Your mental health will ALWAYS suffer if you’re not praying… and you might be doing it wrong. Here are the two biggest misconceptions that keep you from really encountering God.

Misconception #1: God is a vending machine.

Prayer is NOT the Christian equivalent of a wishing well. When you pray, you aren’t simply blowing out the candles, or hoping for good luck. You’re definitely not putting in your order from the vending machine and hoping that it comes out at the bottom.

Instead, prayer is a personal interaction between you and the God of the universe. A relationship that develops and has many tones and inflections along the way.

As Christians we pray by asking God for what we need/want in accordance God’s will. As a result, not all our desires will be answered as we expect.

Just like with parents, God the Father provides what we, his children need. It is not always exactly what we ask for, but it’s what we require to grow closer to him.

Of course, our asking of God is important. It helps us develop an openness with God, and an understanding that he is our provider. When God answers our prayers (even if it seems like it wasn’t what we asked for), in the end we will realize he answered our prayers in a way we didn’t expect.

Misconception #2: Projecting ourselves on God

Sometimes, in prayer we can legitimately imagine what God would say to us in response to a question.

This can be dangerous as it begins to resemble a psychological projection.

Projection is when someone attributes their personal qualities or experiences onto another person. This can include personality and character traits, emotions, or even actions. In other words, when we pray we should not put words into God’s mouth.

Prayer is a personal and intimate dialogue between you and our Lord. It involves not only speaking but also listening with attention.

When we don’t feel like we hear God, we have to avoid imagining his response. Otherwise, we run the risk of creating a God based on our psychology, not on who he really is.