Why Pray?

By Mike Romero

Have you ever wondered why you should pray? There are some who have a gift when it comes to prayer. They pray in the same way I breathe air. It just comes naturally like for my mom and her widow friends. Let’s just say you don’t want to be on the opposite side of the issue for which they are praying. They have some sort of supernatural connection to God. 

I am not like this. Sometimes I blame it on the fact that I’m a lawyer. As you know, lawyers don’t fare well in the Bible. I really should have considered my educational path more seriously. Anyway, recently my son’s truck broke down north of downtown. The truck died on the highway, but he was able to get off the road. Fortunately, I was still at work and could get to him. Car problems really get me down. They are expensive and never happen at a good time. 

In the mornings, I’ve been taking my wife to work before I head to my job downtown. The morning before the breakdown, I was expressing my concern to Laura about my kids’ student loans. College is ridiculously expensive and is trapping young people in awful loan servicing. I was expressing my disappointment in my lack of margin to help my kids out with their loans. Then Aaron’s truck broke down. 

This is a trigger for me. Not much can get me down like financial issues. To deal with the broken-down truck, Aaron and I spent a lot of time together. We had some interesting conversations about God with me sharing about my struggle in this area. At one point, I was telling him that I wonder about praying to God about stuff like a broken-down truck, and what it will cost. It is almost like I think, why bother. Why would God really care about the truck, and about my lack of margin to help. Maybe God thinks it is my own fault, and that I need to help myself out of the situation.

The next morning, I was looking in an old journal and came across a note about Psalm 25:4-11. These were notes I made while reading a book titled “What if Jesus was Serious About Prayer.” My note says, “Prayer has effect, not because of my effort, but because of God’s character.” In other words, I pray because of who He is, not who I am. 

In that moment of remembrance, I was close to crying. It was yet another reminder God has shown me about His grace. He really does care about the little stuff. More importantly, He cared enough about me to not leave me in that period of doubt. Never hesitate to take everything to the Lord. Even your mistakes and doubts. He really does care.  

Author Bio
Mike Romero is President of Heritage Trust Company in Oklahoma City. Prior to this he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Development Officer at the Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma (WatersEdge). Mike started his legal career in the Tax and Estate Planning practice group at McAfee & Taft. Mike and his family have been members at Council Road since 2008, where he enjoys teaching and participating in missions. He currently serves as a church trustee.