and guts of real life.
Jesus assumed prayer would be a natural response to the Heavenly Father. In that passage from Matthew He did not say, "If you are praying..." What we hear Him teaching in Matthew 6:7 is, "When you are praying..." In this instance there is a huge difference in "if" and "when." Jesus never debated the necessity or the value of prayer, He just did it. It is not just by His teachings that we are brought to an understanding of its place in our daily lives, but even more in the way He modeled this spiritual discipline. It is easy to see Him as the healer and giver of forgiveness, but there were many moments when He was out there alone in some deserted place praying. We can do as He says do and also we can do as He did.
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