My struggles with prayer run deep. The spiritual deserts in
my life have always been accompanied by a parched prayer life. Eventually, I
came to realize this was not only a symptom, but a cause. I was neglecting the
very thing that would satisfy my weary, thirsty soul. I was ignoring the path
that would not only lead me out of the desert, but keep me out of the
wilderness in the first place.
I often fall short of my good intentions when I fail to view
prayer as a discipline that needs to be learned and practiced and developed. We
speak frequently of the importance of prayer, but often don’t know (or forget)
the “hows” of prayer. Even Jesus’ own disciples had to ask Jesus how to pray
(Luke 11:1). They saw something in the way he prayed so fervently and
intimately to his Father that made them long to do the same. Lord, teach us to
pray!
While it won’t be the same for everyone, seven specific
actions have really helped me in my battle against a weak prayer life.
Preparing to Pray
1. Set prayer apart. The more we pray, the more we want to
pray. To do this, you need to build it into the rhythm of your day any way you
can: set alarms, leave notes, put it in your day planner. Prayer is a practice
that requires discipline and perseverance, and we should own the cost. Prayer
is the greatest act of our day, and we must fight for it. And not just in times
of need. It matters how we train and prepare for the battle.
2. Learn to withdraw. Pull away from distractions—the phone,
the computer, the TV, the constant noise of modern life—and find a way to
separate yourself so you can be and feel “shut in with God.” It can be a
challenge when you work away from home for long hours or are sharing your house
from dawn-to-dusk with a bunch of loud and energetic children, but make it a
priority. Your car on lunch break, a quiet corner in the office, a closet in
between meals or feedings or naptimes, or simply the quiet of your heart if
that’s all you can muster. But find solitude, and pray (Luke 4:42; 5:16;
22:41).
3. Have a posture of prayer. Do what you need to do to help
you focus on what it is that you’re doing. Kneel, stand, close your eyes, look
to the heavens—when your body is focused, it’s often easier for your soul to
follow. If able, pray out loud. I’ve found that just softly whispering during
my private prayer time is quiet enough that it doesn’t inhibit the flow of my
praying, but loud enough that it keeps my mind from wandering. As C.S. Lewis
observes, “The body ought to pray as well as the soul. Body and soul are both
better for it.”
Practicing Prayer
4. Pray Scripture. This is a great way to start. What joy it
brings to a father to know his children hear his words, cherish them, believe
them to be true and then speak them back to him. So much of my prayers are
“plagiarized” Scripture. Without even realizing it, they become the vocabulary
of my prayers, sometimes because the beautiful promises make my heart sing, and
sometimes because all I can do is desperately cling to his words.
Show me your glory
(Exodus 33:18).
Turn my eyes from
worthless things (Psalm 119:37).
Show me a sign of
your goodness (Psalm 86:17).
Let no sin rule
over me (Psalm 119:133).
You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing (Psalm 16:2).
5. Pray fervently. Praying should be active. We cannot truly
come into contact with God and not be a different person, at least in some
small degree, by the time we say, “Amen.” Struggle in prayer, wrestle with it
and let the Spirit move. Answers to prayer are a blessing, but prayer in and of
itself is meant to be a blessing. Sometimes it feels like the moaning of
parched lips in the desert, and we should still persevere because prayer is not
just the fruit of spiritual life, but the means of attaining it.
6. Pray specifically. Vagueness can be the death of prayer.
Not that we can never be general, just not at the expense of praising God’s
specific attributes, confessing specific sins, or thanking him and asking him
for specific things. We must learn to pray specifically and boldly due to the
status we have through Christ, while simultaneously being completely submissive
to God’s will. Bold and expectant faith coupled with humble submission is a
powerful thing.
7. Pray for and with others. Prayer is meant to knit
together the children of God, oftentimes, people we have never even met. We
share a Father, we are family and we should bear each other’s burdens in
prayer. We become invested in each other’s struggles and triumphs. We start to
care more about the people we pray for and less about ourselves. What a
beautiful thing to come before our Father of one accord with the same appeals
out of love and care for each other. Prayer binds the church together.
Prayers Like Arrows
Prayer is not a formula or something that only “works” if we
do it perfectly, in just the right way. But it should never be careless.
Careless prayers are like arrows that fall haphazardly at our feet. Prayers
that we offer with little care or effort typically will do little after leaving
our mouths (but be careful about underestimating God). On the other hand, when
shot with strength and desire and fervor, our prayers fly swiftly toward heaven
to the throne of God himself (Revelation 8:4):
It is not the arithmetic of our prayers—how many they be;
nor the rhetoric of our prayers—how eloquent they be;
nor their geometry—how long they be;
nor their music—how sweet their voice may be;
nor their logic—how argumentative they be;
nor yet their method—how orderly they be;
nor even their divinity—how good their doctrine may be,
which God cares for:
but it is the fervency of spirit which availeth much.
(Bishop Joseph Hall, 1808)
God loves to make his people into skilled archers in the
discipline of prayer, with prayers like arrows—fervent and strong ones that
change lives, bring healing, impact our nations, alter history, unite the
church and above all display God’s glory.
Written by Bonnie McKernan
Bonnie McKernan lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her
husband, Kevin, and their four kids: Caleb, Jack, Nora, and June.
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