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The words of the gospel of Mark, “And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed,” stand as a commentary on the life-style of Jesus (Mark 1:35).
David’s desire for God broke the self-indulgent chains of sleep, noting he would seek God early.
When the apostles were tempted to invest their energies in other important and necessary tasks, they determined to give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4).
Adoniram Judson—who lived in the 19th century and served as a Baptist missionary in Myanmar (Burma) and translated the Bible into Burmese—sought to withdraw from business and company seven times a day in order to engage in the holy work of prayer. He began at dawn; then at nine, twelve, three, six, nine, and midnight he would give time to secret prayer.
John Hyde of India—an American missionary who preached in the Punjab—made prayer such a dominant characteristic of his life that he was nicknamed “Praying Hyde.” For him, and all those who have braved the depths of the interior life, to breathe was to pray.
We can be intimidated when we hear such great examples of faith with deep lives of prayer. However, we should remember that God always meets us where we are and slowly moves us along into deeper things. Occasional joggers do not suddenly enter an Olympic marathon. They prepare and train themselves over a period of time, and so should we.
Moses prayed boldly because he believed his prayers could change things, even God’s mind. In fact, the Bible speaks of God constantly changing his mind in accord with his unchanging love (see Exod. 32:14; Jon. 3:10).
Learning to Pray
Real prayer is something we learn. The disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).
Perhaps the most astonishing characteristic of Jesus’ praying is that when he prayed for others, He never concluded by saying “If it be thy will.” Nor did the apostles or prophets when they were praying for others.
There is, of course, a proper time and place to pray, “If it be thy will.” First, in the prayer of guidance it is the great yearning of our hearts to know the will of God. “What is your will?” “What would please you?” “What would advance your kingdom upon the earth?” This is the kind of searching prayer that should permeate our entire life experience. And then in the prayer of relinquishment, we are committed to letting go of our will whenever it conflicts with the will and way of God.
At such times we must follow the lead of our Master who in the garden prayed, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).
Scottish theologian of the early 20th century P. T. Forsythe wrote, “Prayer is to religion what original research is to science.”
Søren Kierkegaard once observed: “A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until in the end he realized that prayer is listening.”
In physical matters we always tend to pray for the most difficult situations first: terminal cancer or multiple sclerosis. But when we listen, we will learn the importance of beginning with smaller things like colds or earaches. Success in the small corners of life gives us authority in the larger matters. If we are still, we will learn not only who God is, but how his power operates.
The Foothills of Prayer
We should never make prayer too complicated.
Jesus taught us to pray for daily bread. Children do not find it difficult or complicated to talk to their parents, nor do they feel embarrassed to bring the simplest need to their attention. Neither should we hesitate to bring the simplest requests confidently to the Father.
St. Teresa of Ávila said, “This was my method of prayer; as I could not make reflections with my understanding, I contrived to picture Christ within me… I did many simple things of this kind… I believe my soul gained very much in this way, because I began to practice prayer without knowing what it was.”
Your pastor and the services of worship need to be bathed in prayer. Paul prayed for his people; he asked his people to pray for him. Charles Spurgeon attributed his success to the prayers of his church.
We must learn to pray against evil. The old writers urged us to wage spiritual warfare against “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” We must never forget that the enemy of our souls prowls about like a “roaring lion” seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). We in prayer fight against the principalities and powers. And we need to pray prayers of protection; surrounding ourselves with the life of Christ, covering ourselves with the blood of Christ, and sealing ourselves with the cross of Christ.
We have so much to learn, so far to go. Certainly the yearning of our hearts is summed up by 19th Century Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England and Theologian Campbell Tait when he said, “I want a life of greater, deeper, truer prayer.”
Brady’s Experiences
Today, our Senior Pastor Dr. Will Rushing said, “Sometimes prayer is listening to God and allowing Him to speak to you. It’s our way of learning God’s ways for our lives.”
Then, in Sunday School, we reviewed week four of Pete Greig’s (Founder of 24-7 Prayer) “The Lectio Course”, walking through the practice of Lectio Divina and discussing the rhythms of prayer as they apply to the Bible.
Greig described prayer as “Our response to God’s Word.” He noted that our prayer lives are at their best not when we talk to God about big things occasionally, but little things continuously.
Greig shared a recent conversation with God, where he heard God tell him, “Look at that tree.” After staring intently at the tree, he impatiently asked, “What do you want me to see?” He sensed God respond, “Why are you so intense about everything? Isn’t it OK to stop and see my creation?”
James Aladiran is the founder and director of Prayer Storm and an instrumental figure in the UK for catalyzing the Church into deeper levels of intercession. Along with his wife, Rebecca, James and the team have been involved in mobilizing strategic prayer since 2010. He encourages us explore the three realms of prayer Ask, Seek and Knock. In a discussion with Greig, he said, “Prayers never die. They just accumulate.” How encouraging is that, especially when we sometimes feel that are prayers are hitting the ceiling and not being heard by God?
When we seek to hear and discern God’s voice for others, Pete Greig offers this ABC guide:
- Affirming: Is what you’re sharing affirming? Does it strengthen, encourage, comfort, edify, and build others up?
- Biblical: Is it consistent with the broad teaching and witness of scripture?
- Christlike: Does it sound like the kind of thing Jesus would’ve said, or feel like the kind of person He was?
This is a good checklist that can help us discern spiritual things!
As we seek to practice Lectio Divina (Latin for “Divine Reading”)—a traditional monastic practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God’s word—may we be mindful of the pace of our lives and the noise around us. Can we quiet ourselves and our souls to really hear from God?