A New Wardrobe Part 7 - Prayer

As we wrap up our study on battle gear today, it's fitting that it ends with prayer:

"Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints," (Ephesians 6:18, HSCB).

Prayer is such a powerful tool and we know it. We've all heard stories of how situations and lives are changed through the power of prayer.

But if you get into a discussion about prayer with other Christians, there's a recurring statement: "I don't pray like I should." Why is that? 

I'd like to present a guess: because to pray "like I should" is more than we know how to do.

Whenever I sit down to pray, it's a struggle. My mind wanders. My phone rings. I think of 10 things I need to do or at least write on a list so I won't forget them later. I need more coffee. My kids wake up and need breakfast. SOME.THING.ALWAYS.INTERRUPTS.MY.PRAYER.

Yours too? What a coincidence. Maybe it's because we live in a multitasking generation. Maybe it's because we're over-connected.

But even Jesus' closest friends, His 3 most trusted disciples, struggled to have a focused prayer time. As Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane, only moments before His arrest, He told them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation," (Luke 22:40, HSCB). He went a little further, prayed His most fervent prayer, sweated drops of blood, came back, and found them sleeping. He told them again, "Get up and pray, so that you won't enter into temptation," (Luke 22:46). 

So maybe humans are just not mentally strong enough to pray "like we should."

Or maybe because Satan wants to ruin our prayer life.

There are so many reasons we should pray, and so many good websites that describe those reasons (like this one: 
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/faith_in_life/prayer/prayer_has_its_reasons.aspx).

Maybe we don't pray because:

• We don't have time
• We don't know what to say
• We feel it doesn't work
• We feel guilty that we're not doing it right, praying for everyone and everything
• We don't really know what we're supposed to do when we pray

Maybe one of these describes you. Maybe all of them, if you're honest, have been your excuse. Maybe you tell someone, "I'll pray for you," but forget. (You weren't trying to not pray for them; it just slipped your mind.)

I struggle with prayer, too. Always have. Sometimes I'd have a beautiful journal and write my prayer lists every night. For about two weeks. Then I'd lose energy. Or I'd come up with a neat way to pray for the whole world in a week (there are great websites for that, too) but after about a month I'd feel like I had already covered everything and I was just saying empty words.

For me, prayer is a difficult balancing act, and I find myself wavering between the two sides: 1) I don't pray or 2) I become legalistic about prayer, meaning I need my list, my quiet, and my perfect system in order for my prayers to be focused and serious.

But as I've gotten older in my faith and in years, I've come to the conclusion that prayer shouldn't be so hard. Maybe the reason it's hard is because we've made it hard.

The word most often translated "pray" in the New Testament has this definition: "to interact with the Lord by switching human wishes (ideas) for His wishes as He imparts faith.*"  We go to our Father with our ideas and concerns and thoughts and plans and we ask Him, "Lord, is this what You wish?" It's the very same prayer that Jesus prayed when His disciples kept falling asleep (above): "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from Me--nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done," (Luke 22:42). It also sounds like the model prayer Jesus used used when teaching His disciples to pray: "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," (Matthew 6:10, NIV). 

So as we obey the command to "pray continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:17), here's maybe how we do it: we keep our minds open before God. As a person, a situation, or a thought of any kind comes to mind, we consciously take it to God. Instantly. We don't need to stop, we don't need to always hit our knees, and we don't need to do it aloud. But we ask the Spirit to reveal to us His thoughts about that thing. It may not happen instantly. It may not be until a week later when you're studying Scripture or singing praise that you are made aware of His wishes. And, if you'll review the definition in the paragraph above, don't forget that it takes faith for this to happen: we believe, without seeing (Hebrews 11:6), that God's plans and thoughts and ideas are perfect and we trust His will in that situation.

I still try to make time to be still and quiet (literally) before God and bring my requests to Him. And I know that Jesus' example (Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16, and others) is to pray early and alone, so I want to have that discipline in my own life. I still get on my knees sometimes (Acts 9:40) and I absolutely love to pray with my small children before meals. I sometimes have a written prayer list; sometimes not. 

But I know that prayer is so much more than bringing my list to God. It's bringing Him my thoughts, my fears, my loves. It's trusting Him with everything I hold dear and all that affects my life, knowing He loves me and has an eternal plan for His glory.

That's the prayer that's my weapon. And it can be yours, too.

Y'all have been so awesome as we have examined all this gear together. I don't know what we'll dig into for our next session together, but I can't wait!

Leslie

myleslienotebook@gmail.com

*http://biblehub.com/greek/4336.htm