I have a confession to make: My prayer life has been awful for a long time. Either it’s been dry and non-specific or it’s been non-existent. Either I’ve let days go by without spending any personal time in prayer or when I’ve prayed, words have been hard to come by and I’ve left out a lot of things I should have been praying for. Why do I tell you this? For a few reasons. For one, confession is good for the soul. You deserve better from me as your pastor. The apostles devoted themselves to the ministry of the word and prayer. They said these are the two most important things we can do. I’ve let others things-administration, meetings, etc.-get in the way. Second, maybe you can relate. Maybe you’re in the same place I’ve been in. Perhaps you won’t feel quite so alone with this problem. Finally, I share this so that we can think together about how to get back on track. We don’t want to be content with prayerlessness. Over time it can lead to spiritual death.
At the root of my problem has been a reliance on myself. To pray is to say to God, “I need you or I thank you.” Prayer means dependence. In my failure to pray I’ve been trusting my own skills, gifts, and talents to manage life and ministry. I’ve been acting as if I make the difference. What a mistake! Jesus said that apart from him we can do nothing but when we abide in him we will bear much fruit. Fruitfulness, strength, power, and the work of God are dependent on prayer. God can act through any means he wants but the Bible tells us that God generally chooses to act in response to prayer. What will a sermon accomplish apart from prayer and abiding in Christ? How will my children grow up to be Christ followers apart from prayer? How gracious God has been to Sheri and I! In spite of a weak prayer life God has blessed our efforts. The Lord has been good. Just recently Sheri and I were talking about some issues we need to work on in our family. I think our answer is to commit a few months of prayer to these matters.
How do you get your prayer life back in order? I have a few strategies in mind for myself. First of all I need to pray. It sounds strange doesn’t it? Pray for my prayer life. It’s exactly what I need to do. I need God’s strength. Second, I need to ask for the help of others who will encourage and pray for me. Would you do that? Third, I need to get up earlier. If I don’t devote some time to prayer in the morning, it doesn’t happen for me. I’ve given up prayer for the snooze alarm too many times. Fourth, I need to update my prayer list and keep it current. This helps me to remember what to pray for. (The Monthly Praise & Prayer Guide may also help.) Finally, when I’m struggling with what to say in prayer, I might try writing out my prayers or praying out loud (best done alone ☺).
If I might add a bit of an advertisement: On May 6 our church will be gathering for prayer. It’s the National Day of Prayer. Please come out to pray for our nation and its leaders.
Striving to pray and asking for your prayers,
Pastor Tom