More thoughts on prayer
It is interesting to me just how much we like to talk about prayer. We
dissect it and analyze it and make acronyms for it. We teach it and preach it
and write books (and blogs!) about it. I wonder if we spend as much time
actually praying as we do talking and reading and writing about it?
One of my favorite quotes about prayer is from Martin Luther. I have seen it duplicated numerous times and every time it amazes me. "I have so much business, I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer." Really? When is the last time you spent 3 hours in prayer during one day? How about during one week? We have allowed our lives to get so busy and so stressful that when we get home at night after a long day, we feel like if we spent an hour in prayer, we'd fall asleep after 5 minutes.
I'm continuing to work at the importance of prayer in my life. I'll spend more time today praying. But I don't think it's a goal of 3 hours a day that is important. I think the focus of what prayer really is will be the thing that will change our prayer life.
Prayer is not like shopping. I bring my list; I look for the things that are on it; I get it done with as much efficiency as possible; I go home. Prayer is about relationship. It is about spending time with my heavenly Father. It is about getting my mind and heart in tune with him. It is about drawing close to the one whom I claim to have given everything for and to enjoy being alone with him. It is coming to him with other members of the family and talking with him together.
James said that Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and that God used his prayers to accomplish dramatic things. In our small groups; in our accountability meetings; in our staff meetings; in our family gatherings we need to include prayer as a normal, even central part of the relationship we share.
I came across the following statement in my reading recently: “God has a store room in Heaven that contains all the answers to prayers that were never prayed.” I’m sure there is not an actual room like that, but the thought does challenge me. What wonderful things is God waiting to accomplish today until his people pray? Let’s be among the number that rattle the doorknob to that store room.
Maybe you can stay awake for a few minutes longer this time. Maybe it's what you can do when you wake up in the middle of the night tonight or early tomorrow morning and you just can't sleep. Maybe it would be worth it to sit down with your spouse or your kids tonight and pray together. You never know until you try...
One of my favorite quotes about prayer is from Martin Luther. I have seen it duplicated numerous times and every time it amazes me. "I have so much business, I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer." Really? When is the last time you spent 3 hours in prayer during one day? How about during one week? We have allowed our lives to get so busy and so stressful that when we get home at night after a long day, we feel like if we spent an hour in prayer, we'd fall asleep after 5 minutes.
I'm continuing to work at the importance of prayer in my life. I'll spend more time today praying. But I don't think it's a goal of 3 hours a day that is important. I think the focus of what prayer really is will be the thing that will change our prayer life.
Prayer is not like shopping. I bring my list; I look for the things that are on it; I get it done with as much efficiency as possible; I go home. Prayer is about relationship. It is about spending time with my heavenly Father. It is about getting my mind and heart in tune with him. It is about drawing close to the one whom I claim to have given everything for and to enjoy being alone with him. It is coming to him with other members of the family and talking with him together.
James said that Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and that God used his prayers to accomplish dramatic things. In our small groups; in our accountability meetings; in our staff meetings; in our family gatherings we need to include prayer as a normal, even central part of the relationship we share.
I came across the following statement in my reading recently: “God has a store room in Heaven that contains all the answers to prayers that were never prayed.” I’m sure there is not an actual room like that, but the thought does challenge me. What wonderful things is God waiting to accomplish today until his people pray? Let’s be among the number that rattle the doorknob to that store room.
Maybe you can stay awake for a few minutes longer this time. Maybe it's what you can do when you wake up in the middle of the night tonight or early tomorrow morning and you just can't sleep. Maybe it would be worth it to sit down with your spouse or your kids tonight and pray together. You never know until you try...
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