Prayer as relationship

We might as well admit it. We often use prayer in our lives and in the church as a tool from a tool bag. When we need God to do something, when we need something in ministry, when we desire to have something accomplished, we go to the spiritual tool bag because we know prayer is what we should use. We pick up prayer, we pray the prayer, and then we put prayer back in the bag until we need it again. But prayer is intended to be so much more than this! So often we use prayer as a vehicle to get us to a desired destination. We need provision, so we pray. We need anointing, so we pray. We need healing, or deliverance, or cleansing, so we pray. But what if prayer is not the vehicle that brings us to our destination, but rather, what if it is the destination? Prayer is not simply a step of the journey, prayer is the journey. When we realize this, we begin to understand prayer as a continual conversation with God and our relationship with God deepens to new levels.