Recently, I spoke about prayer at our monthly meeting for The Rock Men. Preparing for it reminded me how important prayer truly is. I was challenged by this question, “What is one thing I can set in place to pray more?”
Prayer really is a lifeline for Christians. Martin Luther said, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” It is such an essential and powerful part of our lives. Sadly, it can too easily be put on the back burner in the craziness of life. Simply put, we live in the most distracting time in the history of the world. We have enough content in our phones to fill multiple lifetimes. So, how do we pray more? How do we implement that “one thing”?
The Way of the Master
First of all, we must follow the way of our Master. Luke 5:16 says, “Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.” Jesus made a conscious decision to get away from every day distractions so He could pray. His life was clearly jam-packed with good, worthwhile ministry. He was available and eager to serve, teach and love people. Yet, He made time to pray.
The Lord’s Prayer
Secondly, we can follow the example Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus taught His disciples a way to pray if they didn’t know how (Matthew 6). We can also use this as a guide for our prayer life. We should acknowledge God and His place in our prayers. “God, You are Holy and You are the King. Your plan and will is going to win out. Give me daily bread so that I will depend on You each day — only what I need today. Show me mercy and forgive my sins. Help me turn from evil today and follow Your will and reign in my life.”
Pray Like a King
Thirdly, we should pray like King David. Read through the Psalms of David. They are filled with honest, raw prayers from this man after God’s own heart. Indeed, he did not hold back. David cried out for mercy from God and asked Him to be close (Psalm 25:1, 27:4). He screamed for help from God when he was in despair and prayed against his enemies (Psalm 18:6, 25:19). Despite his struggles, David recalled God’s goodness in his own life and asked God to reveal Himself even more (Psalm 25:4, 86:13).
My heart isn’t to guilt you into prayer by asking “Why aren’t you praying for hours every single day?” I just want to encourage us all to ramp up our prayer life by implementing just one thing. Make it more today than it was yesterday.
May God help us follow through in that “one thing”.
Posted in A Word from the Pastor